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Indiana began its baseball season this past weekend and played two games against Rutgers and two games against Minnesota. IU lost its first game of the season to Rutgers but then won three straight games, improving its record to 3-1.

Currently, the Hoosiers are tied for first place in the Big Ten Conference with three other teams.

Here is the full breakdown of the Rutgers and Minnesota series.

Indiana RHP Gabe Bierman got the start for the season opener against Rutgers and struggled with command throughout the game. He allowed two earned runs, three hits, five walks and struck out four through four innings.

Bierman walked the first two hitters in the bottom of the first inning but then was able to get a key strikeout and two flyouts to the outfield to end the frame unscathed. However, in the bottom of the second, 3B Chris Brito hit a solo home run over the center-field wall to give the Scarlet Knights a 1-0 lead. Bierman walked two more batters in the inning, but they were left stranded on base.

The Hoosiers trailed 1-0 into the top of the fourth inning, but freshman OF Sam Murrison broke the tie with an RBI triple to right field off Rutgers starter, LHP Harry Rutkowski. Paul Toetz came into score, tying the game at 1-1.

Bierman walked Brito in the bottom of the fourth and then hit the next batter, LF Evan Sleight. With men on first and second, C Peter Serruto bunted to move the runners over but was unsuccessful as the Hoosiers got the force out at third. Nevertheless, 2B Grant Shulman hit an RBI single to center-field, and Sleight scored from second base, giving Rutgers a 2-1 lead.

Indiana RHP John Modugno relieved Bierman in the fifth inning and was flawless for the rest of the game, retiring all 12 batters he faced while striking out four.

Despite Modugno's efforts, Rutgers relievers Muller and Fitzpatrick, who combined for three innings, did not allow the Hoosiers to plate any runs and secured the 2-1 victory.

Notable Performances:

- LF Sam Murrison was 2-4 with an RBI triple.

- SS Grant Macciocchi was 1-2 with a base hit to left field.

- 2B Paul Toetz was 1-3 with a base hit to center field.

- RF Drew Ashley was 1-3 and got a base hit to right field in his first at-bat of the season in the first inning.

Indiana on Saturday night looked to split the series with Rutgers, and RHP McCade Brown was the starting pitcher for the Hoosiers. Brown had an excellent outing giving up only one earned run and three hits. Furthermore, he impressively struck out 12 batters and walked zero.

Indiana wasted no time in putting a run up on the scoreboard. In the first inning, DH Drew Ashley, CF Grant Richardson and 3B Cole Barr all hit singles to load up the bases. Despite this offensive surge, 1B Jordan Fucci flew out to shallow left field, and then 2B Paul Toetz struck out looking. Next up to bat, LF Hunter Jessee drew an RBI walk which gave the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead. But C Jacob Southern struck out swinging to end the frame stranding three runners on base.

In the first three innings, Brown retired the first nine batters he faced while striking out four.

In the bottom of the third inning, Richardson hit his first home run of the season, a deep drive over the center-field wall to extend the Hoosiers lead to 2-0.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Scarlet Knights finally got a baserunner when leadoff hitter LF Mike Nyisztor hit a single up the middle to center-field. Next in line, CF Richie Schiekofer also got a single, advancing Nyisztor to second base. Rutgers 1B Jordan Sweeney then hit a dribbler to third base, and Barr chose to get the out at first, allowing both runners to advance. Despite back-to-back base hits and two runners in scoring position, Brown was able to strike out 3B Chris Brito and RF Evan Sleight to end the inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, SS Grant Macciocchi hit a single to right-center field and then advanced to second base on a wild pitch from Rutgers starter RHP Brent Teller. Ashley then drew a one-out walk, and Richardson grounded out to first base but moved both runners into scoring position. Barr was then hit by a pitch which prompted a Rutgers mound visit. Teller was taken out of the game and replaced with LHP Dale Stanavich. Stanavich threw a wild pitch which allowed Macciocchi to score from third, and all runners advanced one base. Fucci was next up to bat and had two runners in scoring position due to the wild pitch but flew out to the left-center gap stranding both runners.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, freshman RF Morgan Colopy hit a solo home run to left field, giving the Hoosiers a 4-0 lead.

Brito was hit by a pitch in the top of the seventh inning and then advanced to third base on a single from Sleight to right field. Rutgers SS Danny DiGeorgio then hit a ground ball to Cole Barr at third base, who got the out at first, but Brito scored to cut the lead to 4-1.

In the top of the eighth, Indiana RHP Connor Manous relieved Brown and was able to get the first out before walking pinch hitter Grant Shulman and hitting Nyisztor with a pitch. After this, he was taken out and replaced with LHP Braden Scott. Scott hit Schiekofer, who was the first batter he faced to load up the bases. Sweeney then hit a sacrifice fly to center field, and Shulman tagged up, scoring from third base to cut Indiana's lead to 4-2.

After retiring Sweeney, Scott was taken out of the game and replaced with RHP Matt Litwicki. Litwicki entered the game with two outs in the eighth and successfully ended the inning with no further damage by getting Brito to ground out.

Litwicki stayed in the game to pitch the ninth inning and struck out two of the three batters he faced, awarding him the four-out save. With this win, the Hoosiers split the series with Rutgers and improved to 2-1 on the season.

Notable Performances:

- CF Grant Richardson was 2-4 with a home run.

- RF Morgan Colopy was 1-4 with a home run.

- LF Hunter Jessee was 0-3 with an RBI walk.

In the second game of the season and the first matchup against Minnesota, Indiana LHP Tommy Sommer started against the Golden Gophers and had a dominant outing. Sommer allowed zero runs, two hits, two walks and struck out 10 through eight innings.

