Scotty Bradley knew he couldn't escape.
After hitting an RBI single down the right-field foul line to give IU a 4-3 victory against Northern Illinois on Sunday afternoon at Bart Kaufman Field, the sophomore infielder tried to outrun his IU teammates.
Bradley ran into shallow right field and then veered into center field before abandoning his plan to try and avoid the onrushing Hoosiers.
He eventually embraced the mob of players as IU celebrated its sixth-straight win.
"It was just, spur of the moment type thing," Bradley said. "I was just trying not to get tackled, I guess. Can't really explain that walk-off. Just a lot of excitement and just, kind of happens naturally."
The Hoosiers swept the Huskies during the three-game weekend series and improved their overall record to 15-4.
Each of the three wins came in a different fashion.
Friday's 18-0 blowout win was the most runs IU had scored since a 27-run output against Butler in March 2016, while Saturday's 4-3 win featured another late-inning comeback from IU.
Consecutive eighth-inning home runs Saturday from junior infielder Luke Miller and senior outfielder Logan Sowers turned a one-run deficit into a one-run win.
Sunday's victory was the fifth one-run win by IU this season.
"I like the fact that we can come back and play well late in tight games," IU Coach Chris Lemons said. "I like the 18-0s better, but they don't happen very often."
Each of the victories against Northern Illinois were aided by strong outings from IU's starting pitchers.
Junior Jonathan Stiever allowed just two hits in six innings pitched Friday and junior Pauly Milto struck out seven batters and allowed one run in 5.2 innings pitched Saturday.
Sophomore Cameron Beauchamp delivered an equally strong performance Sunday, pitching six shutout innings as IU continues to search for a Sunday starting pitcher to compliment Stiever and Milto.
"He got his breaking ball rolling during those middle innings," Lemonis said of Beauchamp's start. "He's as talented as anybody we got. It's just getting him out there and letting him pitch with the command like Milto and Stiever."
Prior to Bradley's heroics Sunday, it was a balanced day from IU at the plate, as nine different Hoosiers combined for the team's 11 hits.
However, Bradley's hit came in his first plate appearance of the game. He entered the game in the eighth as a defensive replacement at first base.
"I'm just looking to be aggressive," Bradley said about his game-winning plate appearance. "The first pitch I got was a really good one to hit. No question I was a little overanxious on it and tried to do a little too much. But I believe it was a changeup, the second pitch, that was just left up and just trying to get my swing off. Luckily got some barrel on it and it worked out."
IU will close its current nine-game home stand at 4 p.m. Tuesday against Wright State.
It will be the final chance for IU to pick up a win before starting Big Ten Conference play next weekend at Iowa.
"We kind of all feed off one another," Bradley said. "We're picking each other up whether you're going good or going bad at the time. It's just really good team camaraderie."
