Indiana baseball’s biggest issue this season hasn’t been starting series. It has been finishing them.
The Cream and Crimson dropped another rubber match Sunday, falling 9-6 to Northwestern at Rocky and Berenice Miller Park in Evanston, Illinois. And the loss followed a familiar script to other series-deciding games this season.
The Hoosiers are now 12-25 in weekend games this season and just 2-3 in Sunday rubber matches.
The series started off strong for Indiana, which opened the weekend with a 9-2 win Friday at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Indiana had a chance to build momentum, but back-to-back losses pushed the Hoosiers down to 21-27 and 7-17 in the Big Ten.
Indiana matched Northwestern early Sunday, with both teams scoring in the first inning. But the game quickly unravelled in the second, when the Wildcats plated five runs on a pair of home runs. Despite scoring six runs, the Hoosiers were unable to recover from their early deficit.
Graduate student left-handed pitcher Conner Linn was charged with his first loss this year, after allowing two earned runs, two walks and two hits in one inning. Graduate student right-handed pitcher Gavin Seebold surrendered five earned runs on six hits and five walks across four innings.
Saturday’s 7-4 loss followed a similar pattern. The Hoosiers jumped out to an early lead, scoring three runs in the first three innings before Northwestern responded with a three-run third and two-run fifth inning to take control. Indiana failed to generate a comeback in the later innings after scoring one run in the eighth.
Indiana’s struggles in rubber games began March 8 against Washington.
After leading 4-2 through the first four innings, the Hoosiers allowed 11 unanswered runs to drop the series finale. Graduate student right-handed pitcher Reagan Rivera allowed four earned runs in four innings, while Linn gave up five earned runs in 1.2 innings of relief.
The pattern resurfaced again April 12 at Maryland. Indiana held a late two-run lead before surrendering a walk-off grand slam.
Even in one of their few successes in Sunday games, the Hoosiers showed vulnerability. Against Abilene Christian University on April 19, Indiana led 4-1 entering the seventh inning. But the Hoosiers allowed three runs, which knotted the game.
Indiana ultimately escaped with a win, as sophomore Caleb Koskie hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning. Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his second save of the season.
Control issues and inconsistent bullpen performances have been at the center of Indiana’s struggles in deciding games. The impact is clear in the standings.
Indiana is tied with Northwestern for 13th place in the Big Ten, though the Wildcats now hold the head-to-head tiebreaker following the series win. Michigan State, which sits at 10-17 in conference play, is just 1.5 games ahead for the final spot in the Big Ten Tournament after suffering a series sweep against UCLA.
Despite the uphill climb, the Hoosiers still have opportunities to change their outlook of the season.
Indiana will travel to Purdue, which is currently sixth in the conference, from May 8-10. Then the Hoosiers return home to close the regular season against Illinois from May 14-16, which sits in ninth place.
With two Big Ten series remaining, the Hoosiers’ postseason hopes will likely hinge on their ability to reverse a season-long trend and deliver in weekend and series finales. Until then, the issue remains unresolved.
Indiana has proven it can compete across a weekend. But unless it finds a way to close out rubber games, those early series wins will continue to slip away.
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.
