IU Athletics
Bradley Brehmer Named to Big Ten All-Tournament Team
Indiana made a run to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals this weekend, and starting pitcher Bradley Brehmer was a big reason why.
The senior right-handed pitcher took the mound for the Hoosiers on Friday against the Illinois Fighting Illini. After losing a heartbreaker in extra innings to top-seeded Maryland on Thursday, Indiana needed a win over Illinois to advance in the tournament.
Brehmer was making his 14th start of the season after being Indiana's Saturday starter for the majority of the year. He entered the game with a 5.89 ERA and was coming off a four-inning, one-run performance against Iowa on May 21.
Brehmer's Friday didn't get off to an ideal start after walking the first batter and allowing a single to the second. But he began to live down in the zone, forcing Illinois' Justin Janas to ground into a double play. Brehmer forced another ground out to end the inning and escaped the first frame unscathed.
From then on, Brehmer was working quickly and efficiently. He struck out two batters in the second, and posted one-two-three innings from the second inning to the fifth inning. Brehmer struck out six batters on Friday, but he also learned to trust his defense. He forced 12 Illinois groundouts, including a pair of inning-ending double plays.
Brehmer's first sign of real trouble came in the sixth inning when he allowed a single and a hit-by-pitch to the first two batters. Illinois executed a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third, and Branden Comia drove in Illinois' first run with a groundout to the right side. Brehmer struck out Janas to end the inning, and then, it was time for Indiana to get the bats moving.
Indiana freshman Carter Mathison collected his first RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to give Indiana a one-run lead in the sixth. And because of Brehmer's dominance, that was the only run the Hoosiers would need the rest of the way. Brehmer forced weak contact to post a scoreless seventh inning, and he was fired up after striking out Comia in a one-two-three eighth inning.
Indiana would blow the game open with a six-run eighth inning behind RBI from Josh Pyne, Mathison, Tyler Doanes, Peter Serruto and Phillip Glasser. This gave Brehmer some room to breathe in the bottom of the ninth, as he capped off his complete game with a strikeout, ground out and pop out.
It was clearly Brehmer's best start of the season in Indiana's 8-1 win over Illinois, pitching all nine innings while allowing four hits, one run, two walks, one hit-by-pitch and six strikeouts. Throwing 112 pitches on Friday, Brehmer kept the ball down all game and forced 12 Illinois groundouts.
This pitching gem led to Brehmer being named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team. It was Brehmer's second complete game of his career, with his first coming against UIC in the 2021 Horizon League Tournament when he pitched for Wright State.
Brehmer is the first Indiana pitcher to earn all-tournament honors since Christian Morris in 2014. He's also the first Indiana hurler to throw a complete game in the Big Ten Tournament since Will Coursen-Carr did so in the 2013 championship game.
With this effort, Brehmer finished his senior season with a 5-4 record across 14 starts. He posted a 5.30 ERA over 74.2 innings while striking out 77 batters and walking 33. Opposing hitters batted .254 against Brehmer, who finished with the fourth-lowest ERA among Hoosiers, behind Ty Bothwell, Jack Perkins and Luke Hayden.
Brehmer played his first three seasons of collegiate baseball at Wright State, where he was named an All-Horizon League player during his freshman and junior seasons. He graduated from Decatur Central High School in Indianapolis, Ind., where he was an All-State pitcher during his junior and senior seasons with 19 career victories, a 1.88 ERA and 192 strikeouts.
Stories related to Indiana baseball:
- INDIANA'S RECORD-SETTING CINDERELLA RUN FALLS SHORT IN SEMIFINALS: Indiana became the first No. 8 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, but the Cinderella run ended around 3 a.m. Sunday morning with a 14-2 loss to Rutgers. The Hoosiers are the second team in Big Ten history to strike out over 600 batters in a season, and set the Big Ten Tournament single-game record at 18 strikeouts. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA LOSES IN EXTRAS TO MARYLAND: Indiana overcame a 4-0 deficit to force extra innings in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament against top-seeded Maryland. The Hoosiers set a Big Ten record with 18 strikeouts, and freshman Carter Mathison hit his 18th home run of the season. CLICK HERE
- FOUR FRESHMEN, ELLIS, DOANES EARN BIG TEN HONORS: Josh Pyne, Carter Mathison, Brock Tibbitts and Evan Goforth were named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team on Monday. Catcher Matthew Ellis earned third-team All-Big Ten honors, and Tyler Doanes was Indiana's recipient of the Sportsmanship Award. CLICK HERE