Hoosiers fight back multiple times but Troy pulls away to take the series.
By Carl James @jovian34 March 10th, 2024 (edited with quotes on March 12th)
The Indiana Hoosiers never gave up, but by the point both teams got their pitching under control, Troy had the edge in runs, held it and was able to extend a bit to hold on for a 4-run win and claim the series.
Indiana Hoosiers 11, Troy Trojans 15:
Inning by inning details in the Live Game Blog | Box Score
In a game with 26 combined runs, there were only 19 combined hits, and an eye-popping 27 combined free passes. The two teams successfully worked counts, took walks and hit by pitches, and responded when the other took leads. In the end Troy did a bit better job in capitalizing with men in scoring position and claimed the series with a score of 15-11.
Indiana hitters 1st through 8th in the batting order all recorded one hit, and lead-off hitter Nick Mitchell recorded two. Carter Mathison’s hit was a go-ahead 2-run homer.
Brayden Risedorph pitched relatively well, but ran into a lot of trouble in the second inning. A double and two homers plus a wild pitch lead to 4 Trojan runs. Risedorph settled in after that inning and put up two more scoreless innings. He was removed after an out in the fifth and had a runner on first.
Grant Holderfield was first out of the pen. Holderfield struggled with command, pitching from behind to most batters only recording 9 strikes out of 25 pitches. In addition to the inherited runner, Holderfield allowed 5 runs of his own and failed to record an out. While Holderfield’s stuff is good, the lack of command lead to another very big inning for Troy. After the game coach Mercer reflected, “it’s hard when you don’t know what you are going to get from a guy. You have the same guy that will cruise an inning or two and then that same guy you put him in that same situation and he really struggles.”
In summary coach Mercer said that “the primary cause of [Troy’s] run production was free bases.” In total, Hoosier pitchers walked 12 Trojans and plunked two.
Indiana responded with four runs in the bottom of the same inning, but it wouldn’t be enough.
Aydan Decker-Petty was solid, giving up on 2 runs in the final 3.0 innings of work. Mercer was very please with Decker-Petty’s outing. “He attacked. He was confident. He’s got great stuff. It’s cold today and he’s still 91-94. He’s got a sinker.” Mercer wants Decker-Petty to be more consistent and have outings like this and the one he had against Illinois at the Big Ten Tournament last year more often.