Indiana baseball played its fourth game in three days against Ball State University after sweeping Michigan State this past weekend.
Even though the temperatures reached as low as 40 degrees, Indiana stayed hot. Although the Hoosiers fell behind 2-0 in the first inning, their bullpen looked strong, pitching seven straight scoreless innings as Indiana went on to win 7-5 on Tuesday at Bart Kaufman Field in Bloomington.
The win over the Cardinals marked the fifth time the Hoosiers have won when trailing first in 14 chances this season.
Jackson Yarberry made his fifth appearance of the season against the Cardinals and his first start since March 2 against Mount Saint Mary’s University. The sophomore right-handed pitcher hurled just one inning after giving up three hits in the first four batters of the game, which allowed Ball State to take an early 2-0 lead.
After scoring 12 combined runs in the first inning of games against the Spartans over the weekend, the Hoosiers went scoreless through the first two frames. Despite that, the Hoosiers got a great performance from senior left-handed pitcher Deron Swanson, who had his longest outing of the season.
“I’m just ready when my name’s called,” Swanson said after the game. “The confidence stays the same whether I’m on the bench or in the game.”
Swanson, a transfer from the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Indiana, had made just three appearances on the season before Tuesday against the Cardinals. He threw just seven innings in those appearances, giving up eight hits, five earned runs and striking out 12 batters.
Against Ball State, Swanson pitched 4 1/3 innings, collecting three strikeouts while giving up just four hits and zero runs.
“It really is the reason we won the game,” Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer said about Swanson’s performance. “We were able to piece it together from there.”
Indiana showed its support for Swanson with a five-run bottom of the third inning, highlighted by redshirt outfielder Korbyn Dickerson’s monster home run. It was his 15th long ball of the season, tying him with Oregon junior outfielder Mason Neville for the conference lead. He also extended his Big Ten lead in hits and RBIs as he’s now sitting at 54 and 56 respectively.
Swanson exited with runners on first and second with one out in the sixth inning, handing the ball off to sophomore left-handed pitcher Ryan Rushing as the Hoosiers were up 7-2. While he’s not known for extensive outings out of the bullpen in his eight appearances, Rushing pitched 1 2/3 innings of arguably his best baseball of the season.
Rushing faced six batters and struck out half of them. He also allowed just one hit and didn’t surrender a walk for the first time since March 4 against Northern Kentucky University.
Rushing entered with a 7-2 lead after Devin Taylor collected his 199th career hit in the bottom of the fifth inning that drove in two more runs. His two hits tied him with Indiana freshman first baseman Jake Hanley as the Hoosiers now have the top three of the top four leaders in hits in the Big Ten.
“I’m just glad they’re on our team,” Mercer said after the game. “Yes, they’re talented, but they’re smart and they’re hard working.”
Freshman left-handed pitcher Brayton Thomas struck out the side in the top of the eighth inning before loading the bases with nobody out in the ninth. Mercer turned to senior left-handed pitcher Ryan Kraft just two days after he threw a couple of innings against Michigan State on April 6.
Kraft entered the ball game and gave up three runs (charged to Thomas) on one hit, while striking out two batters. The ninth inning punchouts put the Hoosiers at 12 total strikeouts on the night as they finished off the 7-5 victory.
Indiana concludes its nine-game homestand at 6-3, riding a four-game winning streak as the Hoosiers travel to Champaign, Illinois, for a three-game set with Illinois. Game one against the Fighting Illini is at 7 p.m. Friday from Illinois Field as all three matchups will be streamed on Big Ten+.
