Heading into Friday night as winners of four of its past five, Indiana (19-23, 6-13 Big Ten) looked to continue that momentum Friday night, as it resumed conference play at Bart Kaufman Field against the Iowa Hawkeyes (24-16, 8-11 Big Ten) in the first of a three-game set.
The Hoosiers were never able to find their footing on Friday night, as they trailed the entire way and ultimately lost to the Hawkeyes, 12-2.
Indiana ace Tony Neubeck, who had been 4-0 with a 2.42 ERA at home, struggled throughout his outing, exiting after just four innings pitched. The Hawkeyes tagged the southpaw with seven hits and seven earned runs, highlighted by a three-run homer from Miles Risley.
Iowa wasn’t done there, as in the seventh inning, Max Burt crushed a two-run shot over the Indiana bullpen off of Hoosier reliever Two more long balls from Carter Geffre and Kellen Strohmeyer in the top of the ninth sealed the deal on a four-homer night for the Hawkeyes.
The Hoosiers’ offense, fresh off of a 20-run performance against Ball State last Tuesday, were quiet for the majority of Friday’s contest, lacking the timely hitting that's been a problem for Jeff Mercer’s squad throughout the season.
Despite picking up nine hits, Indiana only brought two runs across for the game. The Hoosiers were just 2-for-17 with runners on-base and 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
The cream and crimson struck out eleven times for the night, and sophomore Will Moore picked up the golden sombrero, striking out in all four of his plate appearances.
Indiana will look to even up the series with Iowa tomorrow afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. Eastern.
