IU Coach Chris Lemonis came sprinting out of the dugout and toward third base umpire David Buck.
Buck had just called an infield fly rule on a ball that landed in shallow center field, taking away a potential bases-loaded situation for the Hoosiers with nobody out.
Lemonis tried and pleaded with Buck for a few minutes before retreating back to the IU dugout, but not without turning and yelling a few more times.
IU would score later in the inning but only once in a 3-2 loss in game 2 of a doubleheader against Michigan State. IU lost the first game Sunday 7-0 against the Spartans.
“I’ve never had one called where the center fielder dove for it and the left fielder picked it up and it was an infield fly,” Lemonis said.
The doubleheader sweep came after IU won the first game of the series 6-1, a performance Lemonis said was one of the best all season.
What followed was a day where IU was one-hit in the first game, before managing just five hits in the second.
“It blows my mind,” Lemonis said. “I’m not able to put my finger on it right now besides it seemed like we had a lack of intensity, lack of focus.”
Three of IU’s hits in the final game of the series came from senior outfielder Will Nolden.
He said he wasn’t doing anything special at the plate, just trying to put the ball in play for the most part. Nolden said this is the most important thing IU can do — put the ball in play and let good things happen.
He referenced IU’s win against Notre Dame on Tuesday, when the Fighting Irish made three errors in the ninth inning, allowing the Hoosiers to come back and win 6-5.
“You need to move the ball and cut down on the strikeouts,” Nolden said. “It’s college baseball so stuff happens.”
In the first game, when IU managed only one hit, Michigan State starting pitcher Mick VanVossen threw a complete-game shutout. He entered the game with a 2-4 record and a 5.85 ERA.
Nolden said the Hoosiers let VanVossen settle in during the first three innings and that his changeup and fastball, which ranged from 91 to 93 miles per hour, got tougher to hit as the game went on.
Nolden, like Lemonis, said, like Lemonis the Hoosiers didn’t show up ready to compete. They didn’t show up ready to win.
“It’s pretty obvious we’re playing for our season here, playing for an opportunity to make it to the Big Ten Tournament,” Nolden said. “It’s pretty frustrating that we can’t show up to the ballpark ready to play.”
One of the bright spots from Sunday was the return of Nick Ramos to the starting lineup, Lemonis said.
Ramos started both games at shortstop, the first time he has done so since March 11. While he didn’t record a hit Sunday, he hit a few balls hard and had a possible double taken away by a leaping catch by Michigan State first baseman Ryan Krill.
He also made a number of diving plays at shortstop, a place Ramos said feels like home, during both games.
Ramos said IU is plenty talented at the plate, and when the Hoosiers do break out of this most recent funk, they could be dangerous.
He attributed IU’s 18 combined strikeouts Sunday to batters guessing too much and not being able to adjust when they guessed wrong.
Ramos said in order for IU to turn things around, the Hoosiers only need one pitch or one batter. The rest will come naturally, he said.
But it needs to happen soon.
“It’s got to happen, like, yesterday,” he said.
