Baseball Gameday: host Evansville

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.– The regular season home finale for the Indiana baseball program arrives in the form of a non-conference matchup against Evansville. The Hoosiers and Purple Aces take to the field at 6 p.m. in game carried on the Big Ten Network

Indiana (38-14) have won seven straight games entering the week, while Evansville (31-20) won three of four games last week. The Hoosiers swept a weekend series over Purdue, while the Purple Aces won two of three games against Bradley at home.

Gameday Info
Tuesday, May 16, 2023 | 6 p.m. ET
IU: Ethan Phillips, RHP, Fr.
EU: Tyler Denu, LHP, Sr.

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

Quick Hitter

Indiana is 33-20 all-time against Evansville in the previous 53 games played. Tuesday will mark 54th overall meeting and 27th in Bloomington.
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The Hoosiers have won 25 of 29 home games in 2023. Its 15-straight wins to open the season marks the longest home winning streak in Bart Kaufman Field history and the second-longest streak in program history.
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Senior Phillip Glasser saw his 45-game reached base come to an end at Northwestern, which tied for the longest streak in program history since at least 2005.
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Glasser is among the top-50 active hitters in a bevy of categories, including No. 5 with 269 career hits.
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Among relief pitchers nationally, sophomore Ryan Kraft's 48 innings of relief work is among the most in the country, sitting sixth nationally.
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Freshman Devin Taylor carried a 32-game reached base streak that spanned Feb. 25-April 28, which is the longest streak for an IU freshman since at least 2005.
Taylor earned his third B1G Freshman of the Week award on April 17 and joined some exclusive company at IU and the Big Ten in the process.
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Sophomore Luke Sinnard struck out 12 Iowa batters over six scoreless innings for his second career double-digit strikeout game of the season.
Sinnard is tied for the biggest strikeout game in the conference this season at 13 versus Morehead State.
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Head coach Jeff Mercer became the eighth IU skipper to reach 100 victories in the cream and crimson with a series finale win at Auburn on February 19, 2023. He then won his 200th career game as a head coach at Illinois on April 15.
FULL BIO ON PAGE 18

Scouting the Opponents

Evansville enters the week with a 31-20 overall record and a 13-11 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference after a series win over Bradley last weekend.
Chase Hug leads the team with a .332 average and .462 on-base percentage thanks to a team-best 66 hits and 43 walks. Of his 66 hits, he has 14 doubles, three triples and 11 home runs.
Eric Roberts leads the team in home runs (17), RBIs (51) and runs scored (52). Kip Fougerousse also has double-digit home runs with 11, to go along with 40 RBIs.
As a team, Evansville ranks among the top-40 nationally in walks (271) as an offense and walks per nine innings (3.74) as a pitching staff.
Projected starting pitcher Tyler Denu owns 10 starts with 44 innings of work and a 4.30 ERA. He has 43 strikeouts to 22 walks and a .259 batting average against.
Nate Hardman has been the anchor at the backend of the bullpen with a 1-1 record and eight saves over 25 appearances. He has 42 strikeouts in 31 2/3 innings of work.

Inside the Series

Indiana and Evansville will meet for the 54th time in program history. The Hoosiers are 33-20 all-time versus the Purple Aces after splitting four games in 2022.
At home, Indiana owns an 18-8 mark with wins in six of its last seven games played in Bloomington, which includes a series victory over Evansville in 2022 (2-1).
The first meeting came on April 15, 1949, in Evansville, Indiana. The game was an 11-0 victory by IU. Later that season, the Hoosiers won a pair of games in Bloomington, 7-6 and 4-3.
In Evansville, the Hoosiers are 14-12 overall, while IU is 1-0 in neutral site meetings.
Of the 54 meetings, 16 have been decided by one run with each team winning eight of those games.
Thirty-four of the all-time meetings have been decided by three-or-fewer runs.
The last seven meetings have all been decided by four runs or fewer.

Players Mentioned

Kip Fougerousse

Phillip Glasser

Ryan Kraft

Ethan Phillips

Luke Sinnard

Devin Taylor

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