After losing to top-seeded Iowa in 11 innings on Thursday Indiana was facing elimination in Friday's match-up with favored Illinois. The Hoosiers had Bradley Brehmer on the mound and he picked the right night for a sterling pitching performance.
In going the distance Brehmer faced just 2 batters over the minimum, striking out 6, walking 2, and plunking a one-hitter (that would lead to the only Illini score) and the Hoosiers come away with a huge win to stay alive in the 2022 Big Ten Baseball tournament taking place in Omaha. The Illini simply had no answers for Brehmer, who was simply masterful in his 2nd ever complete game. Here's a report from IU Athletics.
OMAHA, Neb. – Postseason baseball is about winning with your back against the wall and on Friday (May 27) the Indiana baseball program came through with an 8-1 victory over Illinois in an elimination game at the Big Ten Tournament on Charles Schwab Field.
Indiana (26-31) opened the scoring with a single run in the third, before Illinois (31-22) tied the game with a run in the top of the sixth. The Hoosiers grabbed the lead right back with a single run in the bottom of the sixth and added six more in the eighth inning.
Only one pitcher was needed, as senior Bradley Brehmer tossed a complete to earn his fifth victory of the season. He tossed 112 pitches and allowed just one run on four hits. He walked two and struck out six in his second career complete game.
It was the first Big Ten Tournament complete game for a Hoosier pitcher since the 2013 championship game when Will Coursen-Carr went the distance against Nebraska in Minneapolis. The last complete game for a Hoosier came in the 2021 regular season via Gabe Bierman versus Nebraska on May 9 in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Freshman Carter Mathison drove in a pair of RBIs in a 1-for-3 night at the plate. His two-RBI double moved his reached base streak to 24 games. The two RBIs give him 56 on the season and move him into No. fourth on the freshman RBI charts in Indiana history.
Junior Hunter Jessee singled, walked and scored one run to move his reached base streak to 18 games. Senior Phillip Glasser drove in a pair of runs and singled twice to produce the lone multi-hit game of the season.
Four different Illinois hitters collected one hit apiece, with Braden Comia drove in the lone RBI and Brody Harding scored the lone run. Riley Gowens (5-4) suffered the loss with two runs – one earned – on four hits in five innings of work.
Scoring Recap
Bottom Third
Three straight hits with one out gave Indiana the first run of the game. Tyler Doanes and Peter Serruto put runners on first and second with base hits and Phillip Glasser plated a run with a base hit into right field.
Indiana 1, Illinois 0
Top Sixth
The first two batters reached base via a base hit and hit-by-pitch. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position and Braden Comia grounded out to knot the score.
Indiana 1, Illinois 1
Bottom Sixth
Bobby Whalen reached on an error to start the inning and Hunter Jessee walked in front of a Josh Pyne sacrifice bunt. Carter Mathison then hit a sacrifice fly to score the run.
Indiana 2, Illinois 1
Bottom Eighth
The first five batters reached base in the inning as Pyne opened the scoring with an RBI single and Mathison followed with a two-RBI double. A walk to Matthew Ellis followed to load the bases and one run scored on a fielder’s choice by Doanes. Peter Serruto walked to push a run across and Glasser singled to score two more – one on an error – to cap the scoring.
Indiana 8, Illinois 1
Up Next
Indiana stays alive at the Big Ten Tournament with the victory and will face the loser of the Michigan/Maryland game on Friday (May 28) afternoon. That game will be played at approximately 1 p.m. and air on the Big Ten Network.
