Indiana plates 5, but its not enough against a potent offense
by Carl James •@jovian34 • April 17th, 2021
McCade Brown didn’t walk nearly as many betters as he did a week ago, but his ability to locate pitches wasn’t great and Northwestern batters were able to square him up for four extra base hits including two home runs.
Reigning Big Ten Pitcher of the Week Braydon Tucker looked great in relief for 2.1 innings, but struggled in the decisive eighth inning giving up 4 runs (3 earned). Tucker was inducing ground balls most of his outing, but they were finding holes in the eighth. Once a Wildcat squared Tucker up, pitching coach Justin Parker went with John Modugno who was unable to keep the inherited runners from scoring.
The 8 run total for the Wildcats was too much for the Hoosiers to overcome. In 22 games the Hoosiers have only scored more than eight runs two times. It was not a bad day on offense for the Hoosiers, but without the pitching shutting things down like normal, the Hoosiers just didn’t produce enough scoring to win. Northwestern won 8-5.
The real bright spots for the Hoosiers were designated hitter Tyler Van Pelt and left fielder Drew Ashley. Van Pelt lead the team with three hits, including a home run. Ashley had two hits and a short lived go-ahead RBI late.
Cole Barr took over the team lead with his fourth home run of the season, a 2-run rocket over the left field fence. Most impressive from Barr was a Major League level bare handed play at third base on a short chopper.
Indiana maintains third place in the Big Ten due to winning percentage, but zero games, over Iowa. The Hoosiers and Wildcats will decide the series Sunday at 1pm EDT.