On Wednesday the Indiana baseball team hosted Purdue for a rivalry matchup at Bart Kaufman Field.

Despite giving up a pair of early runs the Hoosiers were able to come back and take a lead late into the game thanks to strong offensive coordinators from some key players. In the bottom of the first inning, Big Ten home runs leader Cole Barr hit another one. The sophomore slugged his 12th long ball of the season to erase IU’s one-run deficit, making the score 3-2. In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Hoosiers tacked on a trio of runs via a Scotty Bradley solo shot and a two-RBI single by Matt Gorski.

The biggest hit of the evening came from an unexpected source, however. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Cade Bunnell stepped to the plate for just his 31st at-bat this season in a big spot. The bases were loaded for the senior, the winning run just 90 feet away, and the opposing pitcher was throwing heat. Bunnell was more than prepared for this thanks to the work he’d done beforehand.

“I walked through the (batting) cage the other day and Cade is in there on the fastball machine,” IU head coach Jeff Mercer said. “And it’s coming, right? Coming 90 or whatever. And Cade’s doing a no-stride swing and just hammering it … and I’m like, ‘Man, that’s really good.’

The infielder got away from that no-stride swing early in the final at-bat of Wednesday night’s game, but he got a hand from his coach to turn things around.

“I just yelled at him, ‘Widen out! Go to no-stride,’” Mercer said, “And he just kind of (nodded and pointed) at me.”

That adjustment was all that Bunnell needed. He sent a line drive down the left field line, just barely staying fair, to bring the winning run across to score. In what was possibly the biggest moment of Bunnell’s IU career, his head coach gave the credit to his preparation.

“You show up to work every day because you don’t know what day it’s going to be that you figure it out for the rest of your career,” Mercer said. “If Cade Bunnell is not in the cage working his butt off on a no-stride so that when he needs it against a guy throwing the ball 94 and overpowering him, he’s not prepared to go to that.”

Tommy Sommer was also a key part of the Hoosier victory. The lefthander tossed six shutout innings for IU, striking out six and allowing just one hit.

“Tommy was incredible,” Mercer said. “Such a competitive guy. Can execute pitches on both sides of the plate. Change-up was really good. You really trust him to be able to pitch in big moments, and he was terrific tonight.”

Now the Hoosiers will open a four-game series against Evansville on Friday. The first game will be held in Evansville, but the final three will be at Bart Kaufman Field on Saturday and Sunday.