Indiana hosted Purdue Fort Wayne in another midweek game and it was yet another blowout. The Hoosiers’ largest win of the season so far saw 15 runs on 14 hits and runs in five different innings. With Wednesday’s 15-1 win, Indiana has won all three of its midweek games by double digits.
It wasn’t just the offense that performed well for the Hoosiers on Wednesday. Six different Indiana pitchers combined to allow one run on a season-best two hits.
Redshirt senior Ty Bothwell got the nod for Indiana and had his best start of the season. Aside from a hiccup in the third, Bothwell was nearly flawless, throwing four innings and giving up just one run on one hit and two walks. He was awarded the win after only throwing four innings on a scorer’s decision.
After Bothwell, five different arms from the Hoosier bullpen saw just one inning each and it was yet another strong performance for Indiana’s relievers. Two of the five relievers, Aydan Decker-Petty and Ethan Phillips were making their first appearances of the season, and four of the five — Decker-Penny, Phillips, Nathan Ball and Wes Burton — recorded their first strikeout of the season as well.
When it came to the Hoosiers bats, it’s hard to have a more successful day. Eight different Hoosiers reached base at least twice and the leadoff man Phillip Glasser led the way with his second four-hit game of the season.
“He’s always on time for a fastball,” head coach Jeff Mercer said postgame. “And we’re all capable of doing that. But he does a great job of setting the tone within and when he’s right, there’s nobody better than him and he’s excellent”
Glasser now has a team-best .426 batting average and scored three times with a couple of runs batted in to cap off his terrific day.
“It makes my job a lot simpler,” two-hole hitter Bobby Whalen said postgame. “He always gives me a job to do. It’s never like I just need to get on base. It’s always, move him over.”
It wasn’t just Glasser that had a good day at the plate. Whalen also had a multi-hit day going 2-for-5 with three runs batted in and Brock Tibbitts added three RBIs himself with a three-run blast in the second inning — the second home run of that inning for the Hoosiers. These 15 runs were more than the Hoosiers scored all weekend in Greenville.
When asked what was different about the approach at the plate today and over the weekend, Mercer said, “as much as anything, getting back in here so we were able to come back and practice. We practiced all day yesterday and practiced today and were able to watch video. It’s kinda like football where you go back and just watch the film.”
This game was the start of a long home stretch for the Hoosiers with 12 of their next 13 games coming in Bloomington. They’ll play four games in the next four days in a series with ASUN opponent Bellarmine starting at 2 p.m. Thursday.
