For the second time in this eight-game-old season, IU was held without a hit when a runner was on base.
For the second time, it cost the Hoosiers.
IU, 3-4-1, was just about invisible whenever opportunities presented themselves and went 0-15 with runners on base and 0-6 with runners in scoring position in its 6-1 loss Wednesday evening at the hands of the Cincinnati Bearcats.
However, Cincinnati, now 3-4, was 6-17 with runners on base and 4-12 with runners in scoring position.
The Hoosiers were out-hit 8-3 by the home team, which took the lead in the bottom of the third and never turned it over.
Even the lone IU run came without the Hoosiers recording a single hit in the top of the third inning.
Junior center fielder Laren Eustace led off the inning by reaching on an error by Bearcats’ second baseman Kyle Mottice after Eustace laid down a bunt.
Then, after a lineout from sophomore third baseman Luke Miller, senior left fielder Craig Dedelow got hit by a pitch, which allowed Eustace to advance to second.
Dedelow and Eustace both advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch, which gave the Hoosiers runners on second and third with just one out.
Junior right fielder Logan Sowers grounded out to the shortstop and drove in Eustace, but Dedelow was held at second base.
Sophomore catcher Ryan Fineman then lined out to second to end IU’s threat.
Another scoring opportunity presented itself for IU in the top of the eighth inning when Eustace led off with a walk, and Miller followed by getting hit by a pitch to give the team runners on first and second with no outs.
Dedelow spoke Tuesday about the middle of the lineup still not clicking, and that didn’t change tonight.
This time around, Dedelow grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.
“It’s just repetition,” Dedelow said before taking on Cincinnati about what it will take for IU’s strongest hitters to get back into the groove. “Just getting in game reps and getting our scouting reports in and everything adds up to better swings in the games.”
The Hoosiers could have still managed to score in the inning if Sowers could have stepped up and knocked a base hit to drive in Eustace from third.
But he couldn’t. The junior grounded out to third base and another opportunity had gone to waste.
In the 9th inning, IU got the leadoff batter on base, as Fineman drew a walk to give IU some hope. However, none of the next three batters were able to hit a ball out of the infield, and the Bearcats were able to walk away with an easy 6-1 victory.
In the season opener against No. 7 Oregon State, the Hoosiers also were unable to record a hit with a runner on base, going 0-9 in those situations on the day, and they unsurprisingly left the ballpark with a loss like Wednesday.
“We have a good Big Ten schedule ahead of us and some good nonconference schedules, so hopefully it will prepare us for a postseason run,” Dedelow said of facing strong pitching to start this season.
IU returns to the field Friday in Birmingham, Alabama, where it will take on Samford.
