The red hot Indiana University Hoosiers came to McKie Field at Hayden Park ready to out slug the Miami University RedHawks Tuesday, April 5. They were shutdown by a stable of southpaws and sent back to Bloomington with a 6-1 loss.
Freshman Alex Brown earned the starting nod from coach Dan Simonds and did not disappoint. Brown surrendered just one run and just two hits in four innings on the mound.
"The pitching effort was terrific," Simonds said. "Brown was very good. I just didn't want the game to speed up too fast on a freshman."
Junior Shawn Marquardt took the ball from Brown and pitched five scoreless innings and allowed only three hits to one of the Big Ten's top teams (18-10).
"The thing about it is that we have a very reliable guy out of the bullpen in Marquardt who is also a starter for us sometimes," Simonds said. "Being able to bring him in against one of the best offensive teams in the Big Ten, you are talking about an all American in the middle of their lineup, they can swing it. For him to come in and do what he did, that's huge for us right now."
Simonds' swingers (14-14) fell behind 1-0 in the fifth inning and looked dire until the bottom of the seventh frame. Junior Bryce Redeker slapped a single to left field then senior Adam Weisenburger put down a bunt that was booted by the Hoosier defense, spotting the RedHawks' base runners on second and third. Senior Kyle Weldon then stepped to the plate and made contact on a smack to the second baseman to plate the tying run.
The Hoosier bullpen then loaded up the bases with walks and hit batters to jog in the second 'Hawk run before senior Jon Edgington brought home the ‘Hawks third run with a sacrifice fly.
With Marquardt manning the mound, the Red and White bats added to the lead in the eighth frame. Weldon returned to dust home plate again when he ripped a two run single into center field to extend the 'Hawk lead to 5-1.
"They really gave us the game," Simonds said. "We have to do a better job of going out there and earning it. We didn't do a good job of getting the bunt down. That said, when we smelled the blood, we took advantage."
The wild arms of the Hoosier pen plunked another ‘Hawk hitter with the bases loaded to bring in the games' final run.
"I felt good today," Marquardt said. "I was hitting spots and the defense made plays. We needed this. It's a good team and we just battled through it. We didn't do anything incredibly well but we won the game. Those are the ones that lead you into a winning streak so hopefully we can keep it going."
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Coach Simonds said he hopes similar pitching efforts carry into conference play, such as the weekend ahead at Northern Illinois University (10-15, 4-2 Mid-American Conference (MAC)). The Red and White (4-2 MAC) kickoff a weekend series in DeKalb, Ill. Friday at 3:05 p.m.
Senior Joe Etcheverry leads the Huskies with a .329 average while freshman Jeff Zimmerman leads the offense with four home runs and 21 RBI. Junior Alex Jones has also tallied 21 RBI and leads the team with 33 hits and 49 total bases. Right-hander Zach Oates leads the rotation with 33 strikeouts to go along with a 3.83 earned run average (ERA).
The resin of optimism within a talented pitching staff will be something to watch for Simonds' team this season through MAC play.
"If he (Marquardt) carries that into some conference games, that'll be a big plus for us," Simonds said. "Shawn is a guy that in the beginning of the season we felt was going to be in our rotation. I'm not so sure he won't be when it's all said and done."
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