Hoosiers continue to struggle

Freshman leftfielder Kevin Mahar entered the Hoosiers' lineup when freshman-slugger Brian Bucciarelli was sidelined with a broken right hand. Mahar's first assignment: Register hits and drive in runs against Big Ten-defending champions Minnesota.\nMahar got the job done, going 6-for-14 with two doubles in four games against the Gophers. But his teammates weren't as successful as the Hoosiers lost three of four games to Minnesota at Sembower Field this weekend.\n"I wanted to make the most of my opportunity," Mahar said. "It's disappointing that we couldn't come out with today's game after the other two we lost. We didn't capitalize some of the opportunities we had with runners on base."\nHe drove in a run and went 2-for-5 in Sunday's game, a 4-3 loss in 10 innings. The Hoosiers took the Gophers to extra innings in two games while both teams smacked 92 hits in the four-game series. But IU couldn't rely on its shaky pitching, and the Gophers defense limited IU's baserunning during the weekend.\n"We just need to be more productive," coach Bob Morgan said of Sunday's loss. "We scored three runs on 13 hits. We need to be more productive in those situations. We had our opportunities, our kids competed hard. The disappointing thing is we went 1-and-3 when we could have gone 2-and-2 at least."\nSaturday's second game, Minnesota 15, IU 6\nFreshman Chris Behrens entered the series against Minnesota leading IU's pitching staff with an earned-run average of 1.80. He left the series battered.\nIn his first start since March 20, Behrens gave up four runs to the Gophers Saturday -- more earned runs than he had given up all season. After striking out the leadoff man in the first, Behrens allowed three singles and a double to give the Gophers a 3-0 lead.\n"We hoped to carry the intensity over to the second game, but our pitching let us down," Morgan said. "We're thin there. We just didn't get any pitching."\nIn the second inning, Behrens walked the first batter, allowed a hit off a bunt and was credited with an error as he was unable to throw out another bunt to load the bases. Another Minnesota run scored to make the tally 4-2.\nThe Hoosiers scored twice in the first inning to edge within a run, 3-2, but Minnesota went on to score seven runs in the third to put the game out of reach.\n"I think we swung the bats pretty well and took advantage of their mistakes," Minnesota coach John Anderson said. "I think the kids were a little disappointed we didn't finish them off in the second game. Obviously, I think that disappointment carried over into the second game and probably served as motivation for us."\nSaturday's first game, IU 6, Minnesota 5\nThe Hoosiers chipped away at the Gophers four-run lead in three innings, thanks in part to junior Gibran Hamdan's career-high three RBI. \nIn the bottom of the fourth with Minnesota leading 4-0, sophomore Vasili Spanos doubled in senior Blake St. Clair for a run. Junior Gibran Hamdan hit a two-run homer, his first home run of the season, in the fifth.\nThe Hoosiers tied the game, 4-4, in the sixth after St. Clair led off the inning with a stand-up triple, his fourth of the year and second of the game. Sophomore Joe Sadler brought in St. Clair on a fielder's choice to make the score 5-4. Freshman Mark Calkins then singled, and Hamdan followed with a double off the centerfield wall to tie the score at 5-5.\n"St. Clair's a very steady hitter for us," Morgan said. "He did a good job at the plate. He's a senior, so we expect him to do that. Hamdan's getting some confidence at the plate. He swung the bat well throughout most of the day."\nIU won the game in the bottom of the ninth after senior Dan Haegele was safe at first base on an infield hit. Sophomore Nick Evans drove in Haegele on a fielding error by the Gophers rightfielder.\nFriday's game, Minnesota 7, IU 3\nThe Gophers relied on 15 hits, including three doubles, and a complete game from pitcher Mike Kobow to capture the series-opener in nine innings. For the Hoosiers, senior pitcher Nick Otte (5-1) allowed seven earned runs on 12 hits to take the loss. In the final four innings, sophomore Jacob Cary gave up only three hits and no runs.\n"There wasn't much time to warm up," Cary said. "The slider wasn't working at the beginning, but I have to give credit to my performance on ignorance. I just went in there not knowing who the other team was"