BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Rutgers baseball (20-30, 9-13) suffered an 11-4 loss Friday at No. 21 Indiana (35-19, 16-7). The Scarlet Knights are eliminated from the Big Ten playoff race after factoring in the other results from around the league.
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"Tevin has been pitching great, but tonight didn't have command of his pitches," head coach
Joe Litterio said. "Indiana has a good lineup and they became better with ball one. They took advantage of favorable counts."
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The Hoosiers, who entered the week tied for first in the country in total home runs, scored in five of the first six innings and hit four long balls. Junior
Tevin Murray had given up just one earned run in his previous six starts, but permitted six over 2.1 innings. He still finished with a 1.75Â ERA in the Big Ten over 46.1 conference innings this season. In addition, the left-hander's three strikeout summed him at 81 in 2019, ranked sixth in a single season in program history.
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In relief, junior
Steven Acosta went 2.2 innings in his 30
th appearance, which sits second in the school record books for a campaign and one off the standard. Junior
Eric Reardon and freshman
Garrett French combined to work through the sixth inning. Both sophomore
Kyle Muller and junior
Jack Parkinson pitched scoreless frames.
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Junior
Kevin Welsh and senior
Luke Bowerbank accounted for the scoring with a pair of two-run homers. It was the second in as many days for Welsh and the first collegiate dinger for Bowerbank. Freshman
David Soto reached base three times on a single, hit by pitch and walk and scored on both the homers.
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Tanner Gordon pitched seven innings with six strikeouts and no walks to earn the win for Indiana. The home team produced 12 hits and took control of first place in the Big Ten standings.
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SCORING
- Indiana scored first on a solo homer in the top of the first.
- The Hoosiers used a two-out RBI double to tack on another in the second, but Murray picked up a strikeout to strand the bases loaded.
- Welsh tied the game with a two-run homer with two down in the third. Soto had previously reached on a hit by pitch.
- IU responded with a three-run homer and solo shot in the last of the third to take a 6-2 lead. One more crossed in the fifth and four more in the sixth.
- After Soto drew a walk, Bowerbank came up as a pinch hitter in the eighth and crushed a ball over the wall in right field.
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UP NEXT
The Scarlet Knights will close the season Saturday at noon versus Indiana. The game will broadcast on Big Ten Network.
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