Indiana Baseball: Hoosiers Lose First Big Ten Series to Northwestern

Indiana opened the Big Ten portion of its baseball schedule over the weekend, losing two of three games at home to Northwestern, with pitching continuing to be an issue for the Hoosiers, who are now 11-15 on the season.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana got off to a good start in the Big Ten last weekend, but dropped the last two games of a series against Northwestern at Bart Kaufman Field.

The Hoosiers won the opener on Friday thanks to a great start from Jack Perkins, winning 5-4. Indiana lost the next two, though, falling 7-6 on Saturday and 13-6 on Sunday.

Here are the highlights of the weekend:

Friday: Indiana 5, Northwestern 4

Indiana starter Jack Perkins allowed just two runs in six innings, and the Hoosiers' bats exploded in a five-run seventh inning to win their Big Ten opener 5-4 over Northwestern. It was Perkins' fourth quality start of the season, and he now has 43 strikeouts in 36 innings.

Senior Brayden Tucker threw the final two innings to pick up his first save of the season, allowing just one hit. 

Freshman Josh Pyne went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and his hitting streak reached 14 games.  with a 1-for-4 night at the plate and one RBI. Graduate student Tyler Doanes and redshirt-sophomore Bobby Whalen each had in two hits and scored one run, and Whalen added one RBI. Redshirt-junior Matthew Ellis walked three times, while senior Phillip Glasser doubled, walked and drove in a pair of RBIs.

Saturday: Northwestern 7, Indiana 6

Indiana put together a furious rally in the bottom of the ninth, but it came up just short in a 7-6 loss to Northwestern.

The Hoosiers trailed 7-0 with just three outs to go, but their first four hitters all reached base on walks or a hit batter. Hunter Jessie singled in a run and then Carter Mathison, who had three hits on the day, doubled in two more runs to cut the lead to 7-4. Tucker Schank drove it two more with a one-out single, but Tyler Doanes and Phillip Glasser both struck out to end the threat.

Sunday: Northwestern 13, Indiana 6

Northwestern had 10 hits and took advantage of eight Indiana walks in winning the series finale 13-6 on Sunday.

Nathan Stahl started for Indiana, but recorded only four outs. He walked three batters, and they all scored. The Hoosiers used five pitchers on the day, and all five allowed at least two runs.

Matthew Ellis had two hits for Indiana, including a home run, his team-leading 12th of the season. Carter Mathison also had a homer.

The Hoosiers are on the road this week. They play at Evansville on Tuesday, and then play at three-game series with Purdue on Friday through Sunday. 

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