Sunday, March 24
Bloomington, Ind.
1:00 PM
Indiana University
12-12, 0
8
vs
15
Illinois
10-12, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Illinois
4
0
8
0
0
0
1
1
1
15
20
0
Indiana
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
5
0
8
10
1
Pitching Falters in Weekend Finale
3/24/2024 5:00:00 PM | Baseball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – With the chance to win its opening Big Ten series, the Indiana Baseball team (12-12, 1-2 B1G) dug itself a massive hole and never recovered on Sunday (March 24) afternoon at Bart Kaufman Field. Illinois jumped on IU for four runs in the first inning and eight in the third inning, eventually winning the contest 15-8 behind five outstanding innings from starting pitcher Jake Swartz.
The Hoosiers had to call on 10 different pitchers Sunday afternoon. Junior starter Ryan Kraft (L, 1-1) couldn't make it out of the first inning. IU used four different pitchers in the first three frames of Sunday's ballgame.
IU's bats couldn't get to Swartz who painted the zone with fastballs and was able to land his breaking ball for strikes. Junior outfielder Nick Mitchell had a pair of hits and four RBIs, all coming off the Fighting Illini bullpen in the final four innings. IU cut the lead to six (8-14) in the eighth inning but junior third baseman Josh Pyne grounded out to the shortstop to end the two-out rally.
Jeff Mercer's squad will get the week off from Big Ten play with five combined games against Middle Tennessee and Butler before heading back into the conference slate on the first weekend of April.
Scoring Recap
Top First
Illinois' offense came early and often on Sunday afternoon. Camden Janik singled up the middle to drive in the leadoff hitter Cameron Chee-Aloy (who also singled). Drake Wescott hit a fastball on the inside half of the zone over the wall in right for a two-run home run. Jacob Schroeder added a fifth on a double to the wall in right field to score Ryan Moerman from first.
Illinois 4, Indiana 0
Top Third
Moerman hit a hanging breaking ball over the wall in left field for a three-run home run. Cal Hezja followed that up with a double to right-center field before Chee-Aloy drove in a run on an RBI single to right field. Janik scored on a wild pitch from IU reliever Jack Moffitt before Westcott did more damage, driving in a pair on a single to center field.
Illinois 12, Indiana 0
Bottom Sixth
Joey Brenczewski put IU on the board with a soft-hit groundball to the second baseman for an infield single. Devin Taylor came around to score on the play.
Illinois 12, Indiana 1
Top Seventh
Moerman was hit by a pitch from Grant Holderfield with the bases loaded to score Chee-Aloy.
Illinois 13, Indiana 1
Bottom Seventh
Nick Mitchell came through with a productive at-bat in the seventh, lacing a single to center field to score a pair of runs in Morgan Colopy and Tyler Cerny.
Illinois 13, Indiana 3
Top Eighth
Janik continued his productive day with a single to right field to score Hezja.
Illinois 14, Indiana 3
Bottom Eighth
The Hoosiers made a late run at things in the eighth. Colopy doubled into the gap in left to score Jasen Oliver. Cerny hit a ball off the end of the bat that landed in right field to an RBI-single. Brock Tibbitts followed with a one-run single of his own before Mitchell took a fastball down the left field line for a two-run double. Josh Pyne grounded out with a runner on second to end the inning.
Illinois 14, Indiana 8
Top Ninth
Moerman hit his second home run of the day, a solo shot over the bullpen in left field.
Illinois 15, Indiana 8
Top Hoosier Performers
#20 Mitchell, Nick
2-4, 4 RBI, 1 BB
#8 Cerny, Tyler
3-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Notes to Know
• Nick Mitchell extended his hitting streak to eight with a pair of base knocks on Sunday afternoon. He has the longest current streak on the team and joint-second longest on the team this year.
• Jasen Oliver has a six-game hitting streak of his own. He's tallied a hit in six of seven ballgames since permanently joining the starting lineup against Belmont.
• Cerny recorded three hits on Sunday afternoon. He is tied for the team lead in multi-hit games (11) and leads the team in base hits (35).
Up Next
IU steps back into non-conference play for the weekend with a visit from Middle Tennessee on Tuesday afternoon. The contest will be streamed on BTN+ or can be heard on the Indiana Sports Radio Network viaIUHoosiers.com/Audio.
The Hoosiers had to call on 10 different pitchers Sunday afternoon. Junior starter Ryan Kraft (L, 1-1) couldn't make it out of the first inning. IU used four different pitchers in the first three frames of Sunday's ballgame.
