Don't miss out on any of our exclusive football, basketball and recruiting coverage. Get a 60-Day FREE trial to TheHoosier.com with promo code IU60

IU successfully swept Penn State in a four-game series this weekend which featured two doubleheaders, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Initially, it was planned that the only doubleheader of the weekend would take place on Friday. However, on Friday morning, IU head coach Jeff Mercer tested positive for COVID-19, postponing the games on Friday and leaving many wondering if Indiana would play against Penn State. Luckily, the series was played in its entirety, and Indiana won all four games, improving its record from 3-1 to 7-1, tied for first place in the Big Ten Conference.

The weekend was highlighted by game two, where McCade Brown tied the school record for the most strikeouts thrown in a game with 16 and game three, where OF Grant Richardson hit a three-run walk-off home run.

Here is the full breakdown of the Indiana vs. Penn State series.

Big Ten Pitcher of the Week LHP Tommy Sommer started the first game for the Hoosiers. He pitched four and two-thirds innings and allowed two earned runs on three hits. He also gave up four walks and struck out three batters. Compared to his last start, his command was significantly less prominent. Still, his performance in limiting Penn State to only two runs was pivotal in helping Indiana win the first game of the series.

Sommer started strong by retiring the first six batters he faced, striking out two.

The Hoosiers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the second. 2B Paul Toetz led off the inning with a walk followed by a single from RF Sam Murrison to left field, advancing Toetz to second base. LF Hunter Jessee then drove in Toetz with a single to right field and Murrison advanced to third base. C Jacob Southern got a base hit up the middle and Murrison scored. Both Jessee and Southern would advance on a passed ball to put men on second and third. SS Jeremy Houston then grounded out to second base and Jessee scored from third base.

Despite this early lead, Penn State would respond in the next half-inning. In the top of the third, 3B Justin Williams drew a leadoff walk and then RF Curtis Robison hit a ground-rule double to left-center field, putting men on second and third. Leadoff hitter 2B Gavin Homer then doubled to left field, scoring Williams and Robison to cut Indiana's lead to 3-2. C Matt Wood was the next batter and he drew a walk. Homer stole third base easily due to Southern's poor throw to 3B Cole Barr. However, Barr threw to second base with a heads-up defensive play, and Wood was tagged out on the attempted double steal. While Homer had the intent to steal, Wood most likely did not and only started to run to second base after Southern's poor throw. But he was still tagged out. Had he been running from the start, he probably would have been safe at second base. It was a crucial defensive play from Barr because the next batter, CF Johnny Piacentino, flew out to right field to end the frame and if there was only one out, Homer could have tagged up from third base to tie the game.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Indiana SS Jeremy Houston got his first hit of the season, a single to center field. He then advanced to second base after DH Drew Ashley hit a ground ball to 3B Williams and beat the throw at first base. Houston came around to score after a failed pickoff attempt from Penn State RHP Bailey Dees. The error from Dees extended the Hoosiers lead to 4-2.

Penn State threatened to score in the top of the fifth inning. Williams led off the inning with a single to left field and then 1B Cole Bartels drew a walk, putting men on first and second. Robison then sacrifice bunted to advance both runners. Sommer was able to get Homer to fly out to center field but then walked Wood, loading up the bases.

RHP Nathan Stahl entered the game in a high-pressure situation, bases loaded with two outs and #3 hitter Johnny Piacentino at the dish. Regardless, Stahl struck out Piacentino looking to prevent any runs from scoring.

Toetz singled to right field to kick off the bottom of the fifth inning. 1B Jordan Fucci then laid down a perfect bunt and reached first base without a throw. Murrison then sacrifice bunted to advance both runners and after this, Dees was taken out of the game and replaced with RHP Logan Evans. Jessee was intentionally walked to load up the bases for a chance to end the inning with a double play. However, pinch hitter Tyler Van Pelt drew an RBI walk to extend Indiana's lead to 5-2. Houston then singled to shortstop and Fucci scored from third base. Leadoff hitter Drew Ashley then reached base on a fielder's choice to third base and Jessee scored to make it a 7-2 ballgame.

