KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — After a rollercoaster of injuries, upsets and head-scratching losses, Indiana baseball’s season burned out in fitting fashion at the Knoxville Regional. The University of Southern Mississippi, playing in its second elimination game in two days, dismantled Indiana, 15-3.
The Golden Eagles sent 10 men to the plate and scored five runs on Indiana starter Brayden Risedorph in the first inning, one in which he threw 53 pitches and hit one batter while walking two.
Following a 1-2-3 inning from Southern Miss starter Colby Allen, right-handed reliever Julian Tonghini took over on the mound for Indiana. Between Connor Foley’s 2.1 innings in Indiana’s 12-6 loss to the University of Tennessee on Saturday night and Risedorph’s sole inning against Southern Miss, Indiana starting pitchers recorded a pedestrian 10 outs in the Hoosiers’ two losses in Knoxville. These subpar performances followed Ty Bothwell’s strong outing in Indiana’s 10-4 win over Southern Miss on Friday afternoon, one in which he recorded 17 outs.
"You want to get the best stuff out of your hand,” Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer said postgame. “We want to have good stuff, but we also want to be able to control it and we didn’t do that yesterday or today.”
Tonghini and Allen exchanged scoreless second innings, but the Golden Eagles proved discontent with a five-run cushion. They put up 10 runs between the third and fourth innings to stretch their lead to 15-0 after four frames.
Tonghini exited with the bases loaded and one out in the third inning. He surrendered a hit by pitch and back-to-back walks, all on 3-2 counts. Right-hander Aydan Decker-Petty was next out of the bullpen, and he allowed six consecutive baserunners — three RBI singles, an RBI double and an RBI walk.
Indiana conceded 16 hits to Southern Miss on Sunday after Tennessee turned in a 12-run, 13-hit showing against the Hoosiers on Saturday.
"To take a snapshot of a two-day window is a bit unfair,” Mercer said. “The pitching staff carried us for a month and kept us in a lot of close games against Purdue and Nebraska.”
While the Southern Miss offense was firing on all cylinders, Allen was masterful against Indiana’s bats. He twirled seven innings of one-run ball, striking out eight Indiana batters and walking two. The Hoosiers managed to get just one runner into scoring position against Allen. His lone blemish in the game was a fifth-inning solo shot off the bat of Indiana outfielder Devin Taylor.
Indiana finishes the season with a 33-26-1 record after going 1-2 in the NCAA Tournament. Along with Foley and right-hander Luke Sinnard, infielder Brock Tibbitts and outfielders Carter Mathison and Nick Mitchell are likely to be selected in the upcoming MLB Draft.
Right-hander Drew Buhr, Bothwell and outfielder Morgan Colopy are three of Indiana’s most prominent seniors whose college careers ended Saturday.
Indiana desperately needs to shore up its pitching staff entering 2025. In its losses to Tennessee and Southern Miss, Indiana walked 15 more batters and threw 133 more pitches than its opponents. This is a direct consequence of Indiana pitchers not consistently throwing strikes, extending innings and giving opposing offenses more chances to score runs in favorable situations.
“You have to be confident and competitive when the environment elevates around you,” Mercer said. “We didn’t do that, especially today.”
Follow reporters Matt Press (@MattPress23) and Nick Rodecap (@nickrodecap) for updates throughout the Indiana baseball season.
