IU was well on its way to a perfect spring break. Leading Penn State by five runs in the sixth inning Sunday the Hoosiers were close to extending their 12-game winning streak. Then the errors happened.
In its 13-7 loss at Penn State (4-14, 1-1) on Sunday, IU (15-5, 1-1) made eight errors, with six in the seventh and eighth innings. Penn State scored 11 runs in those two innings.
“We just didn’t play defense,” IU Coach Chris Lemonis said. “If you don’t play defense it’s hard to win.”
The defensive breakdown came after IU won the first game of the doubleheader 5-4 in 12 innings. Senior designated hitter Scott Donley hit a walk-off single, scoring sophomore first baseman Craig Dedelow from third base.
He said with Dedelow on third base and less than two outs he was just trying to hit the ball somewhere in the outfield. He did just that when he drove a fastball over the plate into center field.
Donley finished the first game of the doubleheader 2-for-4 with his 12th inning RBI. In the second game he also went 2-for-4, this time driving in two runs.
“I was seeing the ball a lot better this weekend,” Donley said. “I had a couple kinks in my swing I had to work out.”
The second game of the doubleheader was the fourth straight time Donley has had two hits in a game. The second time came Tuesday in IU’s 4-0 win against Valparaiso, and the first came last Sunday in IU’s 10-4 win against Cal State Fullerton.
The win against Fullerton completed a sweep of the ranked Titans during the opening weekend of spring break. IU made three errors in the entirety of the sweep.
In the four games against Cal State Fullerton and Valparaiso the IU bullpen did not allow a run. Sunday, the bullpen allowed 13 runs, six of them earned.
Senior closer Ryan Halstead pitched a scoreless 12th inning to record his team-leading fourth save. In the finale he was called into a bases-loaded situation with one out and the game still tied 7-7. Halstead hit the first batter he faced, giving Penn State an 8-7 lead. The second batter he faced hit a bases-clearing triple to left field.
By the time he exited the game with two outs in the eighth, Penn State was winning 12-7.
In Halstead’s last three games, two against Cal State Fullerton and one against Valparaiso, he did not allow a run in 3.1 innings pitched.
At the time, Lemonis attributed his good performance to pitching in Bloomington. Halstead was more comfortable pitching at home than away from it.
But Sunday, Lemonis said Halstead looked fine. He said the entire bullpen looked fine. In fact he didn’t place any of the blame for the loss with his bullpen saying their performance was good enough for an IU victory.
“We just didn’t make any plays,” Lemonis said. “It was just error after error. Just so many errors.”
The players checked out mentally, Lemonis said. IU was leading 7-0 in the fourth inning before allowing Penn State to score 13 unanswered runs.
Lemonis said he doesn’t think IU’s complacency in the field will be a lasting problem. He said he has complete faith his team will return to playing clean baseball Tuesday against Louisville.
Donley agreed with his coach. He said the loss is over and done with and that his team will not have a problem against Louisville.
“It’s baseball so things like that happen,” Donley said. “You’re not going to win every game that you play all year.”
