College World Series: Strikeouts plague IU in 5-4 loss

OMAHA, Neb. -- Michael Basil knew he had been fooled on IU's final out of the game.

He was far from the first Hoosier to be fooled in the game.

With the tying run at third base, Basil sent a dribbler off the end of his bat to Mississippi State's Jonathan Holder to end the game, sending IU to its first loss of the NCAA Tournament, falling 5-4 to Mississippi State.

IU now faces an elimination game Wednesday night against Oregon State at 8 p.m. It will have to win three consecutive games to advance to the Championship Series.

Basil wasn't the only Hoosier to walk away from Monday's College World Series game at TD Ameritrade Park puzzled.

IU struggled offensively all game, striking out a season-high 14 times and leaving 10 men on base.

"It wasn't that we needed the two-out base hit or the big double or something like that," IU Coach Tracy Smith said. "We simply needed to put a baseball in play and we did not do that. And we've done a pretty good job of that all year.

"My thought is that it's an anomaly."

In the IU locker room, players said that the off-speed stuff was what they struggled with on the evening.

Basil said he saw two breaking balls from Holder, and he bit out in front on the second, thinking he could drive it.

"Tonight we struggled against the off-speed and laying off bad pitches," senior center fielder Justin Cureton said. "We didn't have our usual approach tonight and it showed and the result also showed.

"Mississippi State did execute its plan in making us chase and throwing off-speed and keeping us guessing. When you stray from the approach we have, bad things will happen, and that was the result tonight."

IU ended six separate innings with a strikeout, and also closed six frames with runners left on base.

In the bottom of the third inning, junior outfielder Casey Smith struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

Sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber, who had only struck out 30 times all season entering the tournament, has struck out three times in each of the first two games in the College World Series.

Despite the offensive struggles, the Hoosiers led for most of the game.

Mississippi State took the lead in the eighth inning on a Trey Porter single to right center field that scored two go-ahead runs and a 5-3 advantage.

IU mounted a comeback in the ninth inning when sophomore outfielder Chris Sujka pitch hit for junior outfielder Will Nolden with a single to right to start the inning.

One batter later, sophomore first baseman Sam Travis sent a double to the left field fence, moving Sujka to third.

Sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley grounded out, but Sujka scored to bring IU within a run.

That brought up Basil against Mississippi State's Holder.

"We had opportunities," Travis said. "We had guys on base. But like I said, that's baseball. Things aren't going to go your way. Today they didn't go our way. That's baseball. You just have to bounce back."

Mississippi State drew first blood off of freshman pitcher Will Coursen-Carr. After IU shut out Louisville in its first game in the College World Series, the Hoosiers allowed the Bulldogs a run just four pitches into the game.

Coursen-Carr allowed a single to Adam Frazier on the first pitch of the game. Then he he Alex Detz with the second pitch.

His third pitch flew in the dirt, with both runners advancing.

Hunter Renfroe hit a grounder to third on Coursen-Carr's fourth pitch, scoring Frazier from third, giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.

Starting with Renfroe, Coursen-Carr would settle in to retire 12 of his next 14 batters, with the two exceptions being a walk and an intentional walk.

IU answered in the bottom of the second, as Basil walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored to tie the game on a single by junior outfielder Casey Smith.

The Hoosiers took the lead in the third inning, with RBI hits from Travis and Donley to make it 3-1 IU.

That would be the score until the sixth inning.

Coursen-Carr finished with a final line of 5.1 innings pitched, and two earned runs on four hits with four strikeouts.

Halstead came on in the sixth, and takes the loss for IU. He allowed the hit to Porter in the eighth inning.

"They got the big two-out hit which, to me, inflates the numbers a little bit," Smith said of Halstead's outing.

"I mean, that ball's hit at somebody, no big deal. They just happened to fall tonight. So I'm not going to make more out of it than there is. I thought Ryan did his job. Mississippi State hitters did their job."

IU will have to defeat Oregon State to stay in the College World Series.

To do that, Travis said it is integral that the team get its bats working.

"That's just baseball," Travis said of the team's slow start with six total runs in two games in Omaha. "Sometimes things don't go your way. You're going to have your good days and your bad days."

"Hopefully we can bounce back and get these bats rolling."