Indiana Baseball: Late Rally Leads Hoosiers Past Purdue, 2-1

Indiana gets another great start from Tommy Sommer and perfect bullpen work from Nathan Stahl and Matt Litwicki, and they get a win with a two-run rally in the eighth inning to beat Purdue.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana's formula of great pitching and timely hitting continued on Friday when the Hoosiers opened a weekend series with Purdue with a thrilling 2-1 victory at Bart Kaufman Field. 

It was the eighth straight win for the Hoosiers, who are now 8-1 overall and in the Big Ten. Starter Tommy Sommer, a lefty from Carmel, Ind., was brilliant for the third straight start, striking out 12 hitters over 6 2/3 innings. He now has 25 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings and is 2-0 with a 1.40 earned run average.

Sommer was terrific, but he actually left the game in the seventh trailing 1-0, and Purdue's first-inning run was holding up. But the Hoosiers railled in the bottom of the eighth to grab the lead.

Indiana opened the eighth with a single from center fielder Grant Richardson. who had two hits on the day. Freshman second baseman Paul Toetz lined a double down the left-field line, scoring Richardson from first to tie the game.

Three batters later, catcher Jacob Southern put the Hoosiers ahead with a single to right field, scoring Toetz from second to give Indiana a 2-1 lead.

In the top of the ninth, closer Matt Litwicki, a sophomore from Dyer, Ind., had two strikeouts to earn his third save of the year. Nathan Stahl, who got four straight outs after coming in for Sommer, got the win. 

Indiana’s eight-game Big Ten winning-streak is the longest since winning 10-consecutive from March 28 to April 25, 2014. The 8-1 start to the season is the best for the program since starting 10-1 in 2003. Indiana’s 8-1 start in Big Ten play is the team’s best since starting 12-1 in 2014.

Designated hitter Drew Ashley had a pair of hits to extend his on-base streak to 34-games dating back to the 2019 season. Ashley and Toetz have at least one hit in all nine games this season for the Hoosiers.

Litwicki has appeared in four games thus far, and still hasn't allow a hit or a run in 4 2/3 innings. Stahl, a freshman from Akron, Ohio., has been good, too. He hasn't allowed a run in 6 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and walking no one.

Much has been made about Indiana's great starting pitching all season, and rightly so, but the bullpen has been tremendous, too. They've been handed the ball in several tough situations this season, and they've answered the bell every time, allowing for comebacks to happen.

The same thing went down last weekend too against Penn State, when Connor Manous came in and got seven straight out, giving the Hoosiers the chance to rally late with three runs in the final inning to win 6-5 on a walk-off homer by Richardson.

The relievers have defined roles, and they've shined

"What I've been most proud of overall is guys embracing their roles and being the best they can be in that moment,'' Indiana coach Jeff Mercer said earlier in the week. "A lot of those guys have the ability to be starters, and those guys are very talented. You see what happens when you see a collective unit working together for one shared vision, and that's what our pitching staff has done.

"They're all excellent in their own way in their own time, and it trusting each other. In the last two weeks, I love the fact that we've played close games. We've had to hand the ball off in close games to the bullpen, and those guys have come through and been trustworthy. It speaks volume to their mental state, their competitiveness and their preparation from Coach (Justin) Parker, who's the best in the business.''

The two teams meet again on Saturday at Bart Kaufmann Field. The game starts at 2 p.m. ET. They'll play again on Sunday at 1 p.m.