Redshirt junior Grant Holderfield hopped off the mound to back up sophomore catcher TJ Schuyler as a pop fly was well hit to left field with runners on second and third base for Northern Kentucky University. When Holderfield turned around, however, he wasn’t greeted with a throw from junior left fielder Devin Taylor.
Instead, the ball was still in the air and carrying well.
The wind was blowing at 13 miles an hour from right to left field, causing the would-be routine fly ball to turn into a three-run home run.
“We’ve been in five of those games that we’ve lost,” Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer said after the loss. “We’ve been in a position to win the game in the last two (losses) and we haven’t done it.”
Despite the Hoosiers’ 14 hits and 11 runs scored in the game, their performance was outshined by their competition. The Norse jumped on the Indiana pitching staff early in the first inning, scoring three runs and never giving up the lead as they went on to win 13-11.
“We have to put together a consistent run of quality baseball in all phases of the game,” Mercer said. “We’re good enough to do that.”
It was a bullpen game for the Hoosiers with freshman right-handed pitcher Henry Brummel getting the start for the first time in his career. However, he exited the game without recording a single out, walked two batters and allowed three runs on one hit.
Of the eight Hoosier pitchers who took to the mound in the game, only two of them escaped without giving up a run. Seven pitchers gave up multiple earned runs.
“I wanted to get a bunch of different guys in and see kind of what we had a little bit,” Mercer said. “I think for us right now, we’re just tremendously inconsistent.”
Sophomore lefty Ryan Rushing relieved Brummel with runners on the corners with no one out before freshman outfielder Mark Nowak hit into a fielder’s choice, which put Northern Kentucky up 3-0 early.
The Norse’s offense notched a five-run fourth inning after 6-foot-5 junior pitcher Ayden Decker-Petty entered the game in the third inning. Decker-Petty, who has seen limited action this season entering with just 2 1/3 innings under his belt, gave up the first two runs and was relieved by Holderfield.
“The main issue that we had with a lot of those guys was not having a third pitch,” Mercer said. “They were successful with it, and we just weren’t able to execute at the same level that way.”
The Hoosiers’ execution was rough over the duration of the final five innings of the game, giving up six hits, four runs and a back-breaking five of their eight walks. Junior pitcher Will Eldridge, who had made three appearances prior to Indiana’s meeting with the Norse, threw one inning of shutout baseball, allowing a hit and a walk.
It was in the bottom half of that inning in which sophomore outfielder Andrew Wiggins made it a one run game with a 374-foot home run. Then, the duo of Indiana freshman Caleb Koskie and sophomore Seth Benes gave up four runs in the following 1 2/3 innings.
Redshirt junior Pete Haas finished the final 2 1/3 innings of the game allowing just one hit without surrendering a run. The transfer from Stonehill University pitched his best game for the Cream and Crimson against Northern Kentucky after giving up seven earned runs in his first 6 2/3 innings across three appearances.
Indiana now sits at 6-7 on the season as Big Ten play opens this weekend against Penn State.
