THREE THINGS WE LEARNED THIS WEEK
1 - Indiana baseball continues to make a strong push for a Big Ten regular season title
A 2-1 victory at Minnesota on Sunday gave the Hoosiers their seventh consecutive series win, and national outlets took notice.
D1 Baseball and Perfect Game both have IU ranked No. 19 in their respective top 25 polls this week, while Baseball America has them at 22.
All told, IU moved up in all three polls after breaking into the top 25 for the first time last week.
As a 7-3 Game 1 loss and 7-6 walk-off Game 2 win in Minneapolis showed this past weekend, keeping a hold on first place in the Big Ten won't be easy. The final 16 days of the regular season include road series at Illinois (May 3-5) and Michigan (May 10-12) with a midweek game at Kentucky sandwiched in between. Upon returning from Ann Arbor, the Hoosiers host No. 7 Louisville on May 14.
Buckle up.
2 - Women's 4x800 track team makes history at Penn Relays Championship of America
The group claimed IU's first women's relay wheel in program history and first wheel won under head coach Ron Helmer since him coming to Indiana.
On the men's side, Adam Coulon won the men's pole vault championship after clearing 5.30 meters.
The IU men's 4x800 relay team of Adam Wallace, Jalen Royal, Kenneth Hagen, and Cooper Williamstook to the track and picked up second place with a time of 7:25.43.
Indiana will host their single meet of outdoor season - The Billy Hayes Invite - on Friday, May 3.
3 - Men's golf makes postseason history, too.
A team score of 285 in the final round of the Big Ten Championship, pushing them into a tie for seventh place with Ohio State at 890 (+50) overall and their best finish at the event since placing fourth in 2013.
Individually, freshman Mitch Davis and junior Brock Ochsenreiter led Indiana after shooting 11-over par to tie for 16th.
Davis' performance was particularly noteworthy because it marked the first time since Seth Brandon in 2006 that a freshman posted IU's best score.
TWO QUESTIONS THIS WEEK
1 - How much higher can IU baseball climb in the polls?
Already touched on the challenges ahead, but a lot of momentum working in Indiana's favor right now.
2 - What Brock Hudkins' national experience do for IU wrestling?
He qualified for the NCAA tournament twice at Northern Illinois at 125 pounds and was also a decorated wrestler at Danville (Ind.) Community High School, winning semi-state titles all four years.
Hudkins addition is important, too, with senior and four-time NCAA tournament qualifier Elijah Oliver graduating.
ONE PREDICTION: Indiana maintains its national lead in home runs.
Even though Illinois' pitching staff has allowed the fewest hits in the Big Ten, IU is playing too well right now to be fazed by it this weekend.
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