After securing a win Thursday, Indiana baseball continued to battle Illinois in its final series of the season, losing 9-7 at Bart Kaufman Field in Bloomington. The Hoosiers are now 22-31 overall and 8-21 in Big Ten play.
Illinois started off the game strong by scoring three straight runs at the top of the first inning.
Indiana responded with a run of its own, courtesy of an RBI from sophomore left-handed pitcher/outfielder Caleb Koskie, which allowed sophomore catcher/outfielder Hogan Denny to score.
The Hoosiers spent the next four innings working back to tie the game at three runs apiece. Hits by Koskie in the third and fifth innings allowed sophomore infielder Jake Hanely and junior catcher T.J. Schuyler to help the Cream and Crimson out of a deficit.
Indiana’s work on defense was also a crucial part of Indiana’s comeback, as the Hoosiers did not concede another run until the seventh inning. Indiana was quick to shut down stolen base attempts and balls that were hit to the ground consistently turned into outs at bases. The stretch from the second to sixth innings led to six groundouts.
Illinois then had an offensive explosion of four runs in three innings. Junior infielder Michael Farina started off in the seventh inning with an RBI that allowed senior catcher Will Johannes to take the lead 4-3. In the eighth inning, Johannes hit a home run that allowed junior outfielders Cameron Chee-Aloy and Collin Jennings to put more runs on the board and increase the Hoosiers’ deficit to 7-3.
Indiana came alive again in the final inning with a burst of offense. Sophomore infielder Will Moore started the bottom of the ninth with a solo home run. Afterward, Denny would hit his own home run that brought in sophomore outfielders Ayden Crouse and Cole Decker to tie the game at 7-7. These four runs extended the game into extra innings.
In the 10th, Illinois scored two runs that the Hoosiers could not overcome, leaving the final score at 9-7.
Now with a split series, Indiana hopes to win its final game and series of the season Saturday. The game starts at 2 p.m. and will be streamed on Big Ten+.
Leonardo Vesperini covers Indiana athletics for the Indiana Daily Student. You can follow him at @leorunner06 and contact him via email at lvesperi@iu.edu.
