No. 23 Indiana Baseball Sweeps Baylor; Taylor, Colopy Combine For 6 Home Runs
No. 23 Indiana baseball swept Baylor in three games this weekend, winning 8-4 on Friday, 6-1 on Saturday, and 15-5 by run-rule Sunday in eight innings.
The Hoosiers, which entered D1Baseball’s top-25 poll last week for the first time in nearly three years, will surely move up. Except for the shortened Big-Ten-only 2021 season, it’s Indiana’s best seven-game start since 2018.
In all three games, Indiana’s pitchers exceeded coach Jeff Mercer’s six-runs-or-fewer goal. Baylor also suffered a key loss when RBI-leader Hunter Simmons collided with the left-field wall in the first inning Friday night and did not play the rest of the series.
Indiana's bats also were hot. Indiana knocked reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Week — right-hander Mason Marriott — out of Friday's game by scoring five runs in the third inning. Morgan Colopy capped that off with his first of three home runs over the weekend.
Sophomore Brayden Risedorph started for Indiana Friday and threw 3⅓ innings, giving up four earned runs on six hits and striking out five. In the fourth inning, Risedorph surrendered back-to-back doubles, and after he was taken out for reliever Julian Tonghini, two more runners scored for Baylor to cut Indiana's lead to 7-4.
But Tonghini recovered and allowed just one hit and no runs over the next three innings. Sophomore Grant Holderfield relieved Tonghini and pitched the eighth and ninth innings, giving up one hit, and striking out four for his first save of the season. The left-handed sidearmer didn’t play last season due to injury. Holderfield had two saves in his freshman season two years ago.
Like last weekend, Saturday’s start went to sophomore Connor Foley. And like last weekend, the right-hander was superb. Foley struck out seven batters in his six-inning, one-hit shutout. Reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year Devin Taylor launched his first home run of the season, Colopy homered once more, and two newcomers — transfer Jake Stadler, as well as freshman Cal Sefcik — both hit singles to put Indiana up 5-0. It was Sefcik’s first-career hit.
Within two starts, Foley has only allowed three hits in 10 innings. His walks, hits, per innings pitched is sub-1.00 — alongside 14 punchouts. Like last Saturday’s win over No. 25 Coastal Carolina, sixth-year left-hander Ty Bothwell followed in relief. Bothwell threw three innings, allowed one harmless run and picked up his third-career save. At the start of last season, the left-hander was shaky. To begin 2024, Bothwell has given up one earned run in eight innings.
Indiana’s bats continued to be hot Sunday as Baylor’s bullpen emptied. Taylor homered in the first inning, putting the Hoosiers up 2-0. In the bottom frame, he nearly threw out Baylor leadoff hitter Ty Johnson at home plate, who tried to advance on the routine fly ball. After the lengthy review, Johnson was safe. But Indiana starter Ethan Phillips got out of it. Phillips later encountered trouble in the fourth inning, giving up three runs across 3⅓ innings. Ryan Kraft came in to support, and got credit for the win by pitching 2⅔ innings, striking out two Bears.
In the third inning, Indiana’s Brock Tibbitts belted his first home run of the season, and in the seventh inning, Colopy’s grand-slam put the Hoosiers ahead 11-3. Then, in the eighth, Taylor secured his fifth-career multi-home-run game, pushing his slugging percentage to an absurd 0.897 through 29 at-bats this season. The sophomore leads the Hoosiers in batting average, slugging, and on-base percentage. In the final two innings Sunday, the Hoosiers put up 11 runs to win 15-5. Since losing Opening Day, Indiana has won six straight.
The Hoosiers are now 6-1 and host Purdue Fort Wayne at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday.
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