Hoosiers Fall to Cal State Fullerton in 14 Innings, 3-2
FULLERTON, Calif. – Indiana Baseball (1-4) fell to No. 23 Cal State Fullerton in a 14-inning affair on Saturday night by a score of 3-2. The Titans walked off with the victory on a bases loaded hit-by-pitch.
Pitching and defense was the story for the Hoosiers throughout the night. Senior right-hander
Evan Bell went seven strong innings in his start, striking out six while allowing just two hits. Junior
Jake Kelzer entered in relief in the eighth, pitching five innings, allowing one earned run and three hits while striking out five.
Senior
Brian Wilhite started at shortstop and was strong in the field defensively. The co-captain was also responsible for driving in both Hoosier runs. Junior
Craig Dedelow garnered two hits, extending his reached base streak to 10 games.
Bell started strong, retiring the side in order in the first and striking out the first two batters he faced in the second, giving him three strikeouts through the first five batters. Following the two-straight punch outs, Fullerton's Chris Hudgins homered to left to give the Titans a 1-0 advantage.
After having just two reach through the first three innings, the Hoosiers etched the scorebook with a two-run fourth. Freshman
Luke Miller worked a one-out single and junior
Alex Krupa walked to give Indiana two runners. Following a 5-3 groundout that moved the runners over, Wilhite flared a double to centerfield to score Miller and Krupa, giving the Hoosiers a 2-1 lead.
The highlight of the game in the field came in the fourth inning. With one Fullerton runner on and one out, Tanner Pinkston scorched a ball up the middle, where Wilhite made a diving stop, swiped second and threw out Pinkston at first to end the inning.
Bell continued a strong stretch in the seventh inning. He hit the leadoff batter, but retired the next three in order on a strikeout, flyout and groundout. With that being his final frame, Bell closed his final 4.1 innings of work allowing no hits and just two baserunners.
In the bottom half of the eighth inning, Fullerton knotted the contest up at two on a two-base error.
With the game tied up in the bottom of the ninth and one out, two-straight Titan batters were hit. With the No. 5 hitter Pinkston up, Butler robbed him of another hit, making an acrobatic diving stop, turning two, and denying the Titan threat.
In the winning inning for Fullerton, a leadoff double proved costly. The bases would eventually load up and a hit by pitch would score the game-winner.
IU is back in action at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday. Senior
Caleb Baragar will get the start on the mound.
Go Hoosiers!
Boxscore within:
http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/2/2...to-cal-state-fullerton-in-14-innings-3-2.aspx
