Indiana Baseball: Hoosiers Fall to Nebraska, Now 2.5 Games Out of First in Big Ten

Indiana starter Tommy Sommer couldn't make it out of the third inning for the second straight start, bothered by a finger injury that allowed Nebraska hitters to pounce early and beat the Hoosiers 8-5.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana fell behind early against Nebraska on Friday night, and could never make up enough ground, suffering an 8-5 loss at Bart Kaufman Field that put a serious dent in its pursuit of a Big Ten title.

Indiana (24-14) entered the game 1.5 games behind league-leading Nebraska (26-11) and needed a two-game sweep to regain the conference lead. But that Cornhuskers scored four early runs and then hung on to win. The loss dropped Indiana all the way to fourth place in the Big Ten, 2.5 games behind Nebraska and a half-game behind Maryland and Michigan.

For the second straight Friday, Indiana starter Tommy Sommer didn't make it through the third inning because of an issue with a finger on his throwing hand. He split a fingernail last week at Michigan and had to leave early. He felt good enough to pitch Friday night, but by the third inning, the issue flared up enough that he had to leave early again.

"Tonight was a setback,'' Indiana coach Jeff Mercer. "He felt good all week, and he had a good bullpen session. But in that third inning, that finger started hurting him. He wanted to gut it out, but after that homer, we had to get him out. The blister around the nail was issue, and it was unfortunate because he was ready to go. 

"Outside of the freak thing with Tommy, I thought we played well.'' 

Sommer gave up four runs in the second inning, when two walks, a single and two doubles put Nebraska ahead 4-0. The Hoosiers answered right back though, scoring three runs of their own on a Grant Richardson home run and singles by Morgan Colopy, James Espalin and Jeremy Houston off of Nebraska starter Cane Povich, who's one of the best pitchers in the Big Ten. He's now 6-1 on the year.

Sommer walked the second batter in the third inning, and Mercer made a trip to the mound along with his medical staff.

Sommer stayed in the game, but three pitches later, he allowed a home run by Nebraska third baseman Max Anderson, making it 6-3. Sommer's day was done after that. In his past two outings, he has allowed 11 earned runs in just 4 2/3 innings. 

Nebraska scored a run in the fourth off of reliever Braydon Tucker, but Indiana answered right back in the bottom of the inning, when catcher Collin Hopkins doubled and scored on another single by Houston. 

Indiana made it 7-5 in the seventh when Cole Barr walked and then scored on a triple to left by Richardson. 

"He's really worked had at shortening his swing, and he's been good,'' Indiana coach Jeff Mercer said. "For him, the big thing to be able to get on top of a fastball and be there on breaking ball, to get his eyes flipped. It was great to see his progression against one of the best pitchers in the league.''

Grant Maccioccchi was tremendous is relief for Indiana, pitching four scoreless innings and allowing just two hits. He's still perfect on the season, throwing 11 shutout innings and allowing just five hits. 

"We always had great belief in Grant's ability to pitch,'' Mercer said. "As the weather's warmed up, he's been really good. Nobody really has a scouting report him, so he's been a real shot in the arm for us. He's been great, but we thought he would be.''  

In the ninth inning, Nebraska shortstop Spencer Schwellenbach hit a solo home run off of Nathan Stahl in the top of the frame, and then came in to pitch in the bottom of the inning, picking up his sixth save of the season by retiring the Hoosiers in order. He has pitched 23 innings this year and allowed just two earned runs, good for an 0.78 ERA.

"I thought we were terrific offensively, I really did,'' Mercer said. "We had an inning late where we had a chance, but their bullpen was really good. They threw all their best guys and stacked them up.

"We prepared for Povich, and we did a good job, especially the way he handled us a few weeks ago.'' 

The two teams meet again on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET. Nebraska will play Ohio State first, in a 1 p.m. ET game at Bart Kaufman Field. Indiana will play Ohio State on Sunday and Monday.

Related stories on Indiana baseball

• SOMMER GOOD TO GO?: Indiana starting pitcher Tommy Sommer hasn't any any further issues with the split fingernail that knocked him out of his last start, and he's getting to call to start Friday's series opener against Nebraska. CLICK HERE
• MERCER UPSET NO FANS: Indiana baseball coach Jeff Mercer sounded off about the university not updated its policy on allowing fans for this final weekend of the season. CLICK HERE
• ILLINI TAKE DOWN HOOSIERS: Indiana wasted a great pitching night, unable to get any timely hits in a 3-2 loss in 10 innings to Illinois on Tuesday. CLICK HERE
• BIG TEN STANDINGS, SCHEDULE: Indiana took a half-game lead in the Big Ten, barely ahead of Nebraska and Michigan. Here's the latest, plus this weekend's critical schedule. CLICK HERE
• INDIANA SCHEDULE: Here is Indiana's complete schedule for the season, including links to game stories from Tom Brew for every game this season. CLICK HERE