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Indiana Baseball Displays Some Strong Pitching in a 7-0 Blanking of the Cincinnati Bearcats

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Baseball

Another quick start for the offense was backed up by a solid pitching performance for the Indiana baseball program in a 7-0 victory over Cincinnati on Tuesday (March 8) at Bart Kaufman Field.

Indiana (5-6) scored five runs in the first inning and two more in the fifth, and five pitchers combined to strike out 14 Cincinnati (6-5) hitters in the shutout victory. Freshmen Josh Pyne and Brock Tibbitts hit home runs in the game, as IU scored its seven runs on just five hits.
 
The pitching staff faced just two batters over the minimum, as it allowed just two hits and didn't walk a batter over nine innings. The last shutout for IU came against Ohio State on May 24, 2021, in a game that the Hoosier pitching staff also allowed two hits.
 
Freshman Luke Hayden (2-0) picked up his second straight win as the midweek starter with three scoreless innings of work. He allowed just one base runner – a single – and stuck out a career-best five. Junior Nathan Stahl was the star out of the bullpen with three scoreless innings and four strikeouts. He allowed one hit and threw 41 pitches.
 
Offensively, Indiana walked nine times and collected five hits to score seven times. Pyne posted the third multi-RBI game of his career with a pair of RBIs, while Tibbitts, redshirt-junior Matthew Ellis, sophomore Hunter Jessee and freshman Carter Mathison each drove in one RBI.
 
For Cincinnati, Max Bergman came on to steady the game after the first two pitchers recorded just two outs. Bergman threw 4 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out three. Joe Powell collected both hits in the game with a pair of singles.
 
Scoring Recap
Bottom First
Indiana scratched across five runs without the benefit of a hit and saw three Bearcat pitchers. The first four batters reached base, as two walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases. Matthew Ellis drew a walk to push the first run across and Phillip Glasser came in to score on a wild pitch. After Brock Tibbitts drew a walk to re-load the bases with one out, Josh Pyne and Carter Mathison each pushed runs across with walks. Hunter Jessee grounded into a fielder's choice to make it 5-0.
Indiana 5, Cincinnati 0
 
Bottom Fifth
Tibbitts and Pyne hit back-to-back home runs with one out.
Indiana 7, Cincinnati 0
 
Up Next
Indiana will host Purdue Fort Wayne at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 9 at Bart Kaufman Stadium. The Hoosiers will then hit the road for a three-game series at Troy. First pitch of the series opener will be thrown at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 11.