For the fourth weekend in a row Indiana won another series. Final scores from all three games against Rutgers were 8-3 on Friday, 12-6 Saturday and 18-6 in just seven innings on Sunday. The weekend did not come easy, though, as Rutgers attempted to give Indiana some trouble with their abilities to make adjustments in the game. The Hoosiers pitching staff and bats were able to respond and battle through what was considered another large and crucial weekend for this team.
Indiana pitchers rise to the occasion
Over the weekend Indiana went through just seven arms in their pitching staff. This comes as a big improvement and milestone for a team who spent lots of energy earlier in the season figuring themselves out as a group.
Brandon Keyster kicked things off Friday night, holding the Scarlet Knights to no runs in three innings before giving up two in the fourth and passing the ball over to Julian Tonghini. Indiana wanted to go for the win Friday night and Tonighini was able to shut down the fourth inning situation before any more runs could be scored. Brayden Risedorph closed down the night, as the third and final pitcher. All three worked together to deliver a game that felt and looked like an ace performance.
On Saturday the stage was set for veteran Ty Bothwell. The Hoosiers were going to try and clinch the series, with Bothwell to start on the mound as a leader. Head Coach for Indiana Jeff Mercer said to media on Friday night that he was going to need a lot from Bothwell on Saturday so that they could make it through the weekend, “come hell or high water.”
Bothwell did indeed have to battle for Indiana against an ever-adjusting Rutgers offense. He went four innings giving up six runs before Drew Buhr came in to close out the rest of the game. Providing exactly what the Hoosiers needed, Buhr earned the win after going for five innings and allowing zero runs.
Getting the nod to wrap things up on Sunday was Ty Ryzbarczyk. He let up five earned runs in his time on the mound before things were passed over to Ayden Decker-Petty who ended up shutting down the weekend. Decker-Petty allowed just one run that was unearned and according to Mercer the pitcher was “MVP” of Sunday's game.
Overall the staff showed a lot of resilience and progress over the course of the weekend. Mercer was very pleased with their ability to only use seven arms and hold Rutgers to his standard of six runs or fewer per game. He acknowledged pitching coach Dustin Glant who has been working hard with the group and results are really starting to show. The pitching staff gave compliments to their defense behind them as well the entire weekend.
Indiana’s bats come alive as players young and old get in on the action
Offensively Indiana put on a showcase throughout the entire series, scoring 38 runs over three days. Many players had breakout moments. Freshman Cal Sefcik hit his first collegiate home run on Friday night, which was just his first of two over the weekend. Sefcik also started Indiana's nine run inning on Sunday. One of Mercer's mottos he uses towards the team is “work while you wait” and according to teammate Joey Brenczewski that describes exactly what Sefcik has done over the course of the season.
“He’s been in the cages every day,” Brenczewski said of Sefcik. “He’s been working his butt off and I am just so happy for him.”
Brenczewski had a weekend himself displaying just the type of well rounded player he is becoming not only defensively but on offense too. The redshirt freshman started things off on Friday with a three-run home run and it only ignited his entire weekend from there. All season it has been stressed about how tough Mercer can be on Brenczewski both when at bat or covering first base and the work seems to be paying off.
“You're starting to see him really blossom into a complete player,” Mercer said of Brenczewski.
Carter Mathison recorded a historical number at the plate on Sunday. Joining an exclusive short list of names after hitting his 11th home run of the season, Mathison now stands with Alex Dickerson and Kyle Schwarber as the only IU players who have hit at least 40 total home runs in their first three years.
Devin Taylor and Nick Mitchell were another Hoosier pair that was able to help out the team time after time over the series. Both players recorded six hits over the three games and high numbers of RBIs. They proved to be consistent leaders for Indiana all weekend and gave them large lifts each game.
Players have stressed all season about how much they want to improve for the better of their team. Countless hours of work and detail have gone on behind the scenes when the game got rocky. Decker-Petty commented on how he's felt the improvement of his team is starting to show through.
“We've been hustling, playing hard and making great plays,” Decker-Petty said.
Mercer believes that setting his team up with a tough non-conference schedule early in the season was exactly what needed to happen and the payoff is starting to show for his team. There is optimism looking forward to the rest of the season as they have spent so much time and work already going through the rough stuff, it's time that they are coming out on the other side of it.
With Indiana's success over the month of April it now puts them into the race of regular season Big Ten title contention and makes the weekend ahead against Purdue all that more important. Currently five teams in the conference — Purdue, Illinois, Nebraska, Indiana and Michigan — are separated by one win. A big weekend ahead of baseball across the conference is promised and Indiana will need to make sure they play hard against Purdue if they want a piece of that title. Hoosiers will have a bye week to prepare before heading to West Lafayette on Friday. While April set Mercer and his team up well, every game still counts moving forward.
