Indiana Baseball Splits Doubleheader Against San Diego
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — After run-ruling Purdue on Wednesday, Indiana opened its first weekend series splitting a doubleheader against San Diego.
The Hoosiers' offense was just as hot in the first game of the two-game set as they continued to showcase their offensive power, recording six extra-base hits against the Toreros en route to a 9-2 win.
Indiana’s bats got off to a hot start while junior Elijah Dunham slapped a single through the infield into left field for an RBI, scoring sophomore Grant Richardson to tie the game in the opening frame.
The Hoosiers would bust the game open in the fourth inning.
Following a leadoff walk to senior Jordan Fucci, junior Cooper Trinkle ripped a double just inside the left-field line for an RBI, taking a 2-1 lead. Two batters later, junior Drew Ashley lined another hard-hit ball into left field, scoring two more runs as the Hoosiers grabbed a commanding lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
Indiana’s weekend pitching continued to outperform preseason expectations as the team only needed to use one arm out of the bullpen. Indiana’s starter, sophomore Gabe Bierman had his third strong performance in a row allowing just one earned run, five hits, striking out five batters all in 6.1 innings of work.
Bierman once again had his off-speed pitches working, as he nibbled along the outside of the strike zone, forcing the San Diego batters to swing through pitches. The righty was able to work out of trouble in the middle innings with a few key double plays, maintaining the Hoosiers’ lead, paving the way for senior Braden Scott to earn the five-out save.
In the second game of the afternoon, Indiana was on the other side of the beatdown.
"There are two types of players," Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer. "There are humble ones and ones that are about to be humbled."
The Hoosiers couldn't touch San Diego's game-two starter, Carter Rustad, as the right-handed pitcher carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning.
The longer Rustad kept Indiana out of the hit column, the more frustrated the team got as they expanded the strike zone. The Hoosiers consistently chased high fastballs that either end up as pop-ups or swinging strikes, leading to Rustad posting a career-high nine strikeouts on the afternoon.
Indiana showed signs of life in the seventh inning as they loaded the bases following a looping double from Dunham earlier in the inning that pushed across the team's first run of the game.
Unlike in the first game of the doubleheader when the Hoosiers had opportune batting, all their bats found was air as freshman Hunter Jessee and senior Collin Hopkins struck out to strand the bases loaded.
While game one was a showcase of flawless execution from Indiana,
"We didn't give ourselves a chance because of the way we approached our at-bats," Mercer said. "We didn't execute consistently on pitches out of the zone and didn't force (Rustad) to get off of plan A."
On the mound, the Hoosiers struggled after a dominating performance in the first game of the day. Junior Tommy Sommer struggled to get batters out as it took him 62 pitches to get through three innings.
Sophomore Matt Litwicki and freshman David Platt struggled out of the bullpen allowing the Toreros to extend their lead late in the game, shutting the door on a potential comeback by the Hoosiers.
"We don't have to change anything," said Mercer. "We just have to do what we've done for the first however many games we've played and just go back to do what we do."
- Indiana Looks to Continue Hot Start: The Hoosiers take on San Diego in their first home series. Click Here
- Indiana 2020 Schedule: Complete list of games for the Hoosiers. Click Here
- Indiana 2020 Roster: Complete 2020 roster for the Hoosiers. Click Here