Indiana held off a late Ohio State charge to win Game 1 of the two-game Battle For The Mitten challenge in Lansing, Mich. Friday night.

The game was part of a doubleheader that also included Michigan vs Michigan State. Both games were held at the baseball stadium for the Lansing Lugnuts minor league team.

Ohio State led early thanks to a penalty goal from Conor Forestal and then a try from Mike Kwarteng—Josh Leidich made the key line break for that.

Indiana, meanwhile, was coming away empty even with some pressure on the Ohio State line. The Hoosiers had a kickable penalty missed before the Kwarteng try.

Tunnel walk pic.twitter.com/QIqlhX1ROT

— Ohio State Rugby (@OSUrugby) September 27, 2019

But things changed for IU right after that try. An Indiana player was hit in the air on the restart, and IU pressured from there, and eventually a strong scrum shove from IU set up freshman No. 8 Russell Lemaster, formerly of HS rugby powerhouse Royal Irish, to pick up and go over.

The teams battled hard after that but Ohio State held the lead 8-5 at the break.

Another Royal Irish product, front-rower Andy Guhl, scored for IU early in the second half, capping off some good pressure from the Hoosiers. Mike Nettleton converted and it was 12-8 Indiana.

Moments later, Case Fleck burst through ahd fed Nettleton for the fullback to score. He converted and it was 19-8. Ohio State replied, with Kwarteng once again getting involved. This time his break set up Ben Richards for the try and a 19-13 scoreline with about 20 to go.

Indiana once again answered a score with a score. Iason Terezis made the break and Nettleton was once again right there for the offload and the try. That made it 24-13, and a few minutes later Nettleton would add a penalty goal for a 27-13 lead. Ohio State would need two converted tries to tie it. They got one. That made it 27-20, and there was time for more, but Indiana defense just held.

With the victory Indiana improved to 2-0 in the Big 10, while Ohio State dropped to 1-1. IU has Wisconsin, Michigan State, Michigan, and Purdue left on its conference schedule. Ohio State also has four games left: Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin.