Indiana University Athletics
Thursday, May 16
Bloomington, Ind.
6:05 p.m.
Indiana University
vs
Rutgers
No. 21 Closes Out Regular Season with Rutgers
5/15/2019 10:08:00 PM | Baseball
•Twenty-first ranked Indiana hosts the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Bart Kaufman Field beginign on Thursday night. Friday and Saturday's games will air nationally on BTN.
• Friday will be the 10th ever meeting between IU and Rutgers. The Hoosiers earned a 7-6 victory over the Scarlet Knights last year in Port Charlotte, Fla.
• Indiana leads the all-time series between the two schools, 7-2.
• Indiana Head Coach Jeff Mercer is in his first season with the Hoosiers and his 10th overall year in coaching collegiately. He has posted an 110-67 career record after leading Wright State to winning seasons in each of his two years with the Raiders, including a 2018 Horizon League title and NCAA Regional appearance.
• Rutgers head coach Loe Litterio is in his sixth season at at Rutgrs and his 18th overall year as a collegiate head coach. He is a Rutgers alum and took over for the legendary Fred Hill in the 2014 season.
• Indiana is coming off a weekend where it took two of three games on the road at No. 19 Michigan. The Hoosiers won the Friday games, 10-4 and 10-8 respectively, before falling 6-5 in 11 innings on Sunday.
• IU is ranked 21st in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll and is 25th in the D1Baseball.com Top 25.
• Freshman Gabe Bierman, Twas named Big Ten Freshman of the week. He tossed 4.1 scoreless innings of relief on the week, including three perfect innings on Friday at Michigan, where he struck out the final eight batters he faced to earn his first career save.
• The Hoosiers entered this week tied with Arizona State as the nation's leader with 84 home runs and trail the single-season school record by one (85 in 2010). Tennessee Tech trails both teams by just one home run.
• Additionally, Indiana entered the week first in the Big Ten in runs (351, 38th nationally) and total bases (806), is second in slugging percentage (.462, 30th) and RBI (316), and is third in doubles (99, 43rd) and walks (225).
• IU's pitching staff came into this week leading the Big Ten in strikeout to walk ratio (2.94, 12th nationally) and strikeouts (494), is second in WHIP (1.24, 13th), strikeouts per nine innings (9.8, 19th), walks per nine innings (2nd, 34th), and fewest walks (168), and is third in ERA (3.55, 21st), hits allowed per nine innings (7.78, 28th) and opposing batting average (.230).
• Senior Matt Lloyd and sophomore Cole Barr are each tied for the Big Ten lead in home runs (15, 23rd nationally).
• Head coach Jeff Mercer has won six of his seven Big Ten series as IU's head coach. Dating back to his two years at Wright State, he has lost just just two league series as a head coach (at Illinois in 2019, vs. UIC in 2017).
• Since the start of the 2008 season, Indiana leads the Big Ten in wins (420) and conference wins (177). The Hoosiers have made six NCAA Regionals over that span, the most out of any current Big Ten team.
• Friday will be the 10th ever meeting between IU and Rutgers. The Hoosiers earned a 7-6 victory over the Scarlet Knights last year in Port Charlotte, Fla.
• Indiana leads the all-time series between the two schools, 7-2.
• Indiana Head Coach Jeff Mercer is in his first season with the Hoosiers and his 10th overall year in coaching collegiately. He has posted an 110-67 career record after leading Wright State to winning seasons in each of his two years with the Raiders, including a 2018 Horizon League title and NCAA Regional appearance.
• Rutgers head coach Loe Litterio is in his sixth season at at Rutgrs and his 18th overall year as a collegiate head coach. He is a Rutgers alum and took over for the legendary Fred Hill in the 2014 season.
• Indiana is coming off a weekend where it took two of three games on the road at No. 19 Michigan. The Hoosiers won the Friday games, 10-4 and 10-8 respectively, before falling 6-5 in 11 innings on Sunday.
• IU is ranked 21st in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll and is 25th in the D1Baseball.com Top 25.
• Freshman Gabe Bierman, Twas named Big Ten Freshman of the week. He tossed 4.1 scoreless innings of relief on the week, including three perfect innings on Friday at Michigan, where he struck out the final eight batters he faced to earn his first career save.
• The Hoosiers entered this week tied with Arizona State as the nation's leader with 84 home runs and trail the single-season school record by one (85 in 2010). Tennessee Tech trails both teams by just one home run.
• Additionally, Indiana entered the week first in the Big Ten in runs (351, 38th nationally) and total bases (806), is second in slugging percentage (.462, 30th) and RBI (316), and is third in doubles (99, 43rd) and walks (225).
• IU's pitching staff came into this week leading the Big Ten in strikeout to walk ratio (2.94, 12th nationally) and strikeouts (494), is second in WHIP (1.24, 13th), strikeouts per nine innings (9.8, 19th), walks per nine innings (2nd, 34th), and fewest walks (168), and is third in ERA (3.55, 21st), hits allowed per nine innings (7.78, 28th) and opposing batting average (.230).
• Senior Matt Lloyd and sophomore Cole Barr are each tied for the Big Ten lead in home runs (15, 23rd nationally).
• Head coach Jeff Mercer has won six of his seven Big Ten series as IU's head coach. Dating back to his two years at Wright State, he has lost just just two league series as a head coach (at Illinois in 2019, vs. UIC in 2017).
• Since the start of the 2008 season, Indiana leads the Big Ten in wins (420) and conference wins (177). The Hoosiers have made six NCAA Regionals over that span, the most out of any current Big Ten team.
Players Mentioned
Big Ten Tournament Press Conference - vs. Rutgers
Wednesday, May 21
NCAA Postgame Press Conference - Southern Miss - 2
Sunday, June 02
NCAA Postgame Press Conference - Tennessee
Sunday, June 02
NCAA Postgame Press Conference - Southern Miss
Friday, May 31