Coming into this weekend’s series with Iowa, Indiana baseball was 6-12 in Big Ten play and 13th in the conference standings, just one position outside of the top 12 which is the cutoff for the Big Ten tournament in May. Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes came in 7-11, just one game ahead of the Hoosiers.
The result? A massive three-game sweep in the visitors’ favor, as Indiana now sits at 19-24 overall and 6-15 in Big Ten play, good for second-to-last in the conference standings. Iowa, meanwhile, moved to 26-16 overall and 10-11 in Big Ten play, comfortably into Big Ten Tournament contention.
Sunday’s series finale, a 7-4 win for the Hawkeyes, got away from the Hoosiers fairly quickly. It was nearly a carbon copy of the first two games of the weekend until Indiana fought back with four unanswered runs between the fifth and sixth innings. Ultimately, the 7-0 lead Iowa jumped out to was too much for the Hoosiers to overcome, and it’s a weekend-long issue Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer alluded to postgame.
“We didn’t execute well early on the mountain, or defensively,” Mercer said. “And then we weren’t able to really break through from an offensive standpoint, and put ourselves in a position in all three games, to have a lead and then play with the lead and try to extend it.”
Junior RHP Jackson Yarberry made the Sunday start for the Hoosiers, and the 14th-ranked offense in the country wasted no time against him. In the top of the first, senior utilityman Caleb Wulf singled to left to put the Hawkeyes on the board. One inning later, Iowa plated two more on a two-RBI triple by senior infielder Gable Mitchell.
The Hawkeyes scored two more runs against Yarberry in the top of the fourth. Redshirt junior infielder Ben Swails launched a solo home run to left, and senior outfielder Miles Risley made it 5-0 with an RBI double to right center. Yarberry allowed four earned runs on seven hits in his four innings pitched while walking two and striking out two.
Graduate student RHP Gavin Seebold entered in the fifth in relief of Yarberry, pitching the rest of the way for Indiana while allowing zero earned runs in his five innings pitched. Iowa’s final two runs of the game were scored via two separate Hoosier errors on the same play, as redshirt freshman catcher Brayden Ricketts sailed a throw over second base trying to catch a runner stealing, and sophomore outfielder Cole Decker made an errant throw trying to throw out the same runner at third.
Indiana finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth as sophomore infielder Will Moore scored on a ground ball double-play with the bases loaded by sophomore outfielder Hogan Denny. The Hoosiers scored three more runs in the bottom of the sixth, with RBIs from sophomore infielders Jake Hanley and Cooper Malamazian, as well as freshman outfielder Cal Gates.
However, Indiana stranded the bases loaded to end the inning for the second time, limiting any chance it had to work its way back into the game. After a disastrous weekend in which the Hoosiers were outscored 28-8, Mercer maintained that the team’s mindset remains the same entering the final weeks of the season.
“You just have to pick yourself up and go get back to work,” Mercer said. “We have an opportunity to get back up and get better and play good baseball the last three weeks. And so that’s what you have to do.”
Indiana will look to do just that, as the final stretch of the season begins this Tuesday with the Hoosiers going on the road to face the Louisville Cardinals at 6 p.m.
