Indiana Baseball: Purdue Wins 8-5, Ends Hoosiers' 8-Game Winning Streak

Indiana has played great baseball the first three weeks of the season, but their strengths – pitching and defense – let them down in an 8-5 loss to Purdue.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana has been dominant out of the gate this season thanks to pitching and defense, but both let them down in a disappointing 8-5 loss to Purdue on Saturday at Bart Kaufman Field.

The loss snapped an eight-game winning streak for the Hoosiers and dropped their record to 8-2 on the season. It was only the second game all season that they've given up more than two runs.

Four Indiana pitchers allowed 11 hits and six walks, and the Hoosiers made two costly errors as well. They had only made two errors all season prior to Saturday.

"They were extremely important, and costly,'' interim manager Dan Held said. Coach Jeff Mercer is still out after testing positive for COVID-19. "Our defense, that's been the strength of our team along with our pitching. It's been a great asset to us, but today it let us down. Those were two big plays and I wish we could change those.''

Starter McCade Brown, the sophomore right-hander from Normal, Ill., had been off-the-charts good for the Hoosiers in his first two outings, allowing just one and three hits in 14 innings, and striking out a whopping 28 batters. But that dominance wasn't there on Saturday.

"I think he just wasn't able to control his off-speed today the way he had in the past,'' Held said. "I don't think he was pressing, but hats off to Purdue. They laid off some tough pitches and they were really making him work.''

Purdue got him for a run in the second inning when Ben Nisle doubled and scored on a single by Cam Thompson, but then things really fell apart in the third inning when the Boilers scored four runs to take a 5-1 lead.

Brown walked three batters in the inning and also gave up three singles. It also didn't help that third baseman Cole Barr had a throwing error in the middle of it as well. Brown was fortunate to limit the damage somewhat, getting the final two outs on a strikeout and flyout to right with the bases loaded.

"He didn't have a good feel for it, and I tried to make up for it with his fastball,'' Held said. "They were on fastball timing, and they made him work. But he'll be better next time out.''

Indiana methodically worked their way back into the game, adding a run in the fourth on a Morgan Colopy double and an RBI single by Grant Macciocchi. They tacked on two more in the fifth to get to 5-4 when Barr doubled and scored on a Paul Toetz singled, and then he scored on a double in the gap in right from freshman Kip Fougerousse, who came in to pinch-hit

"I really liked the way our guys stayed with it, stayed the course as hitters and really made them work all the way down to the end of it,'' Held said. "The guys off the bench, they really did a great job.'' 

But Indiana's bullpen, which has been stout all season, couldn't keep it close. John Modugno gave up a run in the sixth, and Purdue got two more in the eighth to go up 7-4. Indiana gave up another run in the ninth after a walk and a single, and a bang-bang play at the plate where Ryan Howe, who had walked, scored under the tag of catcher Collin Hopkins.

"Walks always kill you, and they always come back to haunt you, no doubt about it,'' Held said.

In the ninth, Drew Ashley led off with a double in the gap in left-center, Richardson walked and then Barr had an RBI single to left on a full count off of pitcher Nolan Daniel, who had given up five runs in just one inning in his last appearance. Toetz and Fougerousse were called out strikes, both on curveballs over the inside corner, but then Jessee was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Tyler Van Pelt, who was hitting .100 thus far  this season, worked a 3-0 count, but Daniel battled back and fooled him with a fastball on the hands that Van Pelt couldn't get to.

Indiana had 11 hits as well, but nine were singles. Ashley, Barr, Toetz and Colopy all had two hits each.

"We'll just stay the course and get them tomorrow,'' Held said.

The two teams will play the rubber match of the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on Bart Kaufman Field.

Related stories on Indiana baseball

• INDIANA WINS SERIES OPENER: Indiana gets a great start from Tommy Sommer and some late heroics from Grant Richardson to beat Purdue 2-1 in the opening game of this three-game series. CLICK HERE
• INDIANA SCHEDULE: Here is Indiana's complete baseball schedule for 2021, with dates and game times for all 44 Big Ten games. CLICK HERE