Every Hoosier hits while Indiana pitchers work around 14 free bases to seal the deal
By Carl James @jovian34 May 23rd, 2024
3-seed Indiana defeated 7-seed Ohio State in a winner’s bracket game of the Big Ten (B1G) Tournament at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
Indiana Hoosiers 14, Ohio State Buckeyes 7
Inning by inning details in the Live Game Blog | Box Score
Indiana got to Ohio State starter freshman righty Gavin DeVooght in the second inning. DeVooght hit two Hoosiers with pitches and gave up doubles to Andrew Wiggins, Devin Taylor, and Josh Pyne plating 5 runs in the inning. DeVooght was replaced with only 1.2 innings pitched by righty Chase Herrell who managed to keep the Hoosiers from scoring in the third or fourth innings.
Ohio State came back and tied it in the fourth. Indiana ace Connor Foley was dominant in the first two innings, but walked the bases load with no outs in the third and commit an error on a comebacker that scored two and then balked with a runner on third. Once the inning was done, Foley had given up four runs without surrendering a hit. Foley did get hit in the fourth inning, but limited the damage to one run, but that was enough to tie the game.
Indiana got Herrell’s pitch count up to 53 and Ohio State went to Blaine Wynk, a key arm in their bullpen. Indiana used a couple of productive outs in the fifth to take a lead and extended it in the sixth with a pair of hits by Nick Mitchell and Brock Tibbitts.
Aydan Decker-Petty managed throwing less than half of his pitches for strikes, allowing 1 run in three innings of work. Indiana busted the game open in the top of the eighth inning. Devin Taylor crushed a ball into the wind for a solo home run. Once his outing was done, Wynk was charged with 7 runs on 7 hits in his 3.2 innings of work.
Decker-Petty walked the first batter of the 8th and the Hoosiers turned to Brayden Risedorph, who ended up loading the base with no one out in both the 8th and 9th, but escaped both jams only allowing a single run.
What the Hoosier pitchers had going for them was a combined 13 strikeouts on the day to pair with the 14 free bases. Ohio State only mustered 6 hits on the day.
The win was key as Ohio State now has to face Nebraska on Friday in an elimination game. Both teams will have to used key pitching and then the winner will have to face Indiana and beat the Hoosiers twice. Indiana is now two wins away from the Big Ten’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.