Early Lead Not Enough as Buckeyes Fall to Indiana in B1G Opener

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Despite a 6-0 lead in the first inning, the Buckeyes (12-8, 0-1 Big Ten) fell to Indiana (15-7, 1-0 Big Ten), 14-6, in their first game of Big Ten play on Saturday.

Game Recap

The first four Buckeyes were walked to start off the game, giving Ohio State an early 1-0 lead over the Hoosiers. With the bases still loaded, Matthew Graveline drew a walk to send Kade Kern home and put Ohio State up, 2-0. With one out on the board and bases still loaded, Nick Erwin singled up the middle, driving in two runs to give OSU a 4-0 advantage. An RBI single from Henry Kaczmar put Ohio State ahead, 5-0. Erwin then scored on an Indiana error to give the Buckeyes a commanding 6-0 lead after the top half of the first inning.
The Hoosiers cut Ohio State’s lead in half, 6-3, in the second inning, after a solo homerun, an RBI double and an RBI groundout.
Indiana added another run in the third inning, cutting the Ohio State lead to two, 6-4.
In the top of the fourth, Kaczmar doubled to lead off the inning, but there was nothing else doing for the Buckeyes and he was stranded.
Indiana took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth frame, scoring four runs to get ahead of Ohio State by two, 8-6.
Marcus Ernst drew a walk to start off the fifth inning. With two outs on the board, Mitchell Okuley was walked and then Erwin singled through the right side to load the bases. The Hoosiers, however, got the third out to keep the Buckeyes from adding to their score.
In the bottom of the fifth, Indiana hit back-to-back homeruns to take a four-run lead, 10-6.
Trey Lipsey had a hit in the sixth with one out, but Indiana turned a double play to keep OSU off the board in the away half.
In the eighth, Josh McAlister singled to center field with just one out on the board. Kern hit a two-out single and McAlister advanced to third to put runners on the corners, but they were left on base as the Hoosiers got out of the inning unscathed.
The Hoosiers extended their lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, scoring four more runs to get ahead by eight, 14-6.
Cole Andrews and Graveline hit back-to-back singles to lead off the ninth. Andrews advanced to third on a fly-out and Graveline stole second, but they were not able to score as Indiana won the first game of the series, 14-6.

Buckeyes by the Numbers

Erwin and Kaczmar led the Buckeyes in hits with two each.
Erwin had a team-high two RBIs.
Isaiah Coupet (3-2) took the loss on the mound. He struck out four while giving up 10 earned runs on 10 hits in 4.0 innings pitched.

Up Next