After a phenomenal 16-4 start to the season that occurred entirely away from home, Indiana’s home and conference opener against Minnesota on Friday night ended in a 2-0 loss. Although both teams compete in the Big Ten, their paths to Friday’s series opener varied greatly.
Indiana had won 16 of its first 20 games, and went 5-0 at the Elon & UNCG Tournament last weekend, outpacing its opponents 59-3. The most prominent aspect of its success in that time frame and across the board was its explosive and persistent offense.
In contrast, Minnesota entered Bloomington with a 7-13 record, coming off of a 1-4 performance at the Hillenbrand Invitational, which contained a shutout loss to Long Beach State. The Minnesota lineup struggled with stretches of ineptitude against adversaries of varying quality last weekend and in the season at large.
However, very early in the first meeting between the two teams this season, it became clear that runs would come at a premium for both sides. As inning after inning ended swiftly without a score, the starting pitchers began to steal the show. Senior Sydney Schwartz took to the circle for Minnesota, and junior Brooke Mannon represented the home team in the same spot.
In the first inning, the dynamic and dangerous trio of Aly VanBrandt, Alex Cooper and Avery Parker led off Indiana’s lineup. In quick succession, VanBrandt and Cooper grounded out and Schwartz struck out Parker. Before one could blink, the most potent and effective area of Indiana’s batting order returned to the dugout without reaching base.
Although Schwartz stood as the Golden Gopher with the best ERA and had posted 40 more strikeouts than her Hoosier counterpart, Mannon held her own and pitched with intensity and consistency to match the pace of production of Schwartz. By the end of the game, and with the help of their respective field players, Schwartz and Mannon each recorded zero earned runs and two hits.
How, then, if both are pitching so well and so consistently, does a pitching duel reach its conclusion?
For the majority of the game, with both offenses remaining scoreless and both defenses standing firm, it felt as if one mistake from either pitcher would be enough to tip the balance of victory in either direction. That major blunder from a starting pitcher never came.
As Schwartz’s pitch count increased, she only appeared more confident and comfortable in the circle. Much of that likely has to do with the fact that Schwartz, among others in the Minnesota pitching staff, puts forth unpredictable pitch speeds that are tricky for batters to read and anticipate throughout the game.
At times this season, even if Indiana’s lineup was quiet in its first turn at the plate, the second appearances of the top of the order and the order as a whole contained flashes of brilliance and explosions of production. Against the shifty and vexing Schwartz, though, Indiana’s lineup never emerged from its hardships. As a matter of fact, it never scored and recorded just two true hits.
After the game, Indiana head coach Shonda Stanton spoke on Schwartz’s success.
“She did a great job of disrupting timing,” Stanton said.
In the battle between starting pitchers, Schwartz officially outlasted Mannon when Stanton and the Indiana dugout elected to send redshirt junior Taylor Hess out in Mannon’s place for the fifth inning and beyond. The decision came after Mannon and the Indiana defense held the Golden Gophers to only a single in the fourth inning, posting a strikeout and two ground outs.
Although the four-inning fight for glory between starting pitchers ended with Mannon’s possibly premature exit, Hess certainly possessed the tools to contend in the circle as the Hoosier with the most innings pitched this season. The first opponent of Hess’ to step up to the plate was none other than Schwartz, herself.
The fifth pitch of the at-bat cleanly smacked the barrel of Schwartz’s bat, sending the ball safely over the left field wall for a critical solo home run. Evidently, the way for a pitcher to win the duel in the circle in Bloomington on Friday night was to take matters into her own hands and initiate offense herself.
Moments after Indiana cautiously removed its starting pitcher from the contest, the opposing starter in the circle poetically provided the game’s decisive score. Schwartz went on to pitch a complete game and a shutout, disallowing the Hoosiers from coming close to matching or exceeding the run she confidently created.
Later, Schwartz opened the seventh inning with a single to right field on an identical 2-2 count. Her pinch runner, sophomore Jae Cosgriff, scored to provide insurance before Indiana’s lineup had the opportunity to stage one last rally attempt. Of course, that last rally gasp consisted of only one Hoosier reaching base, with Schwartz pitching strongly and the infield defending sharply.
Although Indiana lost, Stanton has a positive outlook on her pitching staff and the team’s direction.
“Our defensive pitching is going to give us a shot to win every game,” Stanton said, “and then our offense is pretty dynamic. We’ve just got to show up, and we struggled tonight offensively. It happens. It’s the game.”
In a game that contained a surprising lack of scoring, Indiana pitched well with both Mannon and Hess in the circle, but couldn’t outpace Minnesota’s pitchers at the plate in terms of offensive output. As it would turn out, the epic pitching duel commenced in the circle but concluded at the plate. Minnesota’s Schwartz recorded the decisive score in the fifth inning and contributed to the insurance run in the seventh inning.
With the weekend series set to resume at 4 p.m. on Saturday following the passing of inclement weather, Indiana will most prominently hope to put forth a greater sense of offensive output. For the moment, though, a previously 7-13 team is 1-0 in conference play and a previously 16-4 team is 0-1 in conference play in large part because of a pitcher’s impact in the batter’s box.
