Indiana Baseball Swept by Oregon, Drops to 1-5 in Big Ten Play

Indiana baseball started the week on a high note with a 12-4 win over Wright State, but it went downhill after that. The Hoosiers traveled west to Eugene to take on the Oregon Ducks in a three-game series and lost all three games.

Following Sunday's defeat, IU is 7-12 on the season and 1-5 in Big Ten play.

The Results

Game 1: Oregon 3, Indiana 2
Game 2: Oregon 5, Indiana 1
Game 3: Oregon 7, Indiana 6

Give credit to Indiana — after getting blown out in a pair of games against Washington last weekend, the Hoosiers played the Ducks tough. In fact, IU was in all three games and in position to win Friday's series opener and Sunday's series finale. Unfortunately for IU's sake, it just couldn't get the job done. But despite getting swept, there were some positives from the series.

Indiana's defense plays error-free ball

IU's defense has struggled all season long, but you probably wouldn't have noticed if you saw the Hoosiers play this weekend.

Indiana entered Friday's series against Oregon with 21 errors committed, but the Hoosiers didn't commit a single error in Eugene. That might not sound like that big of a deal, but before this weekend's series, IU's defense had been a train wreck.

The Hoosiers made five errors in their first series of the season against North Carolina and then committed five more errors against Western Kentucky.

IU's defense played cleaner baseball last weekend against Washington but still made a couple of errors. That wasn't the case this weekend, and if the Hoosiers have any shot at turning things around, they'll need to continue to play as close to error-free baseball as possible.

Indiana still struggles to finish

IU's bullpen has struggled all season long, and the bullpen failed to hold down the lead twice this weekend. Indiana had a two-run lead after four innings in Friday's series opener, but the bullpen allowed three unanswered runs in the later innings and lost.

The same scenario occurred Sunday. Indiana led 6-1 through three innings in the series finale, but the bullpen allowed six unanswered runs in the later innings and lost.

But I'm not going to point the finger at IU's bullpen for getting swept. The Hoosiers need to do a better job of tacking on runs in the later innings, not just relying on some early damage. So, until the Hoosiers put a complete game together, expect the losses to keep on coming.

Next up

Indiana's next game is at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday against Vanderbilt. The contest will be available via SECN (+).

Don't forget to buy the SI Indiana National Championship Cover.