Indiana Baseball Sweeps Ohio, Becomes Big Ten's First 30-Win Team

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana baseball made history in multiple ways over the weekend during its series sweep over the Ohio Bobcats.

Coach Jeff Mercer and The Hoosiers became the first Big Ten team to win 30 games this season, moving back into first place in the conference standings. Indiana also won its 22nd game at Bart Kaufman Field this season, passing the 2018 and 2019 teams for most wins in the venue's 11-season existence. Only five teams in program history have won more than 22 home games, most recently in 1991 at Sembower Field.

The Hoosiers scored 35 runs over the weekend, their most in a three-game series since April 23-25, 2021 when they scored 39 runs against Minnesota. The trio of wins improved Indiana's record to 30-11 overall, 22-1 at home and 9-3 in Big Ten play. While the Hoosiers remained outside the D1Baseball Top 25 rankings, they're No. 25 in Baseball America's rankings and moved to No. 11 in the NCAA's RPI metric. Indiana is also in contention to host College World Series regional games as a top-16 seed.

The weekend started with a back-and-forth battle on Friday. Ohio opened the scoring in the top of the first inning, but Indiana freshman phenom Devin Taylor put the Hoosiers' ahead with a two-run home run, his team-high 10th of the year. Indiana found some breathing room with a three-run sixth inning, thanks to Phillip Glasser's RBI single, an Ohio error and a sacrifice fly from Brock Tibbitts to take a four-run lead.

Ryan Kraft has arguably been Indiana's most reliable pitcher this season, boasting a team-low 1.33 ERA across 40.2 innings, but Ohio slowly chipped away at Indiana's lead. Kraft allowed a solo home run in the ninth, followed by an error from Tyler Cerny to make it a one-run game. Freshman Connor Foley relieved Kraft in a pressure-packed situation, with runners on first and second base. After striking out the first batter, Foley loaded the bases with a hit-by-pitch. Still, he didn't panic. Foley struck out the next batter, then induced a pop up to right field for the third out, securing Indiana's 9-8 win in game one.

After a few nerve-racking situations in game one, it was smooth sailing for Indiana in games two and three.

Starting pitcher Luke Sinnard allowed a first-inning solo home run on Saturday, but Indiana responded with an offensive explosion, scoring the game's next 10 runs. Sinnard settled in nicely, striking out eight batters across seven innings while allowing four hits, two runs and two walks. Six Hoosiers finished with at least two hits, led by Cerny with two home runs and six RBI in Indiana's 17-2 win.

Tibbitts kept the Hoosiers rolling on Sunday afternoon with a first-inning RBI single. Taylor's breakout freshman season continued with his 11th home run in the third inning, followed by a home run from Bobby Whalen. Glasser and Cerny knocked in two-RBI hits in the sixth and seventh innings, and the Indiana pitching staff kept Ohio's bats quiet all afternoon.

Seti Manase started the game for Indiana, allowing one earned run and three hits in 2.1 innings of work. Freshman Ethan Phillips picked up his third win of the season with 3.2 no-hit innings, and Brayden Risedorph kept the Bobcats scoreless in the final three innings of Indiana's 9-2 win.

Next up, the Hoosiers have a midweek road trip to Ball State on Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET. Then, Indiana hosts Maryland in a pivotal weekend series, beginning on Friday 6 p.m. ET. Indiana is currently first in the Big Ten at 9-3, but Maryland, the reigning Big Ten regular season champion, is close behind with an 8-4 conference record.