Clark makes amends with walkoff home run for Hoosiers
By CRAIG DRAGASH
ISL Correspondent
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Valparaiso Crusaders had seized control of their game with the host Indiana Hoosiers for eight innings on Friday.
Cole Webb pitched seven innings allowing only one Hoosier run, and he left the game with a 2-1 lead. Ben Mahar then pitched a scoreless 8th inning, and Valparaiso took that one-run lead into the ninth. Everything was set up perfectly for the Crusaders, as they got two insurance runs in the top of the 9th on a two-out, two-run error by Indiana 2nd baseman Chad Clark, extending their lead to 4-1.
Better yet, they brought in closer Karch Kowalczyk, who had allowed a total of one run on the season. The door for the Hoosiers was all but shut.
It didn’t take long before Indiana forced Kowalczyk to give up his second run of the year, as Dustin DeMuth doubled in Michael Basil, who reached base on an infield single, to cut the lead to 4-2. Casey Smith, son of head coach Tracy Smith, made it back-to-back with an RBI double of his own, and the lead was now 4-3.
So, remember that guy who committed the two-run error in the top of the inning? Well, he made amends as he deposited a hanging slider from Kowalczyk over the left field wall for a walkoff home run to give Indiana the 5-4 victory. “I’ve never had a walkoff hit, it feels great”, said Clark.
“I think in fairness to him, he wasn’t the result of 3 runs”, said Smith. “I’m happy for him, that was a huge, huge hit.”
Scott Effross pitched 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief after coming on in relief of starter Aaron Slegers. “He (Slegers) just wasn’t sharp tonight”, said Smith. “That’s the beauty of this is that Scott did well behind him.”
This was the first time Indiana had hosted an NCAA regional, and it was a festive atmosphere that they players had to adjust to. “It’s hard not to see thousands of people”, said Casey Smith. “The one thing about this team is that we don’t drive on emotions, we stay pretty steady.” Clark added “at the start of the game there was definitely some nerves. They settled down and the bats started coming alive and we kind of played our game.”
Indiana will face Austin Peay at 6:00 on Saturday. The Governors defeated Florida earlier in the day 4-3 in a game that was delayed an hour and 20 minutes due to heavy rain. That game had some excitement as well as Justin Shafer gave Florida a 3-1 lead in the 6th with a 3-run homer, and then Michael Davis, who struck out three times against Florida starter Jonathan Crawford, hit a 3-run shot of his own in the 8th to give his team the victory after they held the Gators scoreless in the 9th. Florida will take on Valparaiso at 2:00 on Saturday in an elimination game.
If the Hoosiers win on Saturday, they will assure themselves a spot in the championship matchup on Sunday at 7:00. At 1:00 on Sunday, the winner of the Florida-Valparaiso game will face the loser of the Indiana-Austin Peay matchup.
