Just as the Hoosiers thought their fortunes had turned for the better, a three-game losing skid, including a conference series loss to Rutgers, has kept IU at .500 approaching the halfway point of the regular season.
Going 3-for-28 during the three-game losing streak with runners in scoring position hindered the Hoosiers’ ability to push runs across the plate. Even with the offensive struggles, IU was able to break out with three home runs and nine runs to take the final game of the series against Rutgers.
“We just need to be getting the big hits,” sophomore outfielder Logan Sowers said. “We’ve been rolling whenever everyone is hitting well, but when we’re struggling to get hits early on. We just need those guys to spark the lineup and get it going for us.”
The Hoosiers’ losing streak started last Tuesday at home against Cincinnati when they were shut out for the first time all season. IU Coach Chris Lemonis and sophomore outfielder Laren Eustace attributed the loss to being lackadaisical and not focused in the field.
On Wednesday, the Hoosiers will travel to Cincinnati to play the Bearcats once again, a team the Hoosiers believe they stack up well against.
“They’re ready to play and that motivates you,” Lemonis said. “We didn’t play well collectively, just the whole group, so we want to redeem ourselves a little bit.”
Freshman Jonathan Stiever will grab the starting nod for the Hoosiers against the Bearcats for his second start of the season. The freshman has already logged 16 innings in his first season in Bloomington while sporting a 1.69 ERA.
In Stiever’s first start of the season against Butler, he was efficient on the hill. He allowed only one hit through four innings on 38 pitches. Lemonis said it’ll be a very split game pitching-wise, like the majority of the midweek games have been because of the big weekend series coming up against Purdue.
The biggest thing Lemonis said he believes the team needs moving forward is consistency. The talent is there but for one reason or another, the few dependable players in the Hoosiers’ lineup can’t seem to get things going on a daily basis.
“We’ve got some guys in there, and you see it in the second game that Logan Sowers hits a jack and Craig Dedelow has the chance to be one of the best players in the league,” Lemonis said. “We’re trying to be very accountable to ourselves and each other and just try to get it moving in the right direction.”
Another contributing factor to the Hoosier struggles at the plate has been the decline of production coming from a freshman bat that was very dependable early in the season.
Freshman utility man Luke Miller has watched his batting average tank from around .320 down to .263. Lemonis said he isn’t too worried about his freshman slugger, though, and attributed that to nothing more than hitting a wall after having to come out and play 60 games in a season.
As for now, the Hoosiers are looking to grab consistent at-bats from the middle of the order so they are capable of competing with anyone every time they step between the white lines.
“When we play a midweek game it’s usually going to lead into us having a strong weekend series just from how we play,” junior relief pitcher Jake Kelzer said. “When you come off a weekday game and play solid, you’re going to have a good next practice which is going to lead into a good next weekend.”
