Baseball Falls in Series Opener to Xavier

Thursday, March 17

Bloomington, Ind.

6 P.M.

Indiana University

7-10

Xavier

6-12

Xavier

Indiana

3/17/2022 10:21:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana baseball program rallied from deficits on two occasions Thursday (March 17) night against Xavier, but three runs over the final two innings was too much in a 9-7 loss at Bart Kaufman Field.

Xavier (6-12) scored the first run of the game in the third inning and Indiana (7-10) plated one run in the fourth to tie the game. After a run in the top of the sixth for the Musketeers, freshman Josh Pyne hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning to give IU a short-lived lead. Xavier would score four in the top of the seventh and Indiana answered with three in the bottom of the frame to make it a 6-6 game after seven. XU scored twice in the eight and once in the ninth to make it 9-6. The Hoosiers put runners on base in the ninth inning and scratched across a run before the Musketeers recorded the final out.

The third straight quality start by redshirt-junior Jack Perkins (2-2) featured a career-high nine strikeouts, but two of his three walks came in to score. He allowed three runs – two earned – on two hits in the no decision.

Offensively, Pyne drove in four of IU's seven runs in a 1-for-4 effort at the plate. Redshirt-sophomore Bobby Whalen was on base three times and scored three runs in the game to go along with one RBI. Whalen walked twice and reached on an error, and also stole two bases in the game. Redshirt-sophomore Morgan Colopy collected two hits in the game, while graduate student Tyler Doanes was on base three times with a single and two walks.

Redshirt-sophomore Reese Sharp (0-4) allowed five runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings of work and was saddled with the loss, while junior John-Biagio Modugno gave up one run on two hits in 1 1/3 innings of work to close out the game.

Jerry Huntzinger did a little bit of everything for the Musketeers, going 1-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored and three RBIs, and collected the final four outs for his second save of the season. Seven different Xavier hitters collected hits in the game and each of them scored at least one run.

Scoring Recap
Top Third
Garrett Schultz walked to lead off the inning and moved to third thanks to a failed pickoff and wild pitch. A sacrifice fly from Jared Cushing plated the first run of the game.
Xavier 1, Indiana 0

Bottom Fourth
Xavier starting pitcher Miles Halligan walked the bases load and Josh Pyne worked the fifth walk to the inning to register the RBI.
Indiana 1, Xavier 1

Top Sixth
Jerry Huntzinger walked with one out and moved to third on a Jack Housinger single. A wild pitch brought him in to score.
Xavier 2, Indiana 1

Bottom Sixth
Bobby Whalen reached on an error with two outs and Pyne delivered again with a two-run home run to left field.
Indiana 3, Xavier 2

Top Seventh
A Tyler DeMartino doubled ended the night for IU starting pitcher Jack Perkins. Reliever Reese Sharp came on and retired the first batter he faced. A Schultz double tied the game and Matthew DuPrey singled to put two runners on base. After a sacrifice bunt, Huntzinger hit a three-run home run to left field.
Xavier 6, Indiana 3

Bottom Seventh
The first five batters of the inning reached base as Whalen plated the first run of the inning on a fielder's choice. Matthew Ellis followed with an RBI single up the middle and the third run of the inning scored on a passed ball.
Indiana 6, Xavier 6

Top Eighth
Luke Franzoni and Andrew Walker singled to start the frame and a sacrifice bunt moved them to second and third with one out. A ground scored the first run, and a wild pitch allowed a second to cross the plate.
Xavier 8, Indiana 6

Top Ninth
Housinger hit a solo home run with one out.
Xavier 9, Indiana 6

Bottom Ninth
Whalen walked, stole second and moved to third on a ground out. After Brock Tibbitts walked, Pyne grounded into a fielder's choice to plate one run.
Xavier 9, Indiana 7

Up Next
Indiana and Xavier will bypass a game on Friday due to wet weather projected in the area for most of the day. The series will pick back up on Saturday (March 19) at Noon. The series will conclude with a doubleheader on Sunday (March 20) starting at Noon.