Indiana baseball never gave Bellarmine a chance Tuesday afternoon, completely dominating Bellarmine on both facets of the game, 13-0 in seven innings.
Indiana’s offense came into the game swinging the bats hard. Korbyn Dickerson put Indiana on the board early in the first inning, hammering an RBI double to center field, which scored Andrew Wiggins. Dickerson’s double was measured at 115 miles per hour off of the bat.
Dickerson immediately came home after freshman Jake Hanley pounded a two run home run to right field, his fourth long ball of the season.
Hanley wasn’t the only Hoosier to hit a home run in the first inning. Tyler Cerny joined Hanley, but didn’t exactly hit a long ball.
Cerny hit a hard ball out to Bellarmine’s Casey Sorg in center field, who laid out for the catch and let the ball get past him. As the ball continued toward the centerfield wall, Cerny darted around the bases, reaching home on an inside-the-park home run.
Hanley and Cerny’s home run club later had two more guests join it, in Devin Taylor and Cooper Malamazian.
Taylor blasted a solo home run to right field in the bottom of the second inning. His solo shot was his 10th home run of the season, which ranks second in the Big Ten conference.
Malamazian’s home run came in grand slam style in the bottom of the fourth inning, securing the cushion for the eventual run rule.
Malamazian, a freshman, has quickly penciled himself in as an everyday starter in the starting lineup for Indiana. Malamazian closed out the contest batting 3-for-4 with two runs scored and six runs batted in. His strong performance at the plate improved his batting average to .352 on the season.
Indiana’s heavy production on offense allowed for its pitchers to compete with a higher level of confidence.
Indiana showcased a bullpen day, utilizing seven different pitchers, each for one inning of work. Cole Gilley, Ryan Kraft, Grant Holderfield, Aydan Decker-Petty, Ryan Rushing, Trey Telfer and Brayton Thomas all took the ball Tuesday.
The group combined to pitch seven scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while walking six batters and fanning seven.
Holderfield, who collected one strikeout across his inning of work, explained some of the factors that allowed Indiana’s pitchers to excel throughout the afternoon.
“As a staff we wanted to do our job today,” Holderfield said. “One ending at a time, pass the baton off to the next guy. Attack hitters and let our defense and hitters take care of the rest. I think we did a really good job commanding the zone and getting outs.”
Gilley, who opened the game for Indiana, earned the win, tossing 1.0 innings, also allowing a walk. With Indiana leading 5-0 following the first inning, Gilley departed the game, later earning the win, improving to an impressive 4-1 record on the season. Gilley’s scoreless inning lowered his ERA to 2.30, a team low amongst starting pitchers.
Gilley’s 2.30 season ERA ranks the second lowest ERA in the Big Ten amongst qualified pitchers.
With Gilley being limited to just one inning in the matchup, the plan will be for him to be available to make a start this weekend, as Indiana prepares to host USC in a three-game series.
First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. EDT on Friday from Bart Kaufman Field.
