Shepard's Home Run Secures Top-20 Road Win

Saturday, February 17

Myrtle Beach, S.C.

3:00 PM

Indiana University

1-1

#18 Coastal Carolina

1-1

Indiana

Coastal Carolina

2/17/2024 7:30:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – After missing the past two baseball seasons through injury, redshirt freshman catcher AJ Shepard provided an unforgettable moment, launching a two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to help secure a 7-2 win over No. 18 Coastal Carolina.

Shepard, who redshirted last year in Bloomington and missed all of his senior year of high school, recorded his first collegiate hit on Friday vs. Duke before unloading on his first long ball as an Indiana player against the Chanticleers on Saturday (Feb. 17) evening.

Junior second baseman Brandon Burckel recorded his first hit as a Hoosier with a solo home run to give IU a 3-2 lead before the visitors broke it open in the ninth with four more runs.

IU was dominant on the mound, riding sophomore Connor Foley and sixth-year senior Ty Bothwell (W, 1-0) to the tune of nine innings of two-run baseball. Neither run was earned and the duo combined for 10 strikeouts, including seven from the hard-throwing Foley.

Sophomore shortstop Tyler Cerny continued his hot start to the season, recording his second multi-hit game in as many games. He also contributed a pair of RBIs to kickstart IU's offensive output in the ninth inning.

The Hoosiers improve to 4-1 all-time vs. Coastal Carolina, winning for the first time since 2018. It is the first top-20 regular season victory since beating No. 10 Louisville last April.

Scoring Recap
Top Fifth
Devin Taylor used a good piece of two-strike hitting to drive a ball the opposite direction, scoring Brandon Burckel. Brock Tibbitts followed in the very next at-bat with a sacrifice fly to center field, bringing around Carter Mathison to score.
Indiana 2, Coastal Carolina 0

Bottom Sixth
After an error put the leadoff runner on, Coastal Carolina used a double from Graham Brown and a single from Dean Mihos to level the score at two-all through six innings.
Indiana 2, Coastal Carolina 2

Top Eighth
Burckel hit a first-pitch solo home run over the bullpen in left field, his first hit in an IU uniform.
Indiana 3, Coastal Carolina 2

Top Ninth
Tyler Cerny added some insurance runs, singling to right center to bring Tibbitts and Sam Murrison around to score. AJ Shepard followed that up with a massive 400-foot two-run home run to put the game on ice.
Indiana 7, Coastal Carolina 2

Top Hoosier Performers
#14 Foley, Connor
4 IP, 2 H, 7 K

#41 Bothwell, Ty
5 IP, 4 H, 3 K

#8 Cerny, Tyler
2-4, 2 RBI, 1 BB

Quotable
Head coach Jeff Mercer
"We want to be fundamental and tough late. Duke and Coastal Carolina are both good teams. If you're doing it right, you're going to be in close games. That was the talk of the dugout."

"We felt like [Connor] Foley was going to be a good matchup and we felt like [Ty] Bothwell was going to be a really good matchup. And they were. They both have really good fastball properties and they were able to command the zone and mix enough off-speed pitches in there. Coach [Dustin] Glant drew up a terrific gameplan and those guys executed all the way around."

Left-handed pitcher Ty Bothwell
"It was good to see us bounce back after the season opener. We played really well yesterday and a lot of guys came back out firing today. They were able to capitalize late. It was a lot of fun to be out there."

"From a perspective of me being an older guy, the overall team dynamic is probably the best it's ever been in my six years here. This is probably the most talented and well-knit team I've ever been a part of."

Up Next
Indiana will finish off the weekend tomorrow morning against George Mason at 11:00 AM. The game will be available via ESPN+ and can be heard on the Indiana Sports Radio Network via IUHoosiers.com/Audio.