The baseball team opened up their home season with a doubleheader against Anderson University on  March 3.

The Grenadiers dropped both games of the doubleheader, losing the first game, 4-0, and the second game, 4-2.

Anderson’s four runs in the first game were off eight hits, two of which were on back-to-back solo home runs in the third inning.

IU Southeast was held to no runs on just three hits in the game.

IUS head coach Ben Reel said the team didn’t come out ready to play after the first game of the doubleheader, and he wanted to see them start faster in the second game.

“We came out here against a Division III school, and we just weren’t ready to play,” Reel said. “They’ve got to come out ready to strike first, then keep their foot on the gas pedal the rest of the game,”

IU Southeast was able to strike first in the second game, scoring two runs in the first inning off three doubles by Joseph Mattingly, sophomore outfielder, Jordan Pass, senior infielder, and Craig Roberts, sophomore infielder, but the Grenadiers were unable to fight off the Anderson rally.

Anderson tied the game with two runs in the fifth inning off four hits and one IUS error.

Anderson then scored two runs in the eighth inning of the extra inning game — doubleheaders are played as two seven-inning games on a two-out double to right field by Anderson’s Austin Young, freshman second baseman.

Anderson sophomore pitcher Tyler Watson shut down IU Southeast in the bottom half of the eighth inning, striking out two of the three batters he faced.

Watson had six total strikeouts and was credited the win in three innings of relief.

Anderson head coach David Pressley said he was pleased with his team’s performance and happy to get wins in their first two games of the season.

“I couldn’t ask for more,” Pressley said. “We couldn’t be more thrilled with how our pitchers threw first game outside, and our hitters were on the ball.”

Reel said his players tend to relax when they score first, and that was the case in the game two.

“I think our guys — when they score first — they pray to God that we’re going to throw a no-hitter the rest of the game,” Reel said.

Reel said the mindset of his team is they will win if they score first.

“It’s like we won the game,” Reel said. “We scored first. We won. That’s not the way it works. It’s college baseball. They’re going to hit the ball. Nobody on my team is going to strike everybody out.”

Reel said he wants his team to get into a winning mindset.

“Play the game to win,” Reel said. “Don’t play the game not to lose. They need to come out and start swinging, figuratively and
realistically.”

By BRENT KULWICKI

Staff

bkulwick@ius.edu