IU travels to Ann Arbor to face Michigan in pivotal series
The matchup between two of the top three teams in the Big Ten Conference is set. Indiana will head to Michigan to play the Wolverines in a three-game road series this upcoming weekend.
IU held on to its conference lead after sweeping Rutgers and splitting the two-game series against Nebraska, winning three of four games over the weekend.
The Hoosiers currently have a 0.5 game lead over second-place Nebraska and a one-game lead over third-place Michigan. The upcoming three-game series is crucial for both teams as IU has the opportunity to increase its conference lead and Michigan can potentially knock IU off the top, ascending to first.
Both outcomes mentioned above will rely on Nebraska's performance. But regardless, it's a significant series for both teams.
These two teams last faced off in 2019, with the Hoosiers winning two-of-three on the road.
IU is ranked No. 14 in the nation by Perfect Game, No. 21 by Baseball America and D1 Baseball, No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches poll and No. 27 in the NCBWA poll.
Projected Starters:
Game 1:
Tommy Sommer (IU): 5-2 / 3.26 ERA / 62 K's / 33 Walks / 58 IP
Steve Hajjar (MICH): 3-0 / 2.88 ERA / 80 K's / 19 Walks / 56 ⅓ IP
Game 2:
McCade Brown (IU): 4-2 / 3.06 ERA / 77 K's / 30 Walks / 47 IP
Cameron Weston (MICH): 5-2 / 2.93 ERA / 53 K's / 22 Walks / 61 ⅓ IP
Game 3:
Gabe Bierman (IU): 5-2 / 2.26 ERA / 62 K's / 21 Walks / 55 ⅔ IP
Jacob Denner (MICH): 3-3 / 4.22 ERA / 44 K's / 16 Walks / 42 ⅔ IP
Players To Watch:
Bolded statistics indicate a player is among the top 10 for that respective statistic in the Big Ten Conference. Many players have the same number of home runs, so it is the top 10 on the list regardless of ties.
Indiana
Batting:
#6 Grant Richardson: .323 Avg / 4 HR / .500 SLG% / .407 OB%
#2 Cole Barr: .322 Avg / 8 HR / .626 SLG% / .445 OB%
#5 Paul Toetz: .310 Avg / 1 HR / .457 SLG% / .390 OB%
#3 Drew Ashley: .292 Avg / 4 HR / .438 SLG% / .406 OB%
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Richardson has a team-best .323 batting average and 10 stolen bases. Over the weekend, he flashed the leather and robbed a home run in centerfield that made it on SportsCenter Top 10.
The former Big Ten Player of the Week, Barr, has a team-best eight home runs, 29 RBI and 34 runs scored. Two of his eight home runs came in the series opener against Nebraska and in total, he had 7 RBI's throughout the four games.
Toetz is a doubles machine as he leads the Big Ten with 18 and ranks fourth in the country in doubles per game with 0.48.
Collin Hopkins had another solid weekend at the plate, going 4-13 (.307 avg) with four RBI's.
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Pitching:
#37 Gabe Bierman: 5-2 / 2.26 ERA / 62 K's / 21 Walks / 55 ⅔ IP
#51 McCade Brown: 4-2 / 3.06 ERA / 77 K's / 30 Walks / 47 IP
#19 Tommy Sommer: 5-2 / 3.26 ERA / 62 K's / 33 Walks / 58 IP
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#14 Nathan Stahl: 2-0 / 1.59 ERA / 14 K's / 3 Walks / 17 IP
#34 Braydon Tucker: 0-1 / 4.41 ERA / 10 K's / 4 Walks / 16 ⅓ IP
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IU's starting pitching staff was lights out this past weekend. Sommer, Brown, Bierman and John Modugno threw a combined 26 ⅔ innings, allowing four earned runs.
Bierman tossed a complete game over the weekend in the 4-2 win against Nebraska and only allowed one earned run, bringing his ERA down to 2.26, which leads the conference among starters.
Relievers Stahl and Tucker worked great out of the bullpen and hurled a combined five innings, allowing one earned run.
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Michigan
Batting:
#2 Benjamin Sems: .344 Avg / 5 HR / .528 SLG% / .421 OB%
#14 Christian Molfetta: .307 Avg / 6 HR / .533 SLG% / .404 OB%
#22 Tito Flores: .298 Avg / 5 HR / .500 SLG% / .412 OB%
#8 Jimmy Obertop: .279 Avg / 9 HR / .586 SLG% / .366 OB%
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Sems has a team-best .344 batting average which is the fourth highest in the conference. Sems also has a .421 on-base percentage, the second-highest on the team.
Clark Elliott leads the team with a .426 on-base percentage, just out of the top 10 in the conference.
Obertop leads the team with nine home runs and has the 11th highest slugging percentage in the conference.
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Pitching:
#27 Steve Hajjar: 3-0 / 2.88 ERA / 80 K's / 19 Walks / 56 ⅓ IP
#55 Cameron Weston: 5-2 / 2.93 ERA / 53 K's / 22 Walks / 61 ⅓ IP
#47 Jacob Denner: 3-3 / 4.22 ERA / 44 K's / 16 Walks / 42 ⅔ IP
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#20 Willie Weiss: 4-2 / 2.14 ERA / 4 SV / 31 K's / 9 Walks / 21 IP
#25 Isaiah Page: 0-1 / 2.31 ERA / 11 K's / 2 Walks / 11 ⅔ IP
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Hajjar currently leads the team with a 2.88 ERA, the fourth-lowest in the conference. In his most recent start against Michigan State, he pitched six scoreless innings while striking out 13.
Weston had a fantastic start this past weekend and was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week following his performance. He threw a complete game, only allowing one earned run on one hit, struck out nine and walked zero.
Wiess and Page threw four combined shutout innings this past weekend from the bullpen. Page struck out three and allowed one hit in 1 ⅔ innings pitched.
Game Information:
Who: Indiana (23-10) at Michigan (23-12)
When:
Game 1: Friday, May 14th @ 4:00 p.m. ET.
Game 2: Saturday, May 15th @ 2:00 p.m. ET.
Game 3: Sunday, May 16th @ 1:00 p.m. ET.
Where: Ann Arbor, Mich.
TV:
Game 1: BTN+
Game 2: BTN+
Game 3: ESPN2
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