By Chris Feeny • @ChrisF3105 • May 23
Hoosier Baseball loses 9-4 to Minnesota and goes winless in the B1G Tourney.
There was no miracle 3 run game tying home run this year. This year, the deficit was five in the bottom of the ninth facing a two and out exit from TD Ameritrade Park. This year, it was a hitless bottom of the ninth and a winless showing in the conference tournament for Hoosier Baseball for the first time since it went to an eight team format in 2014.
Tanner Gordon started today’s elimination game but several errors in the field and four Minnesota extra base hits only allowed him to pitch into the fifth. A relief combination of Gabe Bierman, Tommy Sommer and Grant Sloan allowed five more runs and it was too much for the suddenly dormant offense to over come.
The Hoosiers did take a brief 3-2 lead in the fourth. RBI’s from Scotty Bradley and Justin Walker paired with a Minnesota error equaled what would be the most productive inning of the Hoosiers’ tournament. The lead didn’t last as Minnesota scored three more in the fifth and never trailed again. In total, there were just 3 hits on the day and ten strikeouts. Not a recipe for advancing and moving on.
The Hoosiers head back to Bloomington to await Monday’s NCAA Selection Show. The 2019 resume building is done and it includes a 2019 Big Ten regular season title and what appears to be a #2 or #3 seed in a Regional next weekend. We’ll find out where June Baseball will be played on Monday.
