Indiana softball was able to take game one in a short two-game weekend series against No. 18 Nebraska, but inconsistencies in fielding and pitching caused the Hoosiers to drop game two 12-4 in five innings. With the loss, Indiana’s record drops to 29-13 overall and 8-8 in the Big Ten.
Indiana’s pitching cost the Hoosiers once again
Coming into game two on Saturday afternoon, Indiana’s team ERA stood at 4.19, which was ranked 10th in the Big Ten. Because the Cornhuskers’ offense was working so well, Indiana was forced to use its entire rotation on Saturday.
None of the four Hoosier pitchers looked comfortable on Saturday, which is not surprising since they gave up 12 runs, 10 of them earned. It’s easy to give the Hoosiers’ pitching staff the benefit of the doubt on Saturday, though, since the Cornhuskers averaged the second-most runs per game in the nation coming into the series at 8.36 runs.
However, it is the Hoosiers' pitching that is costing them significantly in their losses. In Indiana’s 13 losses, the pitchers have allowed an average of 8.62 runs.
IU struggled with runners in scoring position in game two
Although Indiana scored four runs in Saturday’s loss against the Cornhuskers, the Hoosiers batted very poorly with runners in scoring position.
Indiana, the nation’s leader in batting average coming into Saturday, was only 1-for-12 (.083) with runners on second and third base. For a team that is known for being an offensive powerhouse, the Hoosier batters did not perform as well in game two.
Hoosier batters rose to the occasion in game one
Despite splitting the series, Indiana made it known that their bats cannot be silenced for long.
Against arguably one of the best pitchers in the nation in Jordy Bahl, the Hoosiers lit her up for five earned runs on Friday night. Coming into the series, Bahl had a 1.26 ERA, good for ninth in the country, and had not given up that many runs in over a month.
If Indiana can continue to do this the rest of the season against ranked opponents, they will be in a good position to make a program record third straight NCAA tournament.
