No. 23 Indiana Baseball Beats Miami of Ohio 12-6 in Home Opener; Pyne Drives in 4

No. 23 Indiana baseball (3-1) defeated Miami of Ohio Tuesday afternoon at Bart Kaufman Field. The RedHawks, who were swept in three games at No. 21 South Carolina over the weekend, kept it close for most of the game until the Hoosiers pulled away late.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — No. 23 Indiana didn’t pull away from Miami (Ohio) until the eighth inning of Tuesday’s home-opener but came away with a 12-6 win.

It is the third time the Hoosiers have handily beaten Miami in their season home-opener.

Infielder Josh Pyne led Indiana with four runs batted in. He hit his first home run of the season in the third inning for Indiana’s first lead of the game, 4-2. Pyne batted 2-for-9 in the first two games of the season against stiffer competition and has hit 5-for-10 in the last two games.

“Just really trying to stay within myself and do what the team needs out of me,” Pyne said postgame. “I think that's the big thing. Just answer the call and come up big for the team. It was relieving, not trying to hit home runs but just trying to trying to drive the ball to the middle of the field … Sometimes you miss them a little bit and then they get over the fence, so.”

Two solo home runs by the RedHawks in the first two innings — one crushed by former Hoosier Evan Appelwick — gave Miami the early lead. Hoosier freshman Seth Benes started in his debut and pitched one inning, striking out two.

Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer used this strategy in the past two home openers and usually empties his bullpen in midweek games. Two seasons ago, then-freshman and hometown kid Luke Hayden started. Last season, Seti Manase — in his first season at the Power 5 level — opened. And on Tuesday, another new player to the program in Benes opened.

The RedHawks threatened to retake the lead in the fifth inning. Jack Moffitt, in his first career appearance with the Hoosiers, ran into trouble after his five-pitch fourth inning. Miami put two runners in scoring position, who later scored on an infield grounder and perfect bunt base-hit. But just after the RedHawks tied it 4-4, Indiana scored three runs in the bottom half to retake the lead, 7-4.

Redshirt freshman Joey Brenczewski, filling in at first base for the injured AJ Shepard, drove in two runs on a double to left field. Brenczewski made his first-career start in an Indiana uniform on Tuesday. So did highly-touted freshman Andrew Wiggins, who picked up his first collegiate hit over the weekend. On Tuesday, his sacrifice-fly — and first-career RBI — scored Indiana’s first run in the second inning to tie the game.

Indiana improved to 3-1 and will play three games at Baylor this weekend. Friday’s series-opener starts at 7:30 p.m. ET and will air on ESPN-plus. 

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