Hoosiers Win It In 15 Innings, 13-12
May 15, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana Baseball came out victorious, 13-12, over Michigan State in 15 innings. The official game duration was four hours and 46 minutes, but lasted nearly 24 hours in real time spanning two different days.
Indiana Baseball's game against Michigan State was suspended due to darkness after 12 innings. Play will resumed on Sunday at noon, followed by game three of the weekend series. Dramatic lead changes, game-saving defensive plays, 12 innings and nearly four hour of baseball weren't enough to decide this one.
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first, Alex Dickerson pounded his first homerun of the day to IU a 2-1 lead. The two-run shot was to the deepest part of the ballpark, but would not be the longest hit by Dickerson by day's end.
The Spartans slowly began to pull away in the second stanza, cranking out six singles. Sprinkle in a Hoosier error and you got five MSU runs. Defensive miscues from IU aided two more unearned Spartan tallies in the third and sixth innings as Michigan State went ahead 8-2.
Indiana started a rally in the bottom of the sixth, playing five runs but leaving a bit disappointed as three runners were left stranded. Micah Johnson, Dickerson and Michael Basil all drove in a run to close the gap at 8-5.
The Hoosiers kept it coming in the seven though, breaking out for five runs before an out was recorded. Justin Cureton led off by stretching a single into a double, motoring around first and sliding into second for the two-bagger. His hustle was immediately rewarded when Dustin DeMuth poked the ball through the right side of the infield for an RBI-single. More aggressive base running came on the next play, DeMuth traveled from first to third on T.C. Knipp's single up the middle.
Back-to-back jacks by Johnson and Dickerson followed, darting the Hoosiers up 10-8. Indiana's first time swatting consecutive longballs since March 2 at Xavier when Josh Lyon and Dillon Dooney did so. Johnson's three-run shot came on a 3-2 count while Dickerson sent the fastball for a ride, a bomb estimated to travel nearly 500 feet. It landed in shallow right field, of the IU Softball field that is, rolling all the way to the wall.
In the eighth, Cureton and Knipp paired up for an insurance run which later proved to be needed. Cureton swiped his second bag of the day and 15th of the season to move into scoring position. He flew around the final 180 feet on a single by Knipp.
The MSU single-fest continued in the ninth, slapping four more base knocks and evening the score at 12-12.
Both squads tallied a run in the 10th. An incredible play by MSU second baseman Ryan Jones saved the day for his team. With two outs and a runner on third, Johnson smoked a ball to Jones' right side and looked to surely be the walk-off single. Jones laid out to snag the ball and quickly got to his knees to fire out a speedy Johnson at first.
Blake Monar got the "start" for Sunday's resumption of play, taking the mound for the top of the 13th. He put himself in a pair of jams early, but quickly climbed out of the holes just as fast. In the 14th, there were Spartans on the conerns with no outs. Two runners reached the following frame as well. Monar and some solid defense behind him wiggled out of the threat unscathed in each case, however, setting up a Hoosier game-winner in the bottomf half of the 15th.
With a runner on first, Knipp delivered yet another clutch hit. On the Knipp single to right, DeMuth made his way to third base. Johnson then smoked a fly ball over the center fielder's head to end the crazy contest.
Game three of the series started at 1:40 p.m.
