Three Things: IU drops midweek makeup with Illinois, 3-2

There weren’t going to be any midweek video games this season, however an April rainout with Illinois left Indiana scrambling to coordinate a makeup.
IU lastly bought the sport in on Tuesday — it simply didn’t get the consequence it needed. Or, frankly, wanted. A solo dwelling run by Illinois’ Taylor Jackson within the high of the tenth inning despatched the Hoosiers to a 3-2 loss at Bart Kaufman Field, marking this system’s fourth defeat in six video games.
Here are Three Things from a foul, unhealthy loss in Bloomington:
Hoosiers had their probabilities
The tying run stood on second base when IU pinch hitter Jake Skrine struck out swinging to finish the ballgame — a becoming end on a day when the Hoosiers repeatedly failed to supply with runners on base.
Indiana ended up going hitless in 10 probabilities with Hoosiers in scoring place, plating simply the 2 runs on a third-inning Morgan Colopy double that scored Kip Fougerousse from first base, and a fourth-inning RBI sacrifice fly courtesy of Grant Richardson. It was notably irritating on a day when the Hoosiers weren’t precisely dealing with the faculty pitching equal of the 1971 Orioles. Only one of many seven Illini hurlers who took the mound on Tuesday has an ERA beneath 8.00 this yr.
IU tried to get by with a special forged of characters within the lineup — neither Paul Toetz nor Collin Hopkins noticed the sector — nevertheless it nonetheless couldn’t discover traction within the field. Not solely did the Hoosiers whiff with runners on base, they struck out a complete of 15 instances. Yikes.
The pitching was fairly, fairly good
IU swingmen Ty Bothwell and John Modugno every labored three innings to get the Hoosiers into the latter innings. Grant Macciocchi took it from there, shutting out the Illini over innings seven, eight, and 9.
Altogether, it was tremendous work from all three — and a disgrace it went to waste.
Bothwell struck out seven and allowed two unearned runs within the high of the second after a fielding error by shortstop Jeremy Houston. Modugno and Macciocchi, in the meantime, produced reduction efforts that had been close to carbon copies of each other. Modugno threw 23 of his 36 pitches for strikes, hanging out 4 and strolling one throughout three no-hit innings, whereas Macciocchi threw 24 of his 33 pitches for strikes, hanging out 4, strolling one and yielding one hit over his three innings. It was all good to see.
On the again finish, Reese Sharp sandwiched a pair of punchouts across the game-winning dwelling run he yielded to Jackson. The blast was an unlucky growth for Sharp, who has in any other case put collectively a pleasant season out of the bullpen. The dwelling run was simply the second run he’s allowed in 9.1 innings this spring.
A significant missed alternative
The loss knocks Indiana into third place within the Big Ten standings, a sport and a half behind first-place Nebraska. The Hoosiers will see the Cornhuskers quickly sufficient, internet hosting their friends from Lincoln in a break up, four-game pod with Rutgers this weekend.
But man, this one hurts.
Really, the Hoosiers entered the week realistically needing a 4-1 displaying to be ok with the five-game homestand. Maybe it’ll nonetheless work out that manner. But after taking part in like that in arguably essentially the most winnable sport of the homestand, it’s honest to begin worrying concerning the path this staff is headed with seven video games remaining on the common season schedule.
IU’s first sport of the pod will likely be Friday at 8 p.m. in opposition to Nebraska.