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The Indiana Daily Student

sports baseball

Errors, hit batsmen by Hoosiers spoil Smith’s homecoming to Ohio

Baseball vs. Evansville

On a day when one of the best offenses in the Big Ten didn’t deliver at the plate, IU’s pitching and defense were nowhere to be found in the final three innings.

Three IU errors and five hit batsmen told the story as IU (18-10) lost 6-1 to Miami (Ohio) (14-14) Tuesday in Oxford, Ohio.

Leading 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh, the wheels fell off for the Hoosiers.

After junior pitcher Drew Leininger gave up a leadoff single, the RedHawks caught a break when senior catcher Wes Wilson over threw sophomore Micah Johnson on a sacrifice bunt attempt, placing two runners in scoring position.

IU recorded its first out of the seventh on an RBI groundout to Johnson, which made the score 1-1.  

Senior Matt Carr was called from the IU bullpen to get out of the jam. However, Carr followed an intentional walk with back-to-back HBP, giving the RedHawks the one-run lead.

Jon Edgington, the No. 9 hitter in the RedHawks lineup, hit a sacrifice fly that gave Miami its third and final run of the inning.

The only run IU put on the board came on a unique play in the top of the fifth inning.

The fifth inning started off with senior T.C. Knipp drawing a walk, followed by sophomore Michael Basil’s sacrifice bunt that led to a throwing error by the RedHawks, putting runners on second and third with no outs.

However, the Hoosiers could not turn it into a multi-run inning as sophomore Justin Cureton and freshman Dustin DeMuth both struck out.

With Wilson facing a 0-2 count and two outs on the board, Knipp made the 90-foot dash and stole home.

IU coach Tracy Smith used the midweek game as a staff day for his pitchers, throwing seven different hurlers.

Ohio native Brian Korte started Tuesday’s game and pitched four innings of no-hit ball for the Hoosiers. The freshman was in the weekend rotation earlier this season, and his performance Tuesday was reminiscent of the complete game he threw against Pittsburgh during spring break.

However, Korte was one of the lone bright spots for IU as the Hoosiers recorded only five hits, including a 1-for-14 performance by the first four hitters in the lineup.

For Smith, this marks the fourth straight season that his Hoosiers have lost in Oxford to the team he used to play and coach for.

Tied atop the Big Ten standings after its first weekend series, IU will play its conference home opener Friday as Ohio St. comes to Sembower Field.

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