Indiana Hoosiers Baseball: What We Learned From Tennessee's Sweep of IU
The Indiana baseball team was swept by Tennessee in a three-game series in Knoxville this weekend and fell to 2-4 on the season. A quick glance at the final score of each game:
Game 1: Tennessee 5, Indiana 1.
Game 2: Tennessee 11, Indiana 0.
Game 3: Tennessee 5, Indiana 3.
Here are three things we learned:
1. Defense lets Indiana down in Game 3
The Hoosiers appeared to be on their way toward avoiding a winless weekend, quickly building a 3-0 lead with three solo home runs. Then a defensive miscue in the bottom of the fourth led to an RBI groundout which gave the Volunteers exactly what they needed to bring their offense to life.
2. Tennessee's pitching staff is for real
The Volunteers' arms held opponents to a .118 batting average while averaging 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings heading into the weekend. They also ranked ninth nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.40).
Although they hadn't been tremendously tested prior to facing the Hoosiers, the Tennessee staff was largely dominate and showed those numbers were no fluke.
To Indiana's credit, it was the first team in the country to score on Tennessee, as it hadn't allowed a run through the first four games of the season.
3. Matt Gorski absent
The junior outfielder did not play this weekend, instead replaced by sophomore Drew Ashley in right field. While IU head coach Jeff Mercer did not specify what the injury was that Gorski sustained in the series finale at Memphis opening weekend, Mercer said it was only tightness. We likely won't know more until Tuesday at the earliest, but the sooner Gorski gets healthy, the better.
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