Big Ten's No. 1 offense surrenders to No. 1 defense

In their season opener against Ohio State, the 22-21 Hoosiers were impressive. Junior center fielder Reggie Watson had four hits, accumulating two runs, one double and one stolen base. Senior right fielder Joe Kemp tallied three RBIs and his eighth home run of the season on two hits. \nThe junior right hander Josh Lewis, who earned his sixth win of the season, was the story on Friday. Lewis silenced the Buckeyes' offense for the first 3 and 2/3 innings and sat down seven of the last eight batters he faced in six innings of work. He gave up five hits and one run with seven strikeouts in the first of a four-game series as IU won 10-1. \n"We had a lot of momentum going into Saturday," said sophomore infielder Michael Nilles. "But our inability to make routine plays really hurt us." \nThe tables turned in Saturday's doubleheader for the Hoosiers. Facing the Big Ten's best pitching duo, IU was held to a combined three runs in both games by the league-leading .971 fielding percentage and second overall 3.80 ERA of the Buckeyes. \nOSU pitcher Cory Luebke shutout the Hoosiers in all seven innings of work and gave up his first of a total four hits in the fifth inning to junior first baseman Ryan Parker.\nDespite throwing six innings, senior pitcher Brian Lortz gave up three runs on six hits, earning his first complete game of the season as well as his fifth loss. The Hoosiers were shutout 3-0 in the first game. \nThe Big Ten's No. 1 offense still could not muster enough runs against OSU in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader. Once sophomore pitcher Matt Saba replaced sophomore Adam Poole with an early 5-1 deficit, Saba held OSU down and gave IU the chance to comeback. \nBy the time Buckeye reliever Rory Meister took the reigns the score was 5-3 with the Hoosiers threatening to make it close. But Meister surrendered no hits and no runs with four strikeouts. He earned his first save of the season and gave the Hoosiers their second loss in the series, 7-3. \n"We thought we would turn things around in Big Ten competition," Watson said. "We were not able to put everything together." \nIn Sunday's finale, IU struck early with two runs in the first inning. Junior left fielder Zach Boswell singled to bring in both Kemp and Parker. Freshman left-hander Brad Davidson gave up four runs on three hits in four innings, notching the score at four runs for each team. OSU would score in every inning following the fourth to put the 10-4 game almost out of the Hoosiers' reach. \nIU mounted a comeback in the eighth inning due in part to singles from Kemp and Parker. But with the score at 10-8 and the tying run on second, Watson struck out, ending the inning and the rally. The Hoosiers dropped to 5-15 in Big Ten play. \n"We have been producing offensively, but other teams were capitalizing off our pitching," Boswell said. "It is frustrating to lose three out of four every time out." \nIU returns home to play a four-game set against conference opponent Michigan State next weekend including a doubleheader on Saturday. Friday's game starts at 3 p.m. at Sembower Field. \n-- Contact Staff Writer Andrew Shaffer at asshaffe@indiana.edu.