Indiana stifled the competition Wednesday at Sembower Field in polished fashion. The Hoosiers did not hit the Morehead State out of the park nor throw a perfect game but played fundamentally sound.

The Hoosiers took a 5-1 contest on a chilly afternoon in Bloomington en route to it’s third straight win and six of seven, not including a postponed game in Iowa City.

Pitcher Drew Leininger rung up 10 strikeouts while allowing only one run in six innings pitched. Pitchers Johnny Hoffman and Matt Dearden brought up the middle relief allowing only two runs by Hoffman. Pitcher Casey Smith closed the game.

On the offensive side, the home team scored five runs on nine hits, including two in the eighth on a double by Dylan Swift scoring TC Knipp and Jerrud Sabourin to essentially put the game out of reach.

It’s been quite clear in recent weeks that IU will be very aggressive on the base paths. In the 7th inning, with a comfortable 3-1 lead, Swift stole first base safely reaching second.

A very upbeat and humorous head coach Tracy Smith explained the decision. “We used to sit back and lay back on some doubles but you can’t do that now you have to do some different things offensively, and truthfully on the Swift steal it was a missed hit and run, we just got lucky,” coach said smiling.

Perhaps the funniest moment of the game came in the ninth inning. The crowd was beginning to grow louder as IU needed just one more strikeout to reach 12 for the day. When that happens, everyone in attendance receives a snack pack coupon from Mother Bear’s. On a 2-2 count with one out, the drum was beating loud in the stands as Casey Smith reared back and fired a swinging strike to put the 12th K under the press box. The crowd erupted.

A collective and solid effort with zero errors and the aforementioned three game win streak suggests this team is starting to peak at the right time.

“I like the way our guys are playing, these guys play for each other, they’re into each other, and they’re very unselfish,” Smith added about his young squad.

The Hoosiers now await a three game home stand with the Golden Gophers of Minnesota. When asked how he feels about playing a “struggling” Minnesota team, even he said he does not like to use the word “struggling” when talking about any team.

It’s clear the team is feeling focused going forward, they are ready for Minnesota.