Pyne and Ellis pace the Hoosier bats to dominate 12-2 win on Wednesday evening
by Garrod Creech • @creech_garrod • March 9th, 2022
The Hoosiers, winners of four straight, stacked hits and defensive highlights from all over the field in Wednesday’s 12-2 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne.
Jack Walker got his first career start and put together a quality outing, going 3 innings without giving up a run despite two hits and two walks. The Mastodons struggled for the duration of the game to plate runners in scoring position, leaving 12 stranded total.
Brock Tibbitts holds a Purdue Ft Wayne runner on first – photo by Carl James for iubase.com
“Yeah, my ulcer knows that stat for you pretty well too,” said head coach Jeff Mercer after the game. “They had opportunities there and we executed pitches and took care of the ball. We made a couple of nice plays in the infield and finished those innings in a timely fashion.”
Hoosier pitching wasn’t as dominant today in terms of overpowering the opposing batters, but they didn’t have to be. Both sides opened the game looking sharp defensively, but the IU defense made seemingly one exceedingly difficult play after another. Josh Pyne in particular played terrific third base all day, with at least two plays eliciting audible gasps throughout the press box.
On the offensive side, the Hoosiers got started early and never really let up. To go with his strong day in the field, Josh Pyne had the team’s first 3 RBIs, singling home Morgan Colopy in the second and blasting a ball off the scoreboard in the fourth with a man on to make it 3-0. Pyne, Colopy and Tibbitts each had three hits on the day. Mathew Ellis had two hits, but both easily cleared the fence. It was his second multi-homerun game of the year so far, but more may be on the way.
“When he’s locked in and he’s right, there’s nobody more dangerous that I’ve ever coached,” said Coach Mercer said of Ellis. “I’m glad he’s on our side. I’m glad he’s playing for us.”
Ryan Kraft followed Walker with three more sharp innings. He gave up two hits and a run but struck out three. David Platt got his first action of the year in the seventh and held the Mastodons scoreless while striking out two. Ty Bothwell had an interesting eighth in which he hit two batters and walked in PFW’s second and final run of the game, but he struck out three too. Joe Moran ended the night with a scoreless ninth inning.
Together, the staff allowed just two runs five hits, though today they gave up nine free bases.
Mercer said it’s the team’s goal to continue adding quality arms and bats each week that they know they can rely on in big spots. The experience in even one inning worth of work or one at-bat will be invaluable once the games start to mean a bit more.
The Hoosiers have battled back to an even 6-6 record after enduring one of the toughest opening schedules of any team in the country. They’ll look to continue their recent good fortune in a weekend series against the 8-5 Troy Trojans. All games will be available to watch on ESPN+