Hoosiers fail to cut down Sycamores

Playing its fourth game in five days, the IU baseball team lost 5-3 at in-state rival Indiana State on Tuesday afternoon.\nAfter going 2-1 at this weekend’s AutoZone Classic in Memphis, Tenn., the Hoosiers (3-4) had their chance against the Sycamores on Tuesday but did not cash in when it counted, leaving 12 runners on base for the game.\n“We’re a team built on pitching, defense, and finding ways to score runs,” IU assistant coach Ty NealMichael Nilles popped out to left field to end the inning.\nThe Sycamores jumped on IU freshman starting pitcher Chris Squires in the bottom half of the inning, scoring four runs on a grand slam from right fielder Nick Ciolli. \nStarting IU freshman left fielder Kipp Schutz left the game after the home run with an apparent left shoulder injury that he received while attempting to make the play.\nFollowing the game, Neal was uncertain of the extent of the injury but did say Schutz would get X-rays on the injured shoulder.\nDown 4-0 early, IU began to chip away at the deficit when freshman left fielder Sterling Mack scored from third base on an Indiana State wild pitch in the second inning.\nTwo innings later, in the fourth, Mack would score his second run of the day. Freshman second baseman Evan Crawford hit a sacrifice fly to left field, driving in Mack to score from third.\nClawing back into the game one run at a time, IU took advantage of its second opportunity with the bases loaded. \nIn the sixth, senior designated hitter Josh Richardson reached base on a fielder’s choice with Mack scoring his third run, bringing the Hoosiers within one run of Indiana State.\nWith IU inching closer, the Sycamores finally got to freshman reliever Billy Kitchen , scoring a run to extend their lead to 5-3.\n“Billy did well,” Neal said. “The biggest thing was that he gave us a chance to win. He allowed some base runners, but he pitched out of it.”\nKitchen came into the game during the second inning and pitched four innings of one-hit ball before giving up a lone unearned run while also hitting four batters. Sophomore reliever Joe Vicini replaced Kitchen and quickly got the Hoosiers out of a jam, inducing a double play.\nBut in the eighth and ninth innings, IU was unable to capitalize with runners on, a trend that lasted all day. \nIn the eighth, the Hoosiers stranded two runners and hit into a double play in the ninth after getting the lead-off man on. Junior first baseman Jon Fixler flew out to end the game.\nEarlier this season, IU head coach Tracy Smith expressed his lack of concern about his team falling behind in the early innings.\n“It’s more or less just the pitcher coming out from the get-go and taking control of the game,” Smith said at a Feb. 28 practice. “Baseball is baseball whether you’re down 10 (runs) or up 10. You just keep playing inning by inning, pitch by pitch.”\nThe Hoosiers return to Bloomington for their first home game of the season today, with a scheduled start of 3 p.m. at Sembower Field. Junior Chris McCombs (0-1, 4.91 ERA) is slated to take the mound for IU. McCombs took the loss in IU’s season opener at Troy, a 4-3 defeat in 10 innings.