IU aims to continue winning ways in upcoming series versus Northwestern
Indiana won both games against Illinois this past weekend, improving its record to 13-7 on the season. The two wins propelled the Hoosiers into third place in the conference standings. IU is currently one game behind second-place Michigan and 1.5 games back from first-place Nebraska.
Indiana is ranked No. 24 in the nation by Perfect Game. The Hoosiers are also receiving votes in the NCBWA poll.
In the series opener on Friday night, Indiana relied heavily on the long ball to carry the offense. IU scored all six runs from home runs, including a walk-off home run by catcher Collin Hopkins in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the game 6-4. The win snapped Indiana's five-game losing streak.
In the second game of the series, Indiana clicked on all cylinders. Pitchers McCade Brown and Braydon Tucker tossed a combined no-hitter, the offense scored eight runs and the defense only committed one error. The Hoosiers handed the Illini their second shutout loss of the season 8-0.
Inclement weather canceled the series finale on Sunday. Therefore, Indiana only played two out of the three scheduled games.
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The Hoosiers will turn their attention to Northwestern this weekend, where they are scheduled to play a three-game series in Evanston, Ill, against the Wildcats.
Northwestern has an 11-10 record, ranks seventh in the Big Ten, and won two of its last five games. The Wildcats split the two-game series with No. 25 Michigan and, most recently, dropped two out of three against Rutgers.
Northwestern leads the Big Ten with 45 home runs. Nebraska has the second-most home runs with 32, which is a wide gap. It's no surprise that NU has the highest slugging percentage in the conference. This stat emphasizes that walks and errors will prove much more costly this series for Indiana. If men reach base via a walk or error, that's an added potential RBI for Northwestern's hitters to do damage with one swing of the bat.
But Northwestern's Achilles heel has been the mistakes defensively. Northwestern has 37 errors in total, which is the most in the Big Ten. The Wildcats committed nine errors in its last five games. That number is similar to the Hoosiers defense that committed eight errors in the four-game series against Ohio State, where the Buckeyes capitalized and completed the sweep.
Here is a full breakdown of the Indiana vs. Northwestern series.
Projected Starters:
Game 1:
LHP Tommy Sommer (IU): 3-1 / 2.88 ERA / 37 K's / 20 Walks / 34 ⅓ IP
RHP Mike Doherty (NU): 1-0 / 2.52 ERA / 21 K's / 7 Walks / 39 ⅓ IP
Game 2:
RHP McCade Brown (IU): 4-2 / 2.18 ERA / 58 K's / 19 Walks / 33 IP
RHP Tyler Uberstine (NU): 2-2 / 4.66 ERA / 30 K's / 12 Walks / 29 IP
Game 3:
RHP Gabe Bierman (IU): 1-2 / 3.00 ERA / 25 K's / 16 Walks / 27 IP
LHP Quinn Lavelle (NU): 4-0 / 4.39 ERA / 18 K's / 7 Walks / 26 ⅔ IP
Players To Watch:
Bolded statistics indicate a player is among the top 15 for that respective statistic in the Big Ten Conference.
Indiana:
In the series against Illinois, Morgan Colopy had a fantastic game two performance. He went 3-4 with a home run and four RBI's. Despite going hitless in game one, he was 3-8 (.375 avg) throughout the two games combined.
Paul Toetz also was 3-8 in the two-game series.
Kip Fougerousse went 2-4 in both games and hit one home run in the first game. Overall he was 4-8 (.500 avg) over the weekend.
Drew Ashley went 2-4 with a two-run home run in the series opener.
Cole Barr currently is Indiana's best hitter. His batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage all rank within the top 15 in the conference.
