Indiana baseball lost its third Big Ten series of the season on Saturday, this time against USC. The Trojans took the rubber match, 13-12, scoring 10 unanswered runs to stun the Hoosiers. Indiana’s offense went quiet after the fourth inning, but a historic pitching collapse was largely to blame.
The teams split Friday’s doubleheader – USC won the opener, 10-5, and Indiana evened the set with a 13-6 win in the nightcap, setting up Saturday’s series-decider.
Indiana started hot with four runs in the first inning. USC starting pitcher Grant Govel gave up an early home run to Devin Taylor and followed by loading the bases, walking in a run, and surrendering a two-run single to Will Moore. USC went to its bullpen in the second inning and allowed two more runs on the first of a pair of homers for Korbyn Dickerson. Indiana’s last offensive output of the afternoon came when it put up six runs in the fourth inning, taking a 12-3 lead. Both teams went quietly in the fifth and the series looked in hand for the Hoosiers.
There, the game flipped on its head. Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer said postgame he knew the final four innings would be rocky. There were various contributing factors, but one of the largest was that Indiana’s pitching staff lacked depth throughout the weekend. With Drew Buhr, a key long reliever, unavailable due to injury, Indiana turned to lesser-used arms like Anthony Gubitosi, Aydan Decker-Petty and Caleb Koskie in an attempt to keep USC quiet.
Indiana’s efforts were unsuccessful, as USC scored 10 unanswered runs in the final four frames. In the ninth inning, freshman right-hander Trey Telfer gave up a go-ahead, two-run homer to Brayden Dowd, completing one of the Trojans’ largest comebacks since 2000.
Mercer said the offense fell silent in the back half of the game because USC opted for harder-throwing relievers. Indiana failed to adjust as it had on Friday night and in the first half of Saturday’s series finale. The Trojans used six different pitchers on Saturday after using just five across the first two games of the series.
“Typically we do really well with those (adjustments),” Mercer said. “But it was just such a change of pace that it made it much more difficult for (the hitters).”
Mercer said he felt that Indiana’s bullpen was playing catch-up all day on account of lacking reliable arms like Buhr and fellow reliever Daron Swanson.
“We didn't lose the game in the ninth,” Mercer said. He added that the wheels began to fall off in the sixth inning, when southpaw Anthony Gubitosi, having already pitched two full innings, walked the bases loaded. Decker-Petty came out of the bullpent and hit Dowd to force in a run. USC then cleared the bases with a three-run double. The Trojans went on to score in each of the final four innings in their comeback.
“It’s what we were trying to avoid,” Mercer said. “I didn't do a good enough job of putting those guys in a position to be successful, and I walked us into that situation.”
Now sitting at 15-13 overall and 6-6 in Big Ten play, Indiana hosts No. 18 Louisville at 6 p.m. Tuesday before Michigan State visits Bloomington for a three game series beginning at 6 p.m. Friday. Indiana’s midweek game versus the nationally-ranked Cardinals will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
