Indiana baseball reaches Big Ten tournament semifinals with win over Ohio State

Indiana baseball advanced to the Big Ten tournament semifinals on Thursday with a 14-7 win over Ohio State.

The No. 3 seed Hoosiers (32-22) will play the winner of a game between No. 2 seed Nebraska and No. 7 OSU on Saturday morning.

Indiana is looking to reach the finals for the first time since 2014.

More: Indiana baseball outfielder Devin Taylor earns consecutive first team All-Big Ten honors

Indiana baseball is locked and loaded at the plate

Indiana’s 14 runs on Thursday tied a single-game record in the Big Ten tournament. The team’s 22 runs over the first two days of the tourney were also a record.

It was a team effort against Ohio State with nine different Hoosiers recording at least one hit and six batters recording at least one extra-base hit.

The offensive onslaught kicked off in the top of the second when Buckeyes starter Gavin DeVooght lost control. He gave free passes to the first three batters in the inning — he hit two batters and walked Brock Tibbitts — and didn’t make it out of the inning.

After Indiana second baseman Jasen Oliver knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly, Andrew Wiggins, Devin Taylor and Josh Pyne each hit doubles to give their team a 5-0 lead.

Ohio State tied the game in the bottom of the fourth only to give the lead right back the next inning. The Hoosiers didn’t look back after scoring a pair of runs in the fifth to go up 7-5.

Taylor, fresh off earning first team All-Big Ten honors for a second straight year, was 2 of 5 with two runs and two RBIs. He led off the top of the eighth inning with his 18th home run of the season. Pyne, Carter Mathison and Josh Stadler also had multiple hits.

Mathison and Tibbits each reached base four times.

Indiana’s bullpen faces down trouble

Indiana’s bullpen managed to close out the win after starter Connor Foley labored through four innings giving up five runs (one earned) on three hits, three walks and a hit batter, but it wasn’t without a few scary moments.

While Ohio State only had six hits, the Hoosiers walked 13 batters in nine innings. Aydan Decker-Petty issued six walks in three innings of work after entering the game for Foley. He ended up getting the win.

He stranded the bases loaded in the seventh inning by striking out Matthew Graveline to end the inning. He also struck out OSU leadoff hitter Trey Lipsey to end the sixth with runners on first and second.

The Buckeyes loaded the bases again in the eighth inning, but only managed to get a pair of runs.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana baseball has hit parade in Big Ten tournament win over OSU