Baseball Gameday: host Minnesota

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – This weekend in the Big Ten will go a long way in clarifying or distorting the Big Ten Tournament picture as all but one conference series pits a top-8 team against one looking to get into the playoff picture, including the Indiana baseball program hosting Minnesota for three games at Bart Kaufman Field.

Saturday's (May 14) game time has been shifted to 4 p.m. and will not be televised on the Big Ten Network. Prior to that contest, the program will honor its seniors as part of a pregame ceremony.

Indiana (22-26, 8-10 B1G) sits in the No. 7 spot in the standings and enters its final home series of the season winners of its last three Big Ten series: vs. Nebraska, vs. Illinois and at Michigan. The Hoosiers are being powered by a trio of freshmen, Carter Mathison, Josh Pyne and Brock Tibbitts. They are looking to etch their place in the record books as the first trio of rookies to drive in 40-plus RBIs in the same season in program history.

For Minnesota (14-31, 4-14 B1G), the Gophers enter off of just the second series win of the season and first since mid-March. UM took the final two games from Nebraska in Minneapolis last weekend and will be searching for its first true-road victory since the season opener. The Golden Gophers are not eliminated from tournament contention, either, entering the last weekend needing some wins to get close to a trip to the Big Ten Tournament.

Gameday Info
Friday, May 13, 2022
IU: Jack Perkins, RHP, R-Jr.
UM: Richie Holetz, RHP, Sr.

Live Video: bit.ly/3yz0iGa
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/IUStatbroadcast

Saturday, May 14, 2022
IU: Bradley Brehmer, RHP, Sr.
UM: Tom Skoro, LHP, R-Sr.

TV: Big Ten Network
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/IUStatbroadcast

Sunday, May 15, 2022
IU: TBA
UM: Aidan Maldonado, RHP, R-Jr.

Live Video: bit.ly/3yuPitn
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/IUStatbroadcast

Quick Hitters
Indiana and Minnesota will meet for the sixth straight conference season over the weekend, with IU winning seven of the last eight meetings.
MORE ON PAGE 3
Freshman Carter Mathison became IU's freshman home run leader with his 15th longballl of the season at Michigan. The mark is the second highest total in B1G history for a freshman.
MORE ON PAGE 7
Mathison and fellow freshman Josh Pyne sits No. 2 among Big Ten freshmen in RBIs (44) and teammate Brock Tibbitts is close to joining the 40 RBI club, as well.
MORE ON PAGE 8
Mathison is riding a 15-game reached base streak entering the weekend versus Minnesota. It is the second streak of 15 games for the rookies in 2022.
MORE ON PAGE 7
Redshirt-junior Matt Ellis and freshman Carter Mathison are tied at No. 2 on the Big Ten home run charts, with their 15 longballs sitting No. 34 nationally.
MORE ON PAGE 3 & 10
Indiana's pitching staff is on pace to become one of the most productive strikeout units in program history. The 2022 staff already ranks No. 3 on the single season charts.
MORE ON PAGE 7
Freshman Grant Holderfield is tied for No. 8 nationally among rookies in pitching appearances and has not allowed an inherited runner to score on the year.
MORE ON PAGE 7 & 9
Indiana had three alums on MLB rosters to start 2022 and saw a school-standard four student-athletes selected in the first 10 rounds of the Major League Baseball Draft in 2021.
MORE ON PAGE 8
Head coach Jeff Mercer owns 94 victories as the Indiana frontman and is poised to become the eighth IU skipper to reach 100 victories in the cream and crimson.
FULL BIO ON PAGE 4

Scouting the Opponents

Minnesota enters with a 14-31 overall mark and a 4-14 record in the Big Ten.
The Gophers are coming off the first winning weekend since March as it took two of three games from Nebraska at home.
On the road this season, Minnesota is just 1-16 with a 1-2 record at a neutral site. The lone road win came in the season opener at FAU.
Brett Bateman leads the offense with a .321 average, 59 hits, 35 runs scored and 18 stolen bases, while Jack Kelly owns a team-best 37 RBIs.
Chase Stake provides the power with 10 home runs and 14 doubles to go along with 33 RBIs.
Aidan Maldonado is the lone starting pitcher from the opening weekend rotation that is still in the weekend role. He owns a 4.06 ERA over 62 innings of work.
The pitching staff is having a similar year to IU, as they walk the second most batters in the conference and rank middle of the pack in most other categories.

Series Notes

The all-time series includes 165 previous meetings, with Minnesota leading on the ledger, 111-54.
Indiana has won seven of the last eight meetings, including five straight entering the weekend.
The two programs will meet for the sixth straight conference season, dating back to 2016.
IU and UM met in the opening weekend of the season in 2021 in Minneapolis as part of a three-team pod with Rutgers, before a three-game series in Bloomington in late April. IU won all five meetings.
The longest winning streaks belong to Minnesota at 15 and 12 straight. The 15-game streak stretched from 1964-72 and the 12-game streak went from 1974-88.
IU has won the last four series in Bloomington.

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Players Mentioned

Bradley Brehmer

Grant Holderfield

Carter Mathison

Jack Perkins

Josh Pyne

Brock Tibbitts