For the remainder of the game, Nathan Stahl stayed in and did not let Penn State plate any more runs, giving the Hoosiers the 7-2 win in the first game of the doubleheader.

In the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, Indiana RHP McCade Brown had a historic outing. He allowed zero runs, zero hits, two walks and impressively struck out 16 batters. His 16 strikeouts tied the school record for the most strikeouts in a game by an IU pitcher. Brad Edwards initially set the Indiana school record with 16 against Quinnipiac on Mar. 17, 2000.

In the top of the first inning, Brown struggled and walked back-to-back batters which prompted a mound visit. However, after this, he struck out the next two to end the frame.

In the bottom half of the inning, Indiana jumped out to an early 1-0 lead. 3B Cole Barr drew a two-out walk and then 2B Paul Toetz hit a double to right field, scoring Barr from first base.

From the top of the second inning to the top of the fifth, Brown struck out 10 of the 12 batters he faced and struck out seven in a row.

Indiana's offense would explode in the sixth inning, scoring seven runs. SS Grant Macciocchi hit a double down the first baseline to advance Southern to third base. Coming home to score was Fucci and Murrison, making it a 3-0 game. Later, 3B Cole Barr tripled to left-center field, which cleared the bases and gave the Hoosiers a 6-0 lead. The offense continued to produce runs as Fucci doubled to right field a few batters later, clearing the bases and extending the lead to 8-0.

McCade Brown struck out two of the three batters he faced in the seventh inning, which gave him 16 on the day. He was pulled from the game after the seventh inning due to his high pitch count of 101.

RHP Braydon Tucker relieved Brown in the eighth inning and gave up a hit to Penn State SS Jay Harry, a single to center field. Harry's hit was the first for Penn State in the game, breaking up Indiana's shot to get the combined no-hitter. Nevertheless, Tucker was able to prevent any runs from scoring.

In the top of the ninth, Indiana RHP Reese Sharp relieved Tucker and pitched a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts, closing out the game. Indiana won 8-0 and it's fifth straight game.

In the third game of the four-game series against Penn State, Indiana LHP Ty Bothwell took to the mound for the Hoosiers. Bothwell did not have the best start in game three. He allowed five earned runs on four hits, walked four and struck out four through four and two-thirds innings.

Once again, the Hoosiers jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning. 3B Cole Barr drew a two-out walk and then successfully stole second base. 2B Paul Toetz then drove in Barr with a single up the middle to give the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead.

Bothwell was effective in his first two innings of work, retiring all six batters he faced. However, he would finally face some adversity in the top of the third inning. Bothwell gave up back-to-back walks putting men on first and second with no out. RF Curtis Robison got a base hit up the middle, scoring Williams to tie the game and advancing 1B Cole Bartels to second base. Leadoff hitter 2B Gavin Homer then tripled to left field after the ball got by the diving LF Sam Murrison and rolled to the wall. Bartels and Robison scored to give the Nittany Lions a 3-1 lead. CF Johnny Piacentino then singled to right field and Homer scored from third base, extending Penn State's lead to 4-1.

In the top of the fifth inning, Penn State added to their lead. Robison drew a leadoff walk and then stole second base. DH Matt Wood then hit a fly ball to right field and Robison tagged up, advancing to third base. Piacentino would once again drive in another run, this time hitting a single to center field and scoring Robison to make it a 5-1 game.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Hoosiers showed life of potentially making a comeback. SS Grant Macciocchi hit his first home run of the season, a solo shot to deep left field over the bullpen and out of the park. After Macciocchi's home run, Penn State starting pitcher RHP Jaden Henline was replaced with LHP Tyler Shingledecker with one out in the fifth. CF Grant Richardson hit a double to the left-center gap and then later scored on a single to left field from 3B Cole Barr to cut the deficit to 5-3.

