Kaletha's Walk-Off Grand Slam Lifts Hoosiers to Win Over No. 17 South Alabama

Sunday, February 18

Conway, S.C. - Springs Brooks Stadium

10:30 a.m.

Indiana University

2-1

#17 South Alabama

3-1

South Alabama

Indiana

Kaletha's Walk-Off Grand Slam Lifts Hoosiers to Win Over No. 17 South Alabama

2/18/2018 2:30:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

CONWAY, S.C. – Indiana Baseball (2-1) rallied from a 4-3 deficit in the eighth inning to walk-off and defeat the 17^th-ranked South Alabama Jaguars on Sunday afternoon at Springs Brooks Stadium. Junior Logan Kaletha hit a walk-off grand slam as the Hoosiers earned the 8-4 victory.

The grand slam by Kaletha was the first home run of his career in a IU uniform. The centerfielder finished the day going 2-for-3 with the home run, five RBI and two stolen bases. Indiana stole eight bases in the game led by three from senior Laren Eustace.

Junior Luke Miller recorded his first hit of the year on a solo home run in the eighth inning to tie the game at four. Sophomore Jeremy Houston also provided two runs for the Hoosiers on a two-run double.

After South Alabama jumped out to a three-run lead, Indiana rallied with two outs in the bottom of the second inning. Eustace worked a leadoff walk and stole second before freshman Justin Walker's hard-hit ball was muffed by the shortstop, allowing Eustace to move to third. Houston delivered a two-run double to the gap and Kalteha followed with an RBI double down the left field line to square the game up at three apiece.

The Jaguars got a leadoff double in the top of the sixth inning which would lead to the go-ahead run for the visitors on the scoreboard. A single with one out put runners on the corners for South Alabama before another base hit through the left side gave the Jaguars a 4-3 advantage.

After the Hoosiers went scoreless in the sixth and seventh, Miller connected on his first hit of the season, a solo home run to left centerfield to knot the game up at four.

Indiana's bullpen was strong again, as senior Brian Hobbie (three innings, one run), senior B.J. Sabol (two innings, no runs), and sophomore Cal Krueger (one inning, no runs) combined for six innings, three hits, one run, three strikeouts and two walks. Sabol didn't allow a hit in his appearance and neither did Krueger, who eventually picked up the win in the stat sheet.

IU's bottom of the ninth started with freshman Elijah Dunham getting hit by a pitch. Sophomore Matt Gorski came in to pinch run for Dunham and advanced to second on Eustace's sacrifice bunt. After senior Colby Stratten was intentionally walked, he and Gorski successfully completed the double steal. That forced USA to intentionally walk Houston to load the bases. From there, Kaletha lifted a towering home run to the Indiana bullpen in left field to walk it off.

Indiana closes its Myrtle Beach trip with an 11 a.m. first pitch against 2016 National Champion Coastal Carolina on Monday.