Errors doom Hoosiers in loss to Louisville

IU rushed the mound in jubilation after its first Big Ten win since 1996. Now, it is facing the realities of postseason play.

The Hoosiers’ first trip to the NCAA Regional in 13 years began with an 8-2 loss Friday against Louisville. The game was marred by mistakes and placed IU in its current elimination-game jam. The Hoosiers must defeat Vanderbilt at 3p.m. Saturday at Jim Patterson Stadium to extend its postseason.

“We just didn’t play good defense tonight,” IU coach Tracy Smith said at post game press conference. “We didn’t deserve to win this game tonight, and Louisville did. We made mistakes tonight we just don’t normally make. Baseball is a game of controlled emotion and we didn’t have that tonight.”

IU led 2-0 after scores by left fielder Kipp Schutz and third baseman Vince Gonzalez. As second team All-American Eric Arnett hurled from the mound, IU seemed poised for an early-game surge.

The Hoosiers failed to contend despite their early showing before a Jim Patterson Stadium record crowd of 4,605, instead waning in the latter innings. The Cardinals went on to post eight unanswered runs while capitalizing on three IU errors.

“By far, this is the worst game we have played in a long time,” Smith said.

The most damning error came in the fifth inning on a routine fly ball that was set to get IU out of a bases-loaded jam. Louisville right fielder Ryan Wright sent a simple blooper to first base, but first baseman Jerrud Sabourin bobbled the ball and allowed third baseman Chris Dominguez and DH Phil Wunderlich to score.

IU mistakes accounted for four runs and came in varied circumstances. Two batters made it on base by way of fielding errors and scored later in the second inning. Two others reached home on a fifth inning fielding error.

The costly miscues provided the Cardinals a 5-2 lead it would never relinquish. The Hoosiers would never stop Louisville’s offensive onslaught, nor would it ever mount a score of its own.

“Definitely a huge play,” Dominguez said of Sabourin’s dropped fly ball. “They didn’t capitalize and we did.”

Dominguez’s statement wasn’t limited to defense.

Louisville pitcher Justin Marks pitched seven innings of virtually untested baseball. He threw eight strikeouts and allowed only four hits and two earned runs. IU’s batting order, which is usually apt at the plate, only came up with six hits and two runs. It also stranded eight base runners.

“We didn’t swing it as well as we like,” Schutz said. “Marks is a good pitcher. Hopefully we can pick it back up and get the bats going tomorrow.”  

Arnett was a victim of the offensive letdown and defensive mishaps. The 6-foot-5 athlete made countless plays on the ball for easy outs. He threw a total of seven innings in which he allowed five runs and limited Louisville to only five hits. He only allowed one earned run.

The contest marked the third meeting for the two teams, each previously played game also ended in an IU loss.

Louisville did not have must trouble disposing of IU during the regular season. With a 15-1 blasting in their first meeting and a 10-8 Bloomington win to their credit; the Hoosiers may have faced the one team capable of stopping their momentum.