Middle of Order Leads Offensive Outbreak in Maryland

Friday, April 5

College Park, Md.

6:00 PM

Indiana University

17-14, 2-2

Maryland

21-9, 3-4

Indiana

Maryland

Middle of Order Leads Offensive Outbreak in Maryland

4/5/2024 10:30:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Led by the middle of its order, the Indiana Baseball team (17-14, 2-2 B1G) opened the floodgates in final three innings enroute to a 15-4 win over Maryland on Friday (April 5) night at Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium.

The Hoosiers tallied 19 hits on the day including four-hit days from junior outfielder Nick Mitchell and redshirt freshman infielder Joey Brenczewski. Infielders Josh Pyne and Tyler Cerny and catcher Jake Stadler all recorded three-hit efforts.

Sixth-year senior Ty Bothwell (W, 4-1) gave IU six productive innings, limiting a potent Maryland offense to just six hits and four runs (three earned). He struck out seven batters and now has 189 for his career. IU's bullpen, which called upon four arms, held the Terrapins scoreless over the final three frames.

IU's 19 hits are the second most this season behind last weekend's 20-hit effort against Butler. It's the most hits in a conference game since putting up 25 against Purdue in May of 2023.

Freshman second baseman Jasen Oliver had two hits, extending his hitting streak to 13 games. He's had at least two hits in his past four games. Brenczewski joined Oliver and Andrew Wiggins as the third freshman with a four-hit game this year. All of those games have come in the past two weeks.

Since Maryland joined the Big Ten, it has allowed 15-plus runs at home just three times. All three times have come at the hands of Jeff Mercer and IU (2019 (2); 2024). Tonight's win was the first Friday win of the year since beating Baylor on February 23rd.

Sophomore right-hander Connor Foley gets the ball tomorrow afternoon (2:00 PM) as IU goes for its first series victory in College Park since 2019. Maryland hasn't lost a home conference series since getting swept by Michigan in May of 2019.

Scoring Recap
Bottom First
Eddie Hacopian hit a solo home run to open the scoring.
Maryland 1, Indiana 0

Top Second
Joey Brenczewski answered right back, singling to the left side to drive in Tyler Cerny.
Indiana 1, Maryland 1

Top Third
The Hoosiers tacked on four in the third behind good hitting from the middle of the lineup. Nick Mitchell doubled to center field to score Jasen Oliver. Brenczewski followed up with another one-run single. Mitchell came around to score after a passed ball from the Maryland catcher. Jake Stadler doubled into left field as Brenczewski came in to put another run on the board.
Indiana 5, Maryland 1

Bottom Fourth
IU struggled defensively in the fourth, allowing Maryland back into the game. Jacob Orr singled through the right side to drive in Sam Hojnar. The first was unearned as Hojnar reached on a dropped third strike. Alex Calarco hit a sacrifice fly and Jordan Crosland singled to center field to close the lead to just one. Ty Bothwell induced a fly ball to get out of the jam.
Indiana 5, Maryland 4

Top Fifth
Brenczewski continued his hot day in the fifth. He took the second pitch of the at-bat the opposite way, down the left field line for an RBI double. The hit gave him three base knocks and three RBIs in as many at-bats.
Indiana 6, Maryland 4

Top Seventh
Stadler added insurance with another clutch hit. With the infield playing in, Stadler laced a single through the right side as Mitchell came around to score and extend the lead to three.
Indiana 7, Maryland 4

Top Eighth
IU began to break things open in the eighth. Mitchell and Stadler provided a pair of one-run singles before Pyne doubled past two converging outfielders to bring a pair of runs in.
Indiana 11, Maryland 4

Top Ninth
Mitchell tacked on two more with a double off the wall in center field. Pyne laced another ball into the outfield, singling and bringing Brenczewski and Mitchell in to score.
Indiana 15, Maryland 4

Top Hoosier Performers
#8 Cerny, Tyler
3-4, 4 R

#20 Mitchell, Nick
4-5, 5 R, 4 RBI, 1 BB

#23 Brenczewski, Joey
4-5, 3 R, 3 RBI

Notes to Know
• Joey Brenczewski became the third IU freshman in the past two weeks to record a four-hit effort. Jasen Oliver had four against Middle Tennessee (3/26) and Andrew Wiggins had four against Butler (3/30).

• Oliver extended his hitting streak to 13 games, the longest by any IU player this season. It's the longest by a freshman since Josh Pyne in 2022 (15). Since 2010, Oliver is one of six IU freshmen with a hitting streak of 13 games or longer in his debut season.

• Josh Pyne had three hits in Friday's winning effort. He's now got 185 for his career, moving him 15 away from passing 200 in his time in Bloomington.

• The 15 runs scored against Maryland are the most by a Big Ten opponent at Bob Smith Stadium since Jeff Mercer's IU team hung 20 and 19 runs respectively on back-to-back days in 2019. The only team to score 15-or-more runs in College Park since Maryland joined the league is IU (three times).

• Ty Bothwell moves to 4-1 on the season with a 4.87 earned run average. He's thrown 40.2 innings and walked just 11 batters while striking out 40. He's got 189 strikeouts for his career, moving just 11 away from 200 all-time punchouts.

Up Next
IU will go for the series victory tomorrow against Maryland at 2:00 PM. The game will be streamed on BTN+ or can be heard on the Indiana Sports Radio Network via IUHoosiers.com/Audio.

FULL RECAP TO FOLLOW