Longballs Doom the Hoosiers in Lexington
May 10, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky.-- Indiana Baseball (27-21) couldn't overcome four Kentucky homeruns in an 8-5 road loss on Tuesday night. A three-run eighth inning started a Hoosier rally, but fell short with no more scores coming in the ninth.
Dustin DeMuth, Wes Wilson and Jerrud Sabourin each had multi-hit games while DeMuth, Michael Basil and Justin Cureton recorded an RBI or two. Matt Dearden worked the mound for the final two innings, shutting down the UK lineup and giving IU a shot at the comeback.
Kentucky swatted solo homeruns in each of the first three innings, two of them coming from the lead-off hitter. The Hoosiers kept it close at 3-1 by plating a run in the second. Three consecutive hits secured the run, peaking with a Basil RBI-single. The IU scoring threat was ended when the next batter lined into a double play.
Indiana's scoring threat (two runners on, one out) was spoiled in the fourth as well, thanks to a 1-6-3 twin killing to end the inning. Basil then returned the favor in the bottom half, taking care of an inning-ending double by fielding a grounder, stepping on second fire to first for the double dip.
Wildcat starting pitcher Taylor Rogers assisted IU's next run, coming in the fifth. After beaning Cureton, Rogers whistled the ball past his first baseman on a failed pick off move to allow Cureton a free pass into scoring position at second. DeMuth made him pay for his errors, stroking a hopping missile past the UK defense. Cureton would come around to score on the play and pull the Cream and Crimson within a lone run at 3-2.
Three straight singles in the Kentucky fifth repositioned the two-run UK advantage. In the following frame, a bang-bang play at first going in favor of the Wildcats cracked the door open for a big UK inning. Johnson made a nice defensive play to get the second out and just missed on the double play which would have ended the inning unharmed. The runner beat the throw by inches, however, and the inning continued. Kentucky would go on to score two runs before it ended, going up 6-2.
Kentucky's fourth homer of the evening came in the seventh, a two-run dinger to put the Wildcats ahead 8-2.
Lexington native, Wes Wilson, landed the first blow to the UK bullpen in the eighth, wrapping a double to deep left center field. Indiana continued to pound on the relief pitching, slicing the deficit in half before the third out was recorded. Trailing 8-5 heading into the ninth, the Hoosiers' magic halted in a 1-2-3 inning.
The Hoosiers now return to Bloomington Tuesday night/Wednesday morning in preparation for the final home series of the season. And it's a big one, hosting the Big Ten-leading Michigan State Spartans in a pivotal three-game set. Friday and Saturday are slated for 3:05 first pitches while Sunday's contests begins at 1:05 pm. Check out the Hoosiers Saturday on the Big Ten Network.