The Hoosiers trailed Penn State 5-3, heading into the bottom of the seventh inning and hoped to make a comeback to win the game. C Jacob Southern struck out swinging, but Macciocchi drew a one-out walk. DH Drew Ashley singled to right field and Macciocchi advanced to second base. Next up to bat was CF Grant Richardson, who previously to this at-bat was 2-3 with two doubles. On a 0-1 count Richardson hit a fly ball that cleared the left-field wall, a three-run walk-off home run to win it for the Hoosiers 6-5 over Penn State.

In the series finale, Indiana RHP Gabe Bierman got the start for the Hoosiers. Bierman allowed only one earned run and one hit. Furthermore, he walked four and struck out six through six innings.

In the top of the first inning, Bierman walked the second batter he faced C Matt Wood. However, Indiana C Collin Hopkins then threw out Wood, who attempted to steal second. Bierman took that momentum and then struck out CF Johnny Piacentino to end the frame.

In the bottom of the third inning, the Hoosiers gained the lead. LF Drew Ashley hit a single up the middle and then advanced to second base after CF Grant Richardson was hit by a pitch. In his first at-bat of the season, 3B Brennan Rowe singled up the middle, which moved both runners and loaded up the bases. 2B Paul Toetz drove in Ashley on a fielder's choice giving the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead.

In the top of the fifth, Penn State finally got its first hit of the game off a 3B Justin Williams double down the left-field line. 1B Cole Bartels grounded out to second base, which moved Williams to third base. Penn State then tied the game 1-1 when RF Curtis Robison grounded out to second base, scoring Williams from third base.

Bierman was taken out after the sixth inning and replaced with RHP John Modugno.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, RF Sam Murrison hit a ground ball to shortstop but was safe at first base after beating the throw. Pinch hinter Hunter Jessee then singled to right field and Murrison, with good speed, advanced to third base. Penn State starter RHP Kyle Virbitsky was taken out and replaced with reliever RHP Mason Mellot. Jeremy Houston was thrown out at first base after laying down a sacrifice bunt, scoring Murrison from third base to give the Hoosiers a 2-1 lead.

In the top of the eighth inning, Penn State threatened to score and retake the lead. Although Modugno retired the first two batters he faced, he then walked two in a row. Back-to-back walks prompted a mound visit and Modugno hit the next batter to load up the bases. Modugno was replaced with RHP Matt Litwicki with two outs and the bases loaded. Despite the high-pressure scenario coming out of the bullpen, Litwicki struck out SS Jay Harry to end the frame unscathed.

Litwicki stayed in the game to pitch the ninth inning and pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out the last batter he faced. Litwicki was awarded the four-out save, his second save of the season and secured the close 2-1 victory for the Hoosiers.

With this win, Indiana swept Penn State, improved to 7-1 on the season and extended its win streak to seven games after losing the season opener to Rutgers.

In particular, I think game three was a huge statement win for the Hoosiers. IU was down 5-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth in a shortened seven-inning game and fought hard to win 6-5. The talk this season has been that for all six games leading up to this one, IU had not let up more than two runs in a game. However, Penn State was able to snap that streak and put pressure on the Hoosiers. Still, Indiana was able to keep its composure and prevent any more runs from scoring while simultaneously chipping away and having solid at-bats. It could have been easy for IU to feel deflated heading into the bottom of the fifth, but as Richardson described in the press conference, everyone maintained the energy and did their job to help get the win. At least for yesterday, the Hoosiers proved when their backs were against the wall that they did not back down from the challenge.

Indiana (7-1) will play a three-game home series this upcoming weekend at Bart Kaufman Field against Purdue (1-7). Below is the scheduled start for all three games this weekend.

Game 1: Friday, March 19th @ 3:00 pm ET

Game 2: Friday, March 20th @ 2:00 pm ET

Game 3: Saturday, March 21st @ 1:00 pm ET

----

• Talk about it inside The Hoops Forum or The Football Forum

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Follow us on Twitter: @IndianaRivals

• Like us on Facebook.