Indiana started firmly in control Tuesday night, but a strong opening unraveled late as Evansville rallied for a 5-4 walk-off win in 11 innings at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.
The Hoosiers wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. After sophomore outfielder Hogan Denny opened the game with a double into left field, sophomore first baseman Jake Hanley followed by driving a ball deep over the center field wall. The two-run shot, a towering 444 feet, gave Indiana an immediate 2-0 advantage.
Indiana kept that momentum rolling in the fourth inning, adding two more runs to stretch its lead to 4-0. Sophomore outfielder Cole Decker worked his way on base and into scoring position before Fry lined an RBI single. Freshman catcher Owen ten Oever followed with a pinch-hit double to right, continuing his recent success and giving Indiana what looked like a comfortable cushion.
But that cushion quickly turned into a missed opportunity. After the fourth inning, Indiana went scoreless for the next seven.
The Hoosiers repeatedly came up short in key moments. They finished just 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners, a number that loomed large as the game tightened. Even as Evansville chipped away, Indiana never delivered a response.
The clearest example came in the 10th inning. With the game tied, Indiana loaded the bases with only one out, a prime chance to reclaim control. Instead, a ground ball double play from Fry ended the inning instantly, silencing the threat and handing momentum back to Evansville. It was a familiar issue, echoing recent struggles including Saturday’s loss to Nebraska when Indiana stranded the bases loaded twice in missed late-game opportunities.
While Evansville slowly built its comeback, scoring once in the fifth and then putting together a three-run seventh to tie the game, Indiana’s inability to add on remained the defining storyline.
And it’s becoming a pattern.
This isn’t the first time a winnable game has slipped away in similar fashion. In Indiana’s one-run loss at University of North Carolina on Feb. 14, the Hoosiers had control late leading 3-1 before a defensive miscue opened the door. The offense never recovered, going scoreless over the final four innings as the Tar Heels completed the comeback.
The same issue appeared against University of Notre Dame on Feb. 22. Even after the Hoosiers’ bullpen surrendered five runs in the seventh inning to a team that had just been knocked out of the top 25 after being swept by North Carolina over the weekend, Indiana still had time to answer. Instead, the offense again went silent, failing to score for the remainder of the game before falling in the 11th on a walk-off.
Tuesday followed that same script.
Indiana is now on the wrong side of this trend: losses in the 11th inning after surrendering a lead in the seventh or later, and, more notably, failing to score a single run in any inning after the seventh in those games.
The pitching staff, meanwhile, did enough to keep Indiana in position to win. The Hoosiers cycled through nine arms and piled up 21 strikeouts, preventing Evansville from breaking the game open even after the lead disappeared. In extra innings, the staff continued to hold the line, giving the offense multiple chances to respond.
Those chances never materialized.
In the bottom of the 11th, Evansville capitalized. After a hit-by-pitch and a single put runners on base, freshman utility player Tate Deal delivered a two-out single to center field, bringing home the winning run and completing the comeback.
The final result reflected more than just a late-inning collapse, it highlighted Indiana’s ongoing inability to respond offensively when games tighten.
Hanley’s early-game home run showed what the lineup is capable of, while Fry and ten Oever contributed to a strong early showing. But after the fourth inning, Indiana lacked urgency going scoreless when it needed to finish the job.
Indiana returns to Bloomington this weekend for a three-game series against Rutgers, looking to rediscover the offensive edge that was present early in this game but missing when it mattered most.
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.
