After scoring just three runs across the first two games of the series, Indiana baseball finally found the offensive spark it had been searching for Sunday afternoon at PK Park in Eugene, Oregon.
The Hoosiers stacked runs across the first three innings and built a five-run lead over Oregon, their largest advantage of the weekend.
Sophomore third baseman Will Moore opened the scoring by crossing home on a groundout from redshirt freshman designated hitter Brayden Ricketts. Moments later, sophomore shortstop Cooper Malamazian added another run with an RBI single to left field.
Indiana kept the pressure on in the second inning. Sophomore outfielder Caleb Koskie scored on a fielder’s choice from junior catcher T.J. Schuyler before sophomore outfielder Hogan Denny added a sacrifice fly to push the Hoosiers further ahead.
The Hoosiers added two more runs in the third when Koskie’s bunt attempt created chaos for Oregon’s defense. A throwing error allowed both Malamazian and sophomore first baseman Jake Hanley to score, extending Indiana’s lead to five runs.
But the Ducks answered with the same offensive pressure that had defined the late- game comebacks throughout the series.
Oregon erupted in the sixth inning, and a three-run double from junior infielder Ryan Cooney cut Indiana’s lead to one. Oregon senior infielder Dominic Hellman followed with an RBI double moments later to make it a one-run game.
The rally continued a trend that shaped the entire weekend, and Indiana’s season. Poor bullpen performances so far have left the Hoosiers unable to close many wins this season.
Hellman answered again for Oregon in his next at bat, knotting the game at six in the eighth inning. Indiana flailed offensively again in the top of the ninth, leaving Oregon with a wide-open window to walk it off for the series sweep.
After putting runners on base, the Ducks did just that. Junior infielder Maddox Molony came around to score when freshman right fielder Angel Laya lined a single through the right side to give Oregon the walk-off win and complete the comeback.
The loss capped a three-game sweep for Oregon. Nineteen games and two Big Ten series into the season, the Hoosiers now sit 7-12 overall and 1-5 in conference play, placing them in the bottom three of the early Big Ten standings.
Each series has offered flashes of progress, including Ricketts’ breakout series earlier this season, and this weekend with graduate right-hander Reagan Rivera’s strong outing in Friday’s opener. But Indiana has struggled to sustain those performances across an entire weekend.
Against an Oregon team widely viewed as a contender to reach Omaha later this season, those inconsistencies proved costly again.
The demanding schedule that Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer built early in the season has continued to test the Hoosiers against some of the country’s top competition, and that challenge will not ease in the coming days.
Indiana will face Vanderbilt University at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Hawkins Field in Nashville, Tennessee. It’s another matchup against a strong opponent as the Hoosiers look to find their footing and translate its lessons learned into hard fought wins.
Follow reporters Elakai Anela (@elakai_anela and eanela@iu.edu) and Will Kwiatkowski (@WKwiatkowski_15 and wdkwiatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana baseball season.
