Indiana's Season Ends With Missed Opportunities, 4-2 Loss to Kentucky in Regional Championship

Indiana baseball's season ended on Monday with a 4-2 loss to Kentucky in the Lexington Regional Championship. The Hoosiers went 1-for-15 at the place with runners in scoring position in front of a record-setting crowd at Kentucky Proud Park.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Indiana had every chance to win Monday's Lexington Regional Championship.

But coach Jeff Mercer and the Hoosiers were sent home with a 4-2 loss to Kentucky and plenty of missed opportunities to ponder. Indiana's leadoff man reached in six of nine innings, and the Hoosiers went 1-for-15 at the plate with runners in scoring position.

Indiana had two chances to beat Kentucky, first on Sunday and again on Monday, but the Wildcats claimed wins of 16-6 and 4-2 over Indiana to advance to the Super Regionals in Baton Rouge, La. 

"Really proud of the way we showed up today," Mercer said. "We put a plan together, and the boys did a great job of executing that plan really down to just leaving some guys on base. But everything else that we lined up, the guys did an awesome job of. Sometimes baseball goes that way. But I thought we played really well, competed hard. I was really proud of them."

UK's Mason Moore (20) was rushed by catcher Devin Burkes (7) and other teammates as they doused him in shower after he delivered the last pitch to secure a 4-2 victory against Indiana during the NCAA Regional final in Lexington Ky. on June 5, 2023. The win earned UK a spot in the upcoming Super Regional in Louisiana :: Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Indiana's missed chances with runners in scoring position started in the first inning and stretched through the seventh. Both starting pitchers – Indiana's Ty Bothwell and Kentucky's Darren Williams – struggled to locate early on, and when they did, the hitters were ready to capitalize. The back-and-forth affair started with a bevy of baserunners early on.

After being the home team in the first two matchups against Kentucky on Saturday and Sunday, the Hoosiers got the first crack at the plate on Monday. And they took advantage, with leadoff man Phillip Glasser reaching on an infield single to start the game. On a perfectly executed hit-and-run, Bobby Whalen drove the ball to the right centerfield wall, deep enough to score Glasser from first and give Indiana an early lead. Whalen swiped third base with one out, but Indiana ended the inning with two strikeouts.

Kentucky responded to Indiana's early lead with a patient approach in the first inning. After a Jackson Gray leadoff single, Jase Felker and Devin Burkes worked walks to load the bases with no outs. Emilien Pitre and Hunter Gilliam gave Kentucky the lead with back-to-back sacrifice flies, but Bothwell limited the damage with a strikeout to end the inning.

Like Kentucky, Indiana loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the second, but mustered just one run when Glasser reached on a fielder's choice ground ball to tie the game. Kentucky coach Nick Mingione considered allowing just one run in this situation a win. And after two busy innings, the teams were back to square one on the scoreboard.

Indiana did well to work Williams' pitch count early on, as the leadoff man reached in each of the first four innings. Devin Taylor led off the third inning with a double, and he advanced on a bothced pickoff attempt from Williams. But with Taylor at third and no outs, the middle of Indiana's order failed to drive him home. Indiana had yet another chance to score in the fourth, when Hunter Jessee reached second base with one out, but a strikeout and a hard-hit lineout from Glasser ended the rally.

Kentucky pulled Williams after four innings of work and 75 pitches, allowing two runs on six hits and a walk.

After a shaky first inning, Bothwell settled in nicely for Indiana. He allowed just two base runners in a four-inning stretch, coming on an error from Josh Pyne and a hit-by-pitch. 

For Bothwell, finding his groove stemmed from his teammates' support.

"I knew that my team had my back, whether it be rain or shine, however I was throwing, that was irrelevant," Bothwell said. "The fact that our guys have, day in and day out, behind closed doors, I see them working every day. And I know all that work is going to translate to the game. And just knowing that our guys are behind each other in the biggest moments, that's all I needed to have in my head to be able to go out and compete."

Mercer pulled Bothwell with one out in the sixth inning after Gilliam broke the tie, ending an outing that gave Indiana every chance to win. In 5.1 innings, Bothwell allowed three hits and four runs with three walks and seven strikeouts. Brayden Risedorph replaced Bothwell in the sixth and let up an RBI double to Ryan Waldschmidt, which extended Kentucky's lead to two runs.

Indiana's final prime opportunity to tie or take the lead took place in the seventh. Peter Serruto worked a walk to start the inning, and Glasser followed his lead through the left side. Mercer chose to have Whalen bunt the Indiana runners over to second and third base, setting up RBI opportunities for Indiana's No. 3 hitter, Taylor, and clean-up man, Tibbitts. 

But facing what Mercer described as a 94-mile-an-hour bowling ball coming off the fingertips of Kentucky reliever Mason Moore, another Indiana rally fizzled out. Taylor struck out, and Tibbitts grounded out.

UK's Mason Moore (20) reacted after he delivered the last pitch to secure a 4-2 victory against Indiana during the NCAA Regional final in Lexington Ky. on June 5, 2023. The win earned UK a spot in the upcoming Super Regional in Louisiana :: Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Mercer attributed these issues with runners in scoring position to two talented Kentucky pitchers getting the best of Indiana's lineup. In five shutout innings, Indiana struggled against Moore's elevated sinker, leading to five strikeouts and four hits.

Moore's effort made him one of two Kentucky pitchers to land on the Lexington All-Regional Team, along with Austin Strickland, who tossed six scoreless innings against West Virginia.

"We had to get to Williams and we just didn't do a good enough job against him," Mercer said. "You just can't leave guys on base because you know when you get to Moore, he's really good ... [Moore] did a really good job every time he had to knuckle down and execute pitches, he did. He got in when he had to get in, he got up and in when he had to get up and in. And we couldn't drive them in. That was the difference in the ball game."

Indiana's season ends with a 43-20 record, which ties the 1996, 1987 and 1986 squads for the fifth-most in a single season in program history. Despite the pain of a season ending loss, Mercer feels Indiana can turn the experienced gained this weekend into future success, especially with the amount of young talent returning for next season.

"While we're building, I'm looking at this year and next year and the following year and I'm saying, 'How do we get to a national level, get to a national level and stay at a national level every single year forever and ever and ever?'" Mercer said. "And so I'm not more hungry than I was yesterday. I was starving hungry four, five years ago when we started this process. I'll be starving hungry tomorrow and I'll be starving hungry in 10 years."

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