Three Home Runs, Outstanding Pitching Secures Opener

Friday, April 26

Bloomington, Ind.

6:00 PM

Indiana University

23-18-1, 0

Rutgers

24-17, 0

Rutgers

Indiana

Three Home Runs, Outstanding Pitching Secures Opener

4/26/2024 9:30:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – A scheduled bullpen day turned into one of the best outings on the mound this year for the Indiana Baseball team (23-18-1, 8-5 B1G). The Hoosiers rode three innings a piece from juniors Brandon Keyster (W, 1-0) and Julian Tonghini and sophomore Brayden Risedorph (SV, 2) to an 8-3 win on Friday (April 26) night at Bart Kaufman Field.

Seven of eight Hoosier runs came via the long ball. Redshirt freshman Joey Brenczewski set the tone in the first inning, taking a hanging breaking ball into the left field bullpen for a three-run home run. Freshman Cal Sefcik hit his first career home run in the seventh and junior Nick Mitchell put the game on ice with a long ball of his own in the same inning.

The victory on Friday night was the first series-opening win at Bart Kaufman Field this season. IU beat Butler on a Friday night but it was the second game of the four-game set. The Hoosiers will look for the series win tomorrow (2:00 PM ET) afternoon with sixth-year senior Ty Bothwell taking the bump. IU has won its previous three series in the month of April and will look to keep pace with Illinois in the Big Ten standings.

Scoring Recap
Bottom First
Joey Brenczewski set the tone early, hammering a two-strike slider into the bullpen in left field for a three-run home run. Josh Pyne (walk) and Tyler Cerny (single) both scored on the play.
Indiana 3, Rutgers 0

Top Fourth
Ty Doucette hit a ground-rule double to left-center field to bring home Tony Santa Maria. Johnny Volpe followed that up with a single into right field to bring home Josh Kuroda-Grauer.
Indiana 3, Rutgers 2

Bottom Fifth
Jasen Oliver led the inning off with a triple to center field. In the next at-bat, he came around to score on a wild pitch.
Indiana 4, Rutgers 2

Bottom Seventh
Cal Sefcik hit a mammoth 429-foot home run to dead center field, a ball that left the bat at 109 miles per hour. Nick Mitchell followed that up with a two-run home run to left field.
Indiana 8, Rutgers 2

Top Eighth
Volpe recorded an RBI on a hard-hit ball at the shortstop. Tyler Cerny gloved it and made the force out at second base, trading the run for an out.
Indiana 8, Rutgers 3

Top Hoosier Performers
#23 Brenczewski, Joey
2-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI

#45 Tonghini, Julian
3.0 IP, 1 H, 6 K

Notes to Know
• Redshirt freshman Joey Brenczewski had his 14th multi-hit game of the season. He now leads the team in batting average (.351) and is hitting .447 (21-47) in 12 conference starts this year.

• Freshman Cal Sefcik hit his first career home run with a massive two-run shot in the seventh inning. He's the 15th different player to hit a home run this year for IU and the fourth freshman to hit one.

• An equally strong performance on both sides of the ball, IU did a great job in limiting walks on the mound and strikeouts at the plate. IU only struck out five times in 31 at-bats and walked just one batter across nine innings against the Scarlet Knights.

Up Next
The Hoosiers turn their focus to Saturday in hopes of taking the series a day early with Ty Bothwell heading to the bump. The game, with a first pitch of 2:00 PM, will be streamed on BTN+ and can be heard on the Indiana Sports Radio Network via IUHoosiers.com/Audio.