Before this weekend, Northwestern had been swept in conference play as many times as it had won games.

This weekend, their fate didn’t change. Looking for their fourth Big Ten win, the Wildcats suffered their fourth sweep, dropping three games at Indiana.

The Cats started off the series with a late-inning loss. Despite a strong start against Hoosiers pitcher Eric Arnett, who is 10-1 this season with a 2.86 ERA, Indiana scored three in the eighth inning to steal a 3-2 win.

Senior Tommy Finn started the game with a leadoff walk. Finn eventually scored after freshman Trevor Stevens’ single and two wild pitches by Arnett, to give the Cats a quick 1-0 lead.

Despite many opportunities, the Cats (12-34-1, 3-16 Big Ten) weren’t able to build on their lead until the top of the eighth. After walks by senior Jake Wilson and freshman Hamilton Wise, the bases were loaded, courtesy of a perfectly executed bunt by Finn. Stevens, who finished the game with three hits, hit a single to score Wilson, extending the lead to 2-0.

Despite having the bases loaded with nobody out, NU failed to capitalize on the scoring opportunity, ending the inning with that one run.

NU sophomore starting picher Eric Jokisch, who struggled in his past two starts, allowed only two hits over the first four innings. He finished the game with eight strikeouts.

But the Hoosiers finally broke down Jokisch in the bottom of the eighth. After consecutive singles and a walk, the Hoosiers had the same perfect situation as NU: bases loaded and no outs.

The Hoosiers took advantage of that situation, scoring three runs in that frame to seize a 3-2 win.

“We played well, but it’s just that in the eighth inning we lose control of a game and we give up some runs,” freshman Trevor Stevens said. “All that work but a bad hop here, and a hop there, and all the sudden they’re back in the game.”

NU experienced déj