May 31, 2014

DeNato, Travis Shine for Hoosiers

By Chris Webb

Special to CollegeBaseballInsider.com

@chrismwebb

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – On the biggest stage, Indiana’s top players shined brightest.

Behind 7.1 innings of two-run baseball from Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Joey DeNato and the 12^th home run of the year from Big Ten Player of the Sam Travis, Indiana turned back Stanford 4-2 before a record crowd of 4,312 at Bart Kaufman Field to move within a game of claiming the Bloomington Regional.

“I thought that was college baseball at its finest,” Indiana coach Tracy Smith said. “Two quality opponents going at it and almost mirroring each other in terms of personnel and how the game was played.”

It was a back and forth game where the third-seeded Cardinal (31-24) didn’t allow Smith’s top-seeded Hoosiers to enjoy much breathing room.

The designated visitors, Indiana (44-13) opened the game with a run two batters in. With second baseman Casey Rodrigue on first after a leadoff walk, catcher Kyle Schwarber singled to right field on the first pitch he saw from junior left-hander John Hochstatter. Though Schwarber was caught in a rundown after advancing too far off second, Rodrigue would move around the bases to score.

Stanford provided a counter-punch to the opening blow delivered by the Hoosiers. A two-out single by third baseman Alex Blandino preceded a double to left center from center fielder Austin Slater, leveling the score 1-1 after one inning.

“The first inning, I don't know why it's been like that all year, but seems like I settle down after the first few innings,” DeNato said.

Hoosiers shortstop Nick Ramos scored Indiana’s second run of the game, crossing home on a two-out single to center by Travis in the third.

Travis’ next time up, he hit a towering home run to center field, his second in as many games of the Regional, to make it a 3-1 game in the fifth inning.

“The postseason play as a player, you know, coming up in key situations, that's kind of what you live for as a player,” Travis said.

Said Hochstatter of homer: “I got behind a little early, and I think he was sitting on a fastball and he beat me on it.”

Enjoying its largest lead of the game, Indiana almost let Stanford regain momentum.

Brett Michael Doran reached on a fielding error by third baseman Dustin DeMuth. Shortstop Tommy Edman put two Cardinal on the bases on with an infield single back to DeMuth. DeNato rebounded to force first baseman Danny Diekroeger to ground out to his Hoosier counterpart, Travis, ending the threat.

Slater moved Stanford within one run in the sixth, connecting on his second home run of the year, a shot over the left-center wall.

“Going into the game, we knew he was going to mix speeds, and he was pretty effective all game,” Slater said. “I was just trying to stay back and drive it to right field.  I got out in front of a couple balls.”

“I know they have strong one through four hitters,” DeNato said. “So I was maybe trying to be too fine with them, too careful, and kind of giving the middle of the lineup or lower half of their lineup better pitches to hit.”

Travis helped IU make sure that was as close as the Cardinal would come. Travis recorded his third hit of the game by leading off the eighth with a single. Scott Donley bunted Travis into scoring position, helping chase Hochstatter from the game. Will Nolden provided Indiana a 4-2 lead with a two-out single off lefty reliever Chris Castellanos.

“I knew he was a big curveball guy, so I was kind of just trying to fight that pitch off and eventually I got a fastball I could handle,” Nolden said.

“If he gets the strikeout or induces an out in that scenario, they get a lead‑off double, it's a whole different ballgame,” Smith said of his right fielder.  “So that was huge.”

Cardinal coach Mark Marquess echoed Smith’s sentiment.

“That was a big hit, a big hit for them,” Marquess said. “We had chances and we had runners in scoring position, might have bunted him over there in the eighth and ninth and it's a one‑run game. That was a big insurance run for them.”

The first of Stanford’s two opportunities with runners in scoring position in the final two innings, Edman led off the eighth with a double off DeNato. After striking out Diekroeger, DeNato was relieved by sophomore right-hander Jake Kelzer. Kelzer struck out Blandino and retired the hot-hitting Slater on a grounder 4-3 after a wild pitch moved Edman to third base.

“Anybody that spends their mornings at 5 a.m. staring at the bottom of the pool has some mental toughness,” Smith said of Kelzer entering the game in a pressure situation.

A pinch-hit, two-out ground-rule double to left center by Wayne Taylor allowed Stanford to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but Kelzer induced a grounder from Dominic Jose to Travis at first to end the game.

Hochstatter and DeNato matched each other in pitching 7.1 innings. Moving to 13-1, DeNato allowed two runs on six hits, walking one with four strikeouts. Falling to 10-2, Hochstatter allowed four runs on nine hits, walking two and striking out a pair.

“Well, the good news is we didn't use a lot of arms tonight,” Marquess said.  “So we have enough arms. It's a doubleheader tomorrow hopefully for us if we can win the first one.”

Stanford goes into its 1 p.m. elimination game against Youngstown State with a hot top of the order. Slater’s 2-for-4, two-RBI game paced the Cardinal and Edman went 2 for 4.

Travis went 3 for 5 with two runs and two RBI, and was joined by Nolden (2 for 4) and Ramos (2 for 4) with multi-hit games.

“I'm going to do whatever I can in my power to help the team out, and postseason play couldn't have come at a better time,” Travis said.

Notes

·        Indiana’s win was its 32^nd in 35 games

·        Three of the Hoosiers’ four runs came with two outs

·        Before Edman’s eighth-inning double, Stanford had just one runner in scoring position – Edman’s two-out single in the fifth inning that moved Doran to second

·        Marquess said DeNato, a native of San Diego, was a player the Cardinal did not recruit but wish it had

·        For a second consecutive day, Indiana saw a record crowd fill Bart Kaufman Field, including Indianapolis Colts quarterback and Stanford alum Andrew Luck