IU seeks to gain ground in conference standings this weekend vs. Minnesota
The Hoosiers improved to 15-8 after winning two out of three against Northwestern this past weekend. Despite this, Indiana remained third in the conference standings. However, the gap between second-place Michigan and first-place Nebraska increased one game after both teams swept their respective opponents.
LHP Tommy Sommer had a fantastic start early on in the series opener, but he was charged with four earned runs later into the game. Indiana held a 5-0 lead in the top of the seventh highlighted by 1B Kip Fougerousse's two-RBI single in the third inning. Northwestern scored four in the bottom half of the seventh to cut the lead to one run, but RHP Matt Litwicki entered the game in the ninth and secured the 5-4 victory, obtaining his fourth save of the year.
In the second game of the series, unlike the opener, Northwestern gained the lead first. 2B Vincent Bianchina hit a solo home run followed by an error and two doubles that scored two unearned runs to give Northwestern a 3-0 lead. Bianchina hit another solo home run to extend the lead 4-0. However, Indiana tied the game at 4-4 after DH Tyler Van Pelt and 3B Cole Barr both hit two-run home runs in the fourth and fifth inning, respectively. Indiana gained a 5-4 lead in the eighth, but Northwestern retook the lead 8-5 and eventually won by that score. The loss snapped Indiana's three-game win streak.
RHP Gabe Bierman pitched seven and two-thirds shutout innings in the rubber match on Sunday, only allowing two hits and one walk while striking out six. Indiana took a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth after RF Morgan Colopy hit a two-run home run to left field. 3B Cole Barr hit a sacrifice fly which extended Indiana's lead to 4-0 in the top of the eighth. LHP Ty Bothwell entered the game in a critical moment in the bottom half of the inning. Bothwell struck out Northwestern leadoff hitter 1B Anthony Calarco looking with two outs and runners on the corners, which preserved the shutout. In the ninth, RHP Matt Litwicki entered the game and retired the three batters he faced. Indiana shutout Northwestern 4-0, its first shutout loss of the season.
---
Indiana is set to play a three-game series against Minnesota, which will begin a six-game home stand spanning two weekends.
Indiana played a two-game series against Minnesota in the first weekend of the season and won both games by a score of 5-2 and 8-1, respectively.
Minnesota is riding a seven-game losing streak and has lost 14 of its last 16 games, getting outscored by opponents 147-60. Minnesota currently is 4-20, which is a 0.167 winning percentage.
Something to note is the home-field advantage for the Hoosiers this weekend and based on the numbers, a significant disadvantage for Minnesota. So far this season, Minnesota is 0-7 on the road and in contrast, Indiana is 8-1 at home.
The Hoosiers have better team statistics than Minnesota in batting average, home runs, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, fielding percentage and earned run average. In terms of pitching, Indiana leads the conference with a 2.83 ERA, whereas Minnesota has a combined 7.93 ERA, the worst in the conference.
Projected Starters:
Game 1:
LHP Tommy Sommer (IU): 4-1 / 3.32 ERA / 42 K's / 24 Walks / 40 ⅔ IP
RHP J.P. Massey (UM): 0-3 / 13.50 ERA / 13 K's / 16 Walks / 10 ⅔ IP
Game 2:
RHP McCade Brown (IU): 4-2 / 2.41 ERA / 63 K's / 22 Walks / 37 ⅓ IP
LHP Jack Liffrig (UM): 1-2 / 4.24 ERA / 27 K's / 14 Walks / 40 ⅓ IP
Game 3:
TBA (IU):
TBA (UM):
Players To Watch
Bolded statistics indicate a player is among the top 15 for that respective statistic in the Big Ten Conference.
Indiana:
Batting:
INF Cole Barr leads the team offensively, hitting a team-best .325 on the year with four home runs, seven doubles, and 15 RBI. He also leads the team with the highest slugging and on-base percentage, not factoring in players with three at-bats or fewer.
INF Kip Fougerousse and OF Tyler Van Pelt both played well against Northwestern. Fougerousse was 4-13 with two RBI, whereas Van Pelt was 4-12 with one home run and four RBI. Also, OF Morgan Colopy had three RBIs throughout the series. All three players mentioned above batted in nine of the 14 runs Indiana scored.
___________
#2 Cole Barr: .325 Avg / 4 HR / .597 SLG% / .459 OB%
#6 Grant Richardson: .318 Avg / 3 HR / .500 SLG% / .412 OB%
#3 Drew Ashley: .318 Avg / 3 HR / .471 SLG% / .426 OB%
#5 Paul Toetz: .276 Avg / 1 HR / .414 SLG% / .364 OB%
#10 Morgan Colopy: .255 Avg / 3 HR / .509 SLG% / .271 OB%
Pitching:
RHP Gabe Bierman has had two consecutive stellar outings, bringing his ERA down to 2.34. He now leads the Big Ten Conference in lowest ERA among starters.
Last two starts: 14 ⅔ IP / 0 ER /5 Hits / 11 K's / 3 Walks
RHP Matt Litwicki pitched great out of the bullpen against Northwestern last weekend. In two instances, he entered the game in the ninth inning and secured the victory for the Hoosiers.
Last two outings: 2 IP / 0 ER / 1 Hit / 3 K's / 0 Walks
__________
#37 Gabe Bierman: 2-2 / 2.34 ERA / 31 K's / 17 Walks / 34 ⅔ IP
#51 McCade Brown: 4-2 / 2.41 ERA / 63 K's / 22 Walks / 37 ⅓ IP
#19 Tommy Sommer: 4-1 / 3.32 ERA / 42 K's / 24 Walks / 40 ⅔ IP
---
#35 Matt Litwicki: 0-0 / 0.00 ERA / 11 K's / 2 Walks / 7 ⅔ IP
#14 Nathan Stahl: 2-0 / 0.71 ERA / 12 K's / 2 Walks / 12 ⅔ IP
Minnesota:
Batting:
INF Zack Raabe has been Minnesota's best hitter this season and leads the Big Ten with a .405 batting average and .500 on-base percentage. He also has a .658 slugging percentage which is in the top ten in the conference. In the previous series against Michigan, he went 4-10.
INF Zack Elliott is coming off a great performance against Michigan. Over the weekend, Elliott went 5-9 (.555 avg) with one home run and two RBI.
__________
#2 Zack Raabe: .405 Avg / 4 HR / .658 SLG% / .500 OB%
#6 Chase Stanke: .288 Avg / .325 SLG% / .380 OB%
#30 Jack Wassel: .274 Avg / 2 HR / .417 SLG% / .330 OB%
#8 Andrew Wilhite: .260 Avg / .329 SLG% / .333 OB%
#1 Zack Elliott: .256 Avg / 1 HR / .372 SLG% / .319 OB%
Pitching:
#44 Sam Ireland: 0-3 / 4.10 ERA / 35 K's / 16 Walks / 37 ⅓ IP
#15 Jack Liffrig: 1-2 / 4.24 ERA / 27 K's / 14 Walks / 40 ⅓ IP
Game Information
Who: Minnesota (4-20) at Indiana (15-8)
When:
Game 1: Friday, April 23rd @ 1:00 pm ET
Game 2: Friday, April 23rd @ 4:00 pm ET
Game 3: Sunday, April 25 @ 11:00 am ET
Where: Bloomington, Ind.
TV: Big Ten Network+
----
• 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.