Indiana University Athletics
IU Confident Tuesday Night Missteps Won’t Carry Over
3/29/2016 10:38:00 PM | Baseball
By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Chris Lemonis won't question his team's talent. Indiana's head coach has seen the Hoosiers' potential and thinks as highly of his ball club as anyone.
That's why nights like Tuesday's 5-0 loss to Cincinnati at Bart Kaufman Field sting.
"Uninspired," he said. "Just uninspired."
The Hoosiers' loss to the Bearcats was a less than ideal start to a stretch of five games over six days. IU will be tested to shake off whatever bugaboo is plaguing the team quickly with Evansville coming to Bloomington for another 6:05 p.m. matchup Wednesday afternoon.
"We've got to get a little tougher," Lemonis said. "Everybody in college baseball has to do it, but unfortunately our group struggles with that a little bit of being able to show up day in and day out."
Cincinnati's first three runs through five innings Tuesday were all unearned.
The first run came in the second inning when Cincinnati's Treg Haberkorn reached on a throwing error, which allowed him to get to third base without the ball traveling more than 60 feet off the bat.
Cincinnati's RJ Thompson cashed in on the error the next at-bat, singling to third base for the first of two unearned runs given up by Milto over four innings of work.
The second came in the third inning after Cincinnati's Cam Alldred singled to right field, advanced to second on another throwing error and then scored on Connor McVey's hard-hit single to third base.
Cincinnati picked up its third and final unearned run in the fifth inning when Woody Wallace reached on an error and eventually scored on a steal and stop with two outs.
"It all goes back to me," Lemonis said, shouldering the blame. "The head coach has to get them ready to play, and tonight, we didn't have them read to play."
The Bearcats went on to add a pair of earned runs in the eighth inning that proved to be unnecessary cushion as Indiana's offense struggled to push runners across the plate.
Indiana sophomore left fielder Laren Eustace was a bright spot for the Hoosiers having reached base four times, but his day encapsulated IU's struggles. Despite piecing together a pair of hits, reaching on a single and also getting hit by a pitch, Eustace was never able to put a run on the board.
The Hoosiers left six runners on base, three of whom were stranded in scoring position.
Three Cincinnati pitchers combined for the shutout, led by starter AJ Olasz's five innings of three-hit baseball. He struck out six.
"It's frustrating," Eustace said. "It seemed like we had runners on base almost every inning and couldn't get anything across. A lot of it was focus."
Perhaps the toughest sequence of the night came in the sixth inning when Eustace got things going by reaching first on a hit by pitch. He advanced to second on a single by sophomore outfielder Craig Dedelow. A fielder's choice put runners on first and third before freshman first baseman Luke Miller was caught stealing second and sophomore outfielder Logan Sowers struck out swinging to end Indiana's most potent threat of the night.
"We had a chance to get that run here and there," Lemonis said. "We just didn't take advantage of it."
Indiana (12-11) was understandably frustrated at the end of the night. Up until Tuesday, the Hoosiers appeared to have momentum on their side having won five of their last six games heading into one of the busiest weeks of the season.
Now IU will look to rekindle the spark they had against an Evansville team it rallied to beat 7-6 just a couple of weeks ago.
The quick turnaround may not have come at a better time.
"The good teams bounce back," Eustace said. "We have another chance at it tomorrow. That's the good thing about baseball."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Chris Lemonis won't question his team's talent. Indiana's head coach has seen the Hoosiers' potential and thinks as highly of his ball club as anyone.
That's why nights like Tuesday's 5-0 loss to Cincinnati at Bart Kaufman Field sting.
"Uninspired," he said. "Just uninspired."
The Hoosiers' loss to the Bearcats was a less than ideal start to a stretch of five games over six days. IU will be tested to shake off whatever bugaboo is plaguing the team quickly with Evansville coming to Bloomington for another 6:05 p.m. matchup Wednesday afternoon.
"We've got to get a little tougher," Lemonis said. "Everybody in college baseball has to do it, but unfortunately our group struggles with that a little bit of being able to show up day in and day out."
Cincinnati's first three runs through five innings Tuesday were all unearned.
The first run came in the second inning when Cincinnati's Treg Haberkorn reached on a throwing error, which allowed him to get to third base without the ball traveling more than 60 feet off the bat.
Cincinnati's RJ Thompson cashed in on the error the next at-bat, singling to third base for the first of two unearned runs given up by Milto over four innings of work.
The second came in the third inning after Cincinnati's Cam Alldred singled to right field, advanced to second on another throwing error and then scored on Connor McVey's hard-hit single to third base.
Cincinnati picked up its third and final unearned run in the fifth inning when Woody Wallace reached on an error and eventually scored on a steal and stop with two outs.
"It all goes back to me," Lemonis said, shouldering the blame. "The head coach has to get them ready to play, and tonight, we didn't have them read to play."
The Bearcats went on to add a pair of earned runs in the eighth inning that proved to be unnecessary cushion as Indiana's offense struggled to push runners across the plate.
Indiana sophomore left fielder Laren Eustace was a bright spot for the Hoosiers having reached base four times, but his day encapsulated IU's struggles. Despite piecing together a pair of hits, reaching on a single and also getting hit by a pitch, Eustace was never able to put a run on the board.
The Hoosiers left six runners on base, three of whom were stranded in scoring position.
Three Cincinnati pitchers combined for the shutout, led by starter AJ Olasz's five innings of three-hit baseball. He struck out six.
"It's frustrating," Eustace said. "It seemed like we had runners on base almost every inning and couldn't get anything across. A lot of it was focus."
Perhaps the toughest sequence of the night came in the sixth inning when Eustace got things going by reaching first on a hit by pitch. He advanced to second on a single by sophomore outfielder Craig Dedelow. A fielder's choice put runners on first and third before freshman first baseman Luke Miller was caught stealing second and sophomore outfielder Logan Sowers struck out swinging to end Indiana's most potent threat of the night.
"We had a chance to get that run here and there," Lemonis said. "We just didn't take advantage of it."
Indiana (12-11) was understandably frustrated at the end of the night. Up until Tuesday, the Hoosiers appeared to have momentum on their side having won five of their last six games heading into one of the busiest weeks of the season.
Now IU will look to rekindle the spark they had against an Evansville team it rallied to beat 7-6 just a couple of weeks ago.
The quick turnaround may not have come at a better time.
"The good teams bounce back," Eustace said. "We have another chance at it tomorrow. That's the good thing about baseball."
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballJacksonville Baseball Classic - Notre Dame Press Conference
Sunday, February 22
Jacksonville Baseball Classic - UCF Press Conference
Saturday, February 21
Jacksonville Baseball Classic - LSU Press Conference
Friday, February 20
Big Ten Tournament Press Conference - vs. Rutgers
Wednesday, May 21