Big Ten Tournament Run Ends in Semifinals

Saturday, May 25

Omaha, Neb.

6:00 PM

Indiana University

32-24-1

#2 Nebraska

38-20

Indiana

Nebraska

5/25/2024 11:00:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

OMAHA, Neb. – Facing elimination on Saturday (May 25) in the Big Ten Tournament, the Indiana Baseball team (32-24-1, 15-9 B1G) ran into one of the hottest teams in the country in (2) Nebraska, dropping a 10-4 contest and exiting the tournament in the semifinals.

Nebraska, a de facto host school, packed the stands with over 6,000 fans and jumped on IU from the start. The Huskers scored 10 runs on 11 hits with a third-inning double and fifth-inning home run doing the biggest damage against IU's bullpen. In just his second start of the season, junior pitcher Julian Tonghini (L, 2-2) went three innings with three strikeouts.

The Hoosiers loaded the bases in the first inning but junior outfielder Carter Mathison struck out to end the threat. IU put a pair of runners on base in the third but scored just one, stranding two of a total 12 runners on the evening. Like most of the season, IU batters had a number of hard hit balls that found the opposing defense for loud outs.

IU and Nebraska met five times in the final two weeks of the season with all five games played in either Lincoln or Omaha. After winning the Friday game on May 10th, the Hoosiers mustered just 10 runs over the next 36 innings. Nebraska's outstanding pitching staff led it to four-straight wins over IU to close out the season series, winning the biggest game of them all on Saturday night at Charles Schwab Field.

Mathison, junior outfielder Nick Mitchell and junior third baseman Josh Pyne all had multi-hit days. The Hoosiers added another pair of doubles, finishing the season with 134. Those 134 doubles match the 2013 squad for the second-most two-baggers on the program's all-time single season list.

Scoring Recap
Bottom Second
Joshua Overbeek jumped on a first-pitch breaking ball, driving a double into the gap and bringing all three runners around to score the game's opening runs.
Nebraska 3, Indiana 0

Top Third
Brock Tibbitts helped get another run on the board. He singled through the shift on the right side, allowing Josh Pyne to score all the way from second base.
Nebraska 3, Indiana 1

Bottom Third
Josh Caron continued his torrid streak in the Big Ten Tournament, homering into left field. He hit two home runs in the first game of the day and another in the nightcap.
Nebraska 4, Indiana 1

Bottom Fifth
Gabe Swansen added to his outstanding week, smashing a fastball into the bullpen in left field for a two-run home run.
Nebraska 6, Indiana 1

Bottom Sixth
Overbeek put another run on the board, doubling over the head of Carter Mathison in center field. Riley Silva came around to score.
Nebraska 7, Indiana 1

Top Seventh
Tyler Cerny singled through the left side to score Devin Taylor and trim the deficit.
Nebraska 7, Indiana 2

Bottom Seventh
A pair of unearned runs came around to score. Rhett Stokes singled through the right side to beat the shift and bring home Swansen. The run was unearned due to an earlier fielding error from Brock Tibbitts. Overbeek reached on a fielding error by the shortstop, Cerny, bring home an unearned run in the form of Silva.
Nebraska 9, Indiana 2

Bottom Eighth
Ben Columbus hit a solo home run.
Nebraska 10, Indiana 2

Top Ninth
Nick Mitchell scored on a passed ball. Tyler Cerny came around to score the final run of the game on an RBI-double from Carter Mathison.
Nebraska 10, Indiana 4

Top Hoosier Performers
#3 Mathison, Carter
2-5, 1 RBI

#20 Mitchell, Nick
2-4, 1 R

Notes to Know
• Brock Tibbitts, likely playing his last game for the Hoosiers, finished the season with RBI-single in the third inning. It was hit No. 194 of his career and leaves him six short of 200 all-time. He missed 15 games during the month of April with a knee injury.

• IU's pitching staff recorded 11 strikeouts on the afternoon. It was the 28th game this season, and fifth in the last six contests, with 10+ punchies. As a team this year, IU recorded 557 strikeouts which is No. 4 on the all-time single season list in program history. Ty Bothwell, who wraps up an incredible career, led the team with 82.

• Tyler Cerny finished the season on a nine-game hitting streak, a season long streak for the sophomore. Josh Pyne finished the season reaching base in 30-consecutive games. Devin Taylor led the team with 29 multi-hit games while Cerny had 16 multi-RBI contests.

• As of Saturday night, IU played 26 quad one and quad two games. Jeff Mercer's team had 12 wins in those two categories. It played the 39th toughest strength of schedule in the nation. The Hoosiers played 13 games against top-35 RPI teams and had four wins in those games.