With two outs in the top of the first inning, Indiana 3B Cole Barr hit a double down the right-field foul line. 1B Jordan Fucci also hit a double to right field, allowing Barr to score from second base giving the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead.

Sommer retired all six batters he faced in the first two innings and struck out two.

The Hoosiers extended their lead to 3-0 in the top of the third inning when Fucci hit a two-run home run to right-center field. CF Grant Richardson drew a walk earlier in the inning and scored on the home run, giving Fucci his third RBI of the game.

Sommer walked 2B Zack Raabe in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out. Raabe then reached second base on a throwing error from Sommer, who attempted to pick him off. Despite Minnesota finally having a man in scoring position, Sommer got 3B Jack Wassel to fly out to center-field and then struck out P Sam Ireland to prevent any runs from scoring.

Sommer had a no-hitter intact, but it was broken up with one out in the fifth inning when CF Easton Bertrand bunted down the third baseline. However, Sommer almost immediately picked off Bertrand at first base. The next batter C Chase Stanke hit a double to left-center field, putting a runner in scoring position once more. But like the ending to the previous inning, Sommer was able to get a critical strikeout to prevent any damage.

In the top of the sixth inning, Indiana C Jacob Southern hit a double to right-center field and then advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt by SS Jeremy Houston. The leadoff hitter Ashley extended the Hoosiers lead by hitting an RBI single to left-field; Southern scored from second base.

In the eighth inning, LF Hunter Jessee drove the ball into the right-field seats for a solo home run to give the Hoosiers a 5-0 lead.

Indiana LHP Braden Scott came in to relieve Sommer after eight innings and started off the bottom of the ninth with a strikeout. But, Minnesota began to show some life. LF Andrew Wilhite hit a single to center field followed by a two-run home run to left field by Raabe to cut Indiana's lead to 5-2. Next up to bat was Wassel, who hit a double to deep center field. Despite this, Scott was able to strike out the next two hitters to end the ballgame, giving Indiana their first win of the season 5-2 over Minnesota.

Notable Performances:

- DH Drew Ashley was 2-5 with an RBI single to right field.

- 3B Cole Barr was 2-5 with a double in the first inning.

- 1B Jordan Fucci was 2-5 with an RBI double scoring Barr and a two-run home run.

- C Jacob Southern was 2-3 with a double to right-center field.

The Indiana Hoosiers won their final game of the weekend and second matchup against Minnesota of the season. Indiana LHP Ty Bothwell got the start and was fantastic. Bothwell allowed only one earned run, two hits and two walks while striking out 10 through five innings.

Indiana jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning when 2B Paul Toetz hit a two-run home run to left-center field. 3B Cole Barr came around to score after hitting a double down the left-field line.

The offense continued in the third inning when DH Drew Ashley singled to left field, and CF Grant Richardson hit a double off the right-center field wall. Ashley, with good speed, scored all the way from first base to give the Hoosiers a 3-0 lead.

Bothwell retired the first seven batters he faced but finally gave up a hit in the bottom of the third to CF Easton Bertrand. Bertrand hit a home run over the right-field wall to cut the deficit to 3-1. LF Andrew Wilhite then doubled to left field and Bothwell walked two more batters before striking out RF Sam Ireland to prevent any more runs from crossing the plate.

The Hoosiers added to their lead in the fifth inning when Barr hit a single to center field, scoring Richardson from second base. 1B Jordan Fucci then hit a single to right field, which drove in Barr, giving the Hoosiers a 5-1 lead.

Bothwell was taken out of the game at the end of the fifth inning and replaced with RHP Nathan Stahl. Stahl had a flawless 1-2-3 sixth inning, striking out two in the process.

In the top of the seventh inning, Drew Ashley hit a solo home run to left field, extending the lead to 6-1. Richardson hit another double and then later in the inning scored on an infield base hit from pinch hitter Tyler Van Pelt making it a 7-1 game.

The offense continued into the ninth inning when Fucci hit an RBI double off the right-field wall, scoring Barr and extending the lead to 8-1. Toetz was walked earlier in the inning but was left stranded on third base.

RHP Matt Litwicki entered the game in the ninth inning and had a 1-2-3 inning, closing out the game for the Hoosiers. Indiana beat Minnesota 8-1 and swept them in the two-game series, improving to a 3-1 record on the year.

Notable Performances:

- DH Drew Ashley was 2-5 with a home run to left field.

- CF Grant Richardson was 3-5 with three doubles.

- 3B Cole Barr was 2-3 with an RBI single.

- 2B Paul Toetz was 1-3 with a two-run home run.

- 1B Jordan Fucci was 2-5 with an RBI double.

- PH Tyler Van Pelt was 1-1 with an RBI infield hit.

Despite losing the first game of the season, Indiana, in the next three games, was firing on all cylinders. Logically, Bierman struggled with command in his first appearance as he was most likely rusty from not having thrown in a live game setting since a little under a year ago. Of course, pitchers can practice for a live game scenario, but it's difficult to successfully replicate it until it actually occurs. In the next three games, starters Tommy Sommer, McCade Brown and Ty Bothwell all had stellar outings. Sommer and Brown went deep into games that took the pressure off Indiana's bullpen, a key factor when playing four games in three days. In their next three games, the bats also came alive, and Indiana outscored opponents 17-5. It shows a lot about this Hoosier team, who proved they can bounce back despite facing early adversity.

This upcoming weekend the 3-1 Indiana Hoosiers will play a four-game series against the 2-2 Penn State Nittany Lions. All four games will take place in Bloomington, IN.

The first game will be played on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. Then, there will be a doubleheader on Saturday, with the first game scheduled to start at 12 p.m., followed by the next game at 3 p.m. The final game of the series will be played on Sunday at 1 p.m.

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