IU drops Michigan series and falls in conference standings
Indiana faced off against Michigan in a three-game series this past weekend and lost two out of three, dropping the road series against the Wolverines. IU lost the opener 10-3 but secured the 13-8 victory on Saturday. However, the Hoosiers lost the rubber match on Sunday 6-1, losing the series and falling out of first place in the conference standings.
IU retained a 0.5 game lead over Nebraska and a one-game lead over Michigan prior to this past weekend. After this weekend, the Hoosiers fell to second place, tied with Michigan as both teams are one game behind Nebraska.
Here is a full breakdown of the Indiana vs. Michigan series.
Game 1:
LHP Tommy Sommer started the series opener and struggled early. He allowed five earned runs on five hits, struck out two and walked two through 2 ⅓ innings pitched.
Michigan struck first when 1B Ted Burton drove a ball deep to left field in the bottom of the second for a solo home run.
Indiana responded in the next half inning as 1B Kip Fougerousse and SS Jeremy Houston hit back-to-back singles. Later in the inning, CF Grant Richardson drew a two-out walk, which loaded up the bases. Next up to bat, 3B Cole Barr singled to left-center and two runners scored, giving IU a 2-1 lead.
Michigan regained the lead in the bottom half of the third. A single followed by a walk put runners on first and second. Then, both runners advanced to second and third, respectively, on a double steal. A walk loaded up the bases, followed by four consecutive singles, scoring five to make it 6-2.
Michigan's offense continued to add runs when C Griffin Mazur hit a three-run home run to left field in the bottom of the fourth, extending Michigan's lead to 9-2. An error earlier in the inning by the Hoosiers ended up haunting them as it plated an additional run on the home run.
With one out in the top of the seventh, Houston, LF Drew Ashley and 2B Paul Toetz all singled to load up the bases. Next up to bat, Richardson hit a sacrifice fly to center field and Houston tagged up, scoring from third to cut Michigan's lead to 9-3.
Michigan's offense continued to hit home runs. Despite the offense as a whole already hitting two earlier in the game, RF Clark Elliott joined in and drove a ball over the right-field wall for a solo home run, extending the lead to 10-3 in the bottom of the eighth.
IU failed to mount a comeback in the top of the ninth and lost the series opener 10-3.
Notable Performances:
CF Grant Richardson: 1-3 / 1 RBI
3B Cole Barr: 2-3 / 2 RBI
SS Houston Jeremy: 2-3
Game 2:
RHP McCade Brown started the second game of the weekend a pitched a quality start, allowing three earned runs through six innings pitched. He also struck out seven Wolverines and walked two.
LF Drew Ashley recorded IU's first hit of the game off Michigan starter RHP Cameron Weston in the top of the third and tripled to right field. Ashley later scored on a ground ball to the infield. Richardson later in the inning reached on a fielder's choice and moved to scoring position on a wild pitch. Barr singled, which drove in Richardson to make it 2-0. Colopy also singled and both he and Barr scored on a triple by Fougerousse to extend the lead to 4-0.
Brown was dealing through the first three innings, only allowing one hit and a hit batter.
Ashley bunted for a single with two outs in the top of the seventh and Toetz singled through the right side, putting two runners on. Richardson then drove a ball deep to right field for a three-run home run, extending the lead to 7-0.
Michigan SS Benjamin Sems led off the bottom of the seventh and singled through the left side, later moving to second on a wild pitch. A walk put two runners on and then Sems scored on a double by LF Tito Flores to cut IU's lead to 7-1. RHP John Modungo replaced Brown and struck out the first batter he faced. However, Modugno issued a walk and gave up three consecutive singles, scoring four more to make it a 7-5 ballgame.
After a single and two consecutive walks in the top of the 8th, IU had the bases loaded with one out. Two walks and a hit by pitch scored three to extend the lead to 10-5. Later in the inning, Barr hit an RBI single through the left side to make it 11-5. A couple of batters later, Fougerousse hit a two-RBI single to extend the lead to 13-5.
In the bottom half of the inning, a double and a single put runners on the corners for Michigan. Leadoff hitter 3B Christian Molfetta then doubled down the right-field line to make it 13-6. Next up to bat, Elliott hit an RBI single to right field and DH Jimmy Obertop then singled through the left side, scoring Molfetta to cut the deficit to 13-8.
But IU RHP Braydon Tucker halted Michigan's offense in the ninth and pitched a 1-2-3 inning, securing the 13-8 victory for IU and splitting the series one apiece.
Notable Performances:
LF Drew Ashley: 2-5 / 1 RBI
2B Paul Toetz: 1-4 / 2 RBI
CF Grant Richardson: 1-4 / 1 HR (5) / 4 RBI
3B Cole Barr: 3-3 / 2 RBI
1B Kip Fougerousse: 3-5 / 4 RBI
Game 3:
RHP Gabe Bierman started the rubber match on Sunday and allowed four earned runs on five hits, struck out six and walked four through 7 ⅓ innings pitched.
Michigan led off the bottom of the second with back-to-back singles, which put runners on the corners. A sacrifice fly followed by a double scored two runs to put Michigan out in front 2-0.
Bierman retired the next six batters he faced.
In the bottom of the fourth, Burton hit a leadoff double off the center-field wall. He moved to third on a groundout and later scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 3-0.
RF Morgan Colopy led off the fifth with a solo home run to right field, IU's second hit off of Michigan starter LHP Jacob Denner.
IU had runners on the corners in the top of the seventh, but the Hoosiers stranded both.
Another missed opportunity for IU came in the eighth with two runners in scoring position as both were left stranded.
Michigan hit back-to-back one-out singles in the bottom of the eighth. The next batter then hit a pop fly in shallow center with two outs that dropped after Toetz could not make the catch. Sems scored from second to extend the lead to 4-1. Later in the inning, Toetz committed a throwing error to first base and two runners scored to extend the lead to 6-1.
IU did not score any runs in the ninth and dropped the finale 6-1, losing the series.
Notable Performances:
RF Morgan Colopy: 2-4 / 1 HR (5) / 1 RBI
Closing Thoughts:
This was a hard-fought battle between both teams. However, it seemed like Michigan was more well-rounded and clicked on all cylinders more frequently throughout the weekend.
In the first two games, when IU's starting pitching was strong, the bullpen struggled and vice versa. Sommer allowed five earned runs in the first 2 ⅓ innings of the first game and the bullpen only allowed two earned runs for the remainder of the game. In the second game, Brown pitched a quality start, tossing six innings and allowing three earned runs. However, when the bullpen took over for the last three innings, it allowed five earned runs. Regardless, IU's bats scored 13 runs in the second game to lift the Hoosiers to victory.
But the offense did not score as many runs in the opener and finale. While IU batted 10-34 (.294 avg) in the first game and was 3-8 (.375 avg) with runners in scoring position, nine men were left on base. It made it difficult for the Hoosiers to continue advancing runners and put pressure on Michigan's pitching staff. In the final game, it was the opposite as the bats were practically dormant. IU was 5-33 (.152 avg) in overall team hitting and 1-6 (.167 avg) with runners in scoring position.
In terms of the defense, four errors led to five unearned runs throughout the series, which dug the Hoosiers in a hole that was difficult to climb out of.
On a positive note, the Hoosiers avoided the sweep and walked away with one win, keeping them well within the race for first place in the conference.
Looking ahead, IU is set to play one home game against Illinois on Tuesday, which is a makeup game from earlier in the season. The game is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. ET and will be available to watch on BTN+.
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