After a neck-and-neck start, Indiana baseball came up short in an 11-9 loss to the University of Kentucky on Friday at Bart Kaufman Field in Bloomington.
Indiana and Kentucky both started strong, with the score tied 3-3 at the end of the fourth inning.
Junior infielder Will Moore hit Indiana’s first home run in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore catcher Owen ten Oever then produced a sacrifice fly later in the inning for Indiana’s second run. His hit drove in junior outfielder Hogan Denny from third base.
Sophomore infielder Cooper Malamazian pitched until the third inning, when fifth-year right-handed pitcher Reagan Rivera took over.
Indiana’s defense held strong during the third inning, with sophomore infielder Landen Fry and freshman pitcher Xavier Carrera both making outs in the outfield. Indiana quickly shut down stolen-base attempts and caught fly balls.
The Hoosiers struggled in the top of the fourth inning, as Rivera couldn’t find the strike zone, resulting in many Kentucky hitters walking.
However, the rest of Indiana’s team rallied to reach three outs. Fry made a clean catch in the outfield towards the middle of the fourth, stopping a runner from reaching third. Junior infielder Ryan Maggy also caught the ball on first base, resulting in the third out for Kentucky.
During the bottom of the fourth inning, Indiana tied the game with a run by Fry off a hit from Maggy. Freshman infielder Johnson Dubose struck out right after, resulting in three outs for the Hoosiers and bringing an end to the fourth.
At the bottom of the fifth inning, Moore drove in junior outfielder Cole Decker to take a 4-3 lead.
The score stayed 4-3 in the sixth with the Hoosiers’ defense helping ensure the Wildcats didn’t score any more runs in the inning.
The Hoosiers scored two more runs in the seventh, with Kentucky batters quickly striking out. But Indiana’s 6-3 lead quickly fell apart. During the ninth inning, the Kentucky offense charged ahead, scoring six runs in just two innings.
By the end of the tenth, the score sat at 10-6. Despite an Indiana offensive breakthrough with three runs in just two innings, Kentucky took the game with a final score of 11-9.
Friday’s game was the last fall exhibition series for the Hoosiers this season. Indiana had one win and three losses over the course of its fall exhibition season, winning against Huntington and falling short to University of Notre Dame, West Virginia University and Kentucky.
The team will start its fall World Series — a three-game intersquad scrimmage — in late October, at Bart Kaufman Field in Bloomington, with the exact date not yet finalized.