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Batting:
#2 Cole Barr: .338 Avg / 3 HR / .603 SLG% / .464 OB%
#3 Drew Ashley: .333 Avg / 3 HR / .507 SLG% / .432 OB%
#6 Grant Richardson: .320 Avg / 3 HR / .520 SLG% / .420 OB%
#5 Paul Toetz: .284 Avg / 1 HR / .432 SLG% / .376 OB%
#10 Morgan Colopy: .279 Avg / 2 HR / .535 SLG% / .304 OB%
Pitching:
McCade Brown and Braydon Tucker tossed the first no-hitter in roughly 37 years for the Hoosiers. Tucker was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week after he came into relieve Brown and hurled four no-hit innings.
Although Brown's command was inconsistent throughout the five innings he pitched, he did not let up a hit and struck out nine of the 22 batters he faced. He leads the Big Ten with 58 strikeouts and his 2.18 ERA ranks second among starters in the conference.
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#51 McCade Brown: 4-2 / 2.18 ERA / 58 K's / 19 Walks / 33 IP
#19 Tommy Sommer: 3-1 / 2.88 ERA / 37 K's / 20 Walks / 34 ⅓ IP
#37 Gabe Bierman: 1-2 / 3.00 ERA / 25 K's / 16 Walks / 27 IP
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#14 Nathan Stahl: 2-0 / 0.82 ERA / 10 K's / 2 Walks / 11 IP
#45 John Modugno: 1-1 / 2.51 ERA / 13 K's / 5 Walks / 14 ⅓ IP
#34 Braydon Tucker: 0-0 / 3.24 ERA / 2 K's / 2 Walks / 8 ⅓ IP
Northwestern:
Batting:
Shawn Goosenberg has been on fire in his last five games. During that span, he went 9-23 (.391 avg) and hit four home runs. He has ten home runs in total, tied for first in the Big Ten Conference. His .756 slugging percentage is the second-highest in the conference.
Anthony Calarco has been a great hitter for Northwestern so far this season. He is ranked third in batting average within the Big Ten Conference, tied for fourth for most home runs, third in slugging percentage and tied for fourth for on-base percentage.
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#20 Anthony Calarco: .379 Avg / 7 HR / .736 SLG% / .465 OB%
#6 Shawn Goosenberg: .356 Avg / 10 HR / .756 SLG% / .426 OB%
#7 David Dunn: .328 Avg / 1 HR / .443 SLG% / .438 OB%
#11 Stephen Hrustich: .309 Avg / 8 HR / .721 SLG% / .434 OB%
#2 Vincent Bianchina: .293 Avg / 3 HR / .488 SLG% / .352 OB%
#23 Michael Trautwein: .213 Avg / 9 HR / .550 SLG% / .319 OB%
Pitching:
Mike Doherty has been the top starter for the Wildcats. In his last two starts, he allowed only two earned runs, two walks and struck out nine through 14 innings pitched. His 2.52 ERA is the fourth lowest in the conference among starting pitchers.
Quinn Lavelle struggled in his last start against Rutgers. He let up four earned runs through four and two-thirds innings pitched. However, he only allowed one earned run against Michigan through six innings pitched in the start before last.
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#15 Mike Doherty: 1-0 / 2.52 ERA / 21 K's / 7 Walks / 39 ⅓ IP
#8 Quinn Lavelle: 4-0 / 4.39 ERA / 18 K's / 7 Walks / 26 ⅔ IP
#28 Tyler Uberstine: 2-2 / 4.66 ERA / 30 K's / 12 Walks / 29 IP
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#55 Reed Smith: 1-2 / 2.70 ERA / 11 K's / 4 Walks / 13 ⅓ IP
#49 Garret Boeckle: 2-2 / 4.09 ERA / 9 K's / 7 Walks / 11 IP
Game Information:
Who: Indiana (13-7) at Northwestern (11-10)
When:
Game 1: Friday, April 16th @ 4:00 pm ET
Game 2: Saturday, April 17th @ 2:00 pm ET
Game 3: Sunday, April 18th @ 1:00 pm ET
Where: Evanston, Ill
TV: Big Ten Network+
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