IU's bats couldn't get to Swartz who painted the zone with fastballs and was able to land his breaking ball for strikes. Junior outfielder Nick Mitchell had a pair of hits and four RBIs, all coming off the Fighting Illini bullpen in the final four innings. IU cut the lead to six (8-14) in the eighth inning but junior third baseman Josh Pyne grounded out to the shortstop to end the two-out rally.
Jeff Mercer's squad will get the week off from Big Ten play with five combined games against Middle Tennessee and Butler before heading back into the conference slate on the first weekend of April.
Scoring Recap
Top First
Illinois' offense came early and often on Sunday afternoon. Camden Janik singled up the middle to drive in the leadoff hitter Cameron Chee-Aloy (who also singled). Drake Wescott hit a fastball on the inside half of the zone over the wall in right for a two-run home run. Jacob Schroeder added a fifth on a double to the wall in right field to score Ryan Moerman from first.
Illinois 4, Indiana 0
Top Third
Moerman hit a hanging breaking ball over the wall in left field for a three-run home run. Cal Hezja followed that up with a double to right-center field before Chee-Aloy drove in a run on an RBI single to right field. Janik scored on a wild pitch from IU reliever Jack Moffitt before Westcott did more damage, driving in a pair on a single to center field.
Illinois 12, Indiana 0
Bottom Sixth
Joey Brenczewski put IU on the board with a soft-hit groundball to the second baseman for an infield single. Devin Taylor came around to score on the play.
Illinois 12, Indiana 1
Top Seventh
Moerman was hit by a pitch from Grant Holderfield with the bases loaded to score Chee-Aloy.
Illinois 13, Indiana 1
Bottom Seventh
Nick Mitchell came through with a productive at-bat in the seventh, lacing a single to center field to score a pair of runs in Morgan Colopy and Tyler Cerny.
Illinois 13, Indiana 3
Top Eighth
Janik continued his productive day with a single to right field to score Hezja.
Illinois 14, Indiana 3
Bottom Eighth
The Hoosiers made a late run at things in the eighth. Colopy doubled into the gap in left to score Jasen Oliver. Cerny hit a ball off the end of the bat that landed in right field to an RBI-single. Brock Tibbitts followed with a one-run single of his own before Mitchell took a fastball down the left field line for a two-run double. Josh Pyne grounded out with a runner on second to end the inning.
Illinois 14, Indiana 8
Top Ninth
Moerman hit his second home run of the day, a solo shot over the bullpen in left field.
Illinois 15, Indiana 8
Top Hoosier Performers
#20 Mitchell, Nick
2-4, 4 RBI, 1 BB
#8 Cerny, Tyler
3-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Notes to Know
• Nick Mitchell extended his hitting streak to eight with a pair of base knocks on Sunday afternoon. He has the longest current streak on the team and joint-second longest on the team this year.
• Jasen Oliver has a six-game hitting streak of his own. He's tallied a hit in six of seven ballgames since permanently joining the starting lineup against Belmont.
• Cerny recorded three hits on Sunday afternoon. He is tied for the team lead in multi-hit games (11) and leads the team in base hits (35).
Up Next
IU steps back into non-conference play for the weekend with a visit from Middle Tennessee on Tuesday afternoon. The contest will be streamed on BTN+ or can be heard on the Indiana Sports Radio Network viaIUHoosiers.com/Audio.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Swartz, Jake (1-0)
L: Kraft, Ryan (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Janik, Camden 1 ; Valincius, Vytas 1 ; Schroeder, Jacob 1 ; Hejza, Cal 1
HR: Westcott, Drake 1 ; Moerman, Ryan 2
RBI: Chee-Aloy, Cameron 1 ; Janik, Camden 2 ; Westcott, Drake 4 ; Moerman, Ryan 5 ; Schroeder, Jacob 1 ; Hejza, Cal 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Chee-Aloy, Cameron 3 ; Harding, Brody 1 ; Janik, Camden 2 ; Westcott, Drake 2 ; Valincius, Vytas 1 ; Moerman, Ryan 3 ; Schroeder, Jacob 1 ; Hejza, Cal 2
CS: Hejza, Cal 1
HBP: Moerman, Ryan 1
Batting:
2B: Mitchell, Nick 1 ; Oliver, Jasen 1 ; Colopy, Morgan 1
RBI: Cerny, Tyler 1 ; Tibbitts, Brock 1 ; Mitchell, Nick 4 ; Brenczewski, Joey 1 ; Colopy, Morgan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wiggins, Andrew 1 ; Cerny, Tyler 2 ; Taylor, Devin 1 ; Tibbitts, Brock 1 ; Oliver, Jasen 1 ; Colopy, Morgan 2
HBP: Tibbitts, Brock 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
4
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
c/1b
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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LHP
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RHP
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