Indiana (20-25) faced Northwestern (17-24-1) in a battle at the bottom of the Big Ten standings. The top 12 teams in the conference make the conference tournament, and so this series presented itself as a “must-sweep” series for the Hoosiers.
Indiana came in off a win at Louisville, a much-needed bounce-back after dropping three straight to Iowa. Indiana now needed to win on the road, to give itself a fighter’s chance at the Big Ten Tournament.
Friday: Indiana 9, Northwestern 2
Indiana started the series inside the friendly confines at Wrigley Field. This quickly became a setting that the Hoosiers enjoyed. In the first inning, the Hoosiers grabbed the lead and never looked back as Owen Ten Oever’s sacrifice fly brought home Hogan Denny.
Then, in the third, Indiana captured four runs. Indiana scored off of Jake Hanley’s RBI single, Ten Oever’s RBI double and Landen Fry’s two-RBI single as Indiana took a 5-0 lead.
With Tony Neubeck on the mound, Indiana was comfortably in charge of the game as he went for six scoreless innings at Wrigley Field. Neubeck struck out seven and allowed four hits, as he was masterful on the mound for the Hoosiers.
In the top of the sixth, Will Moore was plunked by a pitch on the knee, but it was ruled as batter’s interference. This outraged Head Coach Jeff Mercer as he charged the umpire and pleaded his case, which led to an ejection. This was the first of Mercer’s career, and he had this to say in the postgame.
“I wanted to have a guy’s back in a pivotal moment in the game,” Mercer said. “It’s my first career ejection. I just felt like it was the time to have their back.”
Mercer’s ejection fueled the Hoosiers’ offense for four more runs, as they grabbed game one.
Saturday: Northwestern 7, Indiana 4
Game two started familiarly, even though this game was played in Evanston, Illinois, as Ten Oever continued his late-season breakout with an RBI ground-out, which scored Denny. Then in the third, Cooper Malamazian doubled to left, scoring Hanley and Denny as Indiana jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the top of the third.
Brayton Thomas pitched two scoreless innings but struggled in the third and fifth, giving up four earned runs.
After five, it was 5-3 Northwestern, and they weren’t done yet. Northwestern grabbed two runs in the seventh off Jackson Yarberry, which propelled them to the 7-4 win.
In the eighth, Fry’s sacrifice scored Malamazian, but it was all too late as Indiana dropped game two.
Indiana’s offense went dead throughout the middle of the game, and it resulted in a crushing defeat as they attempted to claw their way into the Big Ten Tournament.
Sunday: Northwestern 8, Indiana 3
The series was even heading into today’s game, as Denny hit a solo homer in the first to continue his dominant series.
Conner Linn got his first start since his dominant outing against Louisville, but he struggled, giving up an RBI single to Jay Slater, making it 1-1 after one.
The second inning was disastrous for Indiana as Northwestern scored five. Jack Lausch and Noah Ruiz both hit homers as Northwestern took a commanding 6-1 lead.
In the third, Hanley homered to center, which scored Denny, making it 6-3, Northwestern. Gavin Seebold, continued his struggles on the mound, giving up a run in the fourth, making it a 7-3 game.
Innings 5-6 are scoreless pitching duels, with little action, as the game progressed, holding at 7-3.
In the seventh, Owen McElfatrick hit a homer off Anthony Gubitosi, which made it 8-3.
In the eighth, Ayden Crouse was hit by a pitch, sending Aiden Stewart home. Indiana continued when Denny hit into a double-play, which sent home Will Gates. Hanley then doubled down the right field line, which scored Moore, making it 6-8, Northwestern. Nick Barron capped off the eighth with a solo homer, making it 9-6, Northwestern, after eight.
Indiana went 1-2-3 in the ninth, as their late rally fell short. They lost the series 1-2, and fell to 21-26 on the year (7-16 in conference).
This weekend was detrimental to Indiana’s season, as it is now extremely unlikely that they will play in the Big Ten Tournament. Indiana dropped two against Northwestern, who now will sit above them in the standings. Indiana had a few players worth mentioning with Tony Neubeck, Owen Ten Oever, and Hogan Denny, but ultimately didn’t have it this weekend. Their pitching was too inconsistent, and their bats couldn’t get going during the middle stretch of games.
Mercer had his first ejection, which seemed to spark the team for a late push in game one, but nothing could get going for Indiana in games two and three. Mercer’s squad will now face rival Purdue next weekend.
