Indiana Baseball Splits Doubleheader Against Michigan; Series Finale Moved to Friday

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana suffered a 3-2 loss against Michigan in the first game of Thursday's doubleheader but bounced back with an 11-2 victory later that night.

That sets up a rubber match between the Hoosiers and Wolverines, which has been moved up to Friday at 6 p.m. ET at Bart Kaufman Field in Bloomington. This represents Indiana's regular season finale, and the program will honor six players on Senior Day.

Thursday's win also clinched Indiana's 11th straight Big Ten Tournament appearance, good for the longest active streak in the conference. But Friday's game is still of great importance regarding Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament seeding.

The Hoosiers (29-22-1) can no longer win the Big Ten regular season title, but their 14-9 conference record puts them in a tie for third place with Friday's opponent, Michigan. Illinois leads the Big Ten at 14-6, followed by Nebraska at 15-7. Purdue (13-9) and Iowa (14-10) are still in striking distance of the Hoosiers and Wolverines.

Coach Jeff Mercer and the Hoosiers also remain in the mix for what would be their second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. As of Wednesday, Baseball America projected Indiana as the 63rd team in the 64-team NCAA Tournament field, good for a No. 3 seed in the Knoxville Regional. However, D1 Baseball has the Hoosiers on the outside looking in and not among the first four teams out.

Thursday's doubleheader began with a low-scoring, back-and-forth battle. Indiana outfielder Devin Taylor opened the scoring with a solo home run in the first, his 15th of the year. Michigan took a 2-1 lead in the fourth thanks to a two-RBI double from Will Rogers, but Taylor answered right back with an RBI single in the fifth.

Ty Bothwell gave Indiana six good innings on the mound, allowing four hits and two earned runs with two walks and seven strikeouts. Michigan starter Kurt Barr came close to matching Bothwell, but he was pulled after running into some trouble in the sixth. Barr allowed six hits and two runs with two walks and a strikeout in 5.2 innings of work.

Indiana reliever Drew Buhr was one strike away from ending the eighth inning, but Michigan designated hitter Collin Priest broke the tie with a solo home run on a full count, giving the Wolverines a 3-2 lead. Indiana got two baserunners in the ninth but couldn't complete the rally.

The Hoosiers quickly looked past a disappointing loss in game one of the doubleheader, jumping on the Michigan pitching staff right away. Beginning with a Tyler Cerny RBI double and followed by a sacrifice fly and two singles, Indiana racked up four runs in the first inning.

Taylor's bat stayed hot in the second, blasting his 16th home run of the season. Indiana added four more runs in the third, with singles from Taylor and Josh Pyne, a double from Jasen Oliver and a Carter Mathison sacrifice fly. By the end of the third inning, Indiana led 10-0.

Chase Allen started on the mound for Michigan, but his day was done after allowing six hits, seven earned runs and two walks in two innings. The Wolverines went through six pitchers in the 11-2 loss, though no one threw more than two innings.

Indiana starter Connor Foley provided four shutout innings on Thursday, allowing just one hit but walking five batters and striking out zero. Julian Tonghini gave Indiana important length out of the bullpen, going four innings but allowing a Priest two-run home run, Michigan's only runs of the day.

The Hoosiers finished with 12 hits and only allowed four in Thursday's win, and they'll look to ride that momentum into Friday's regular season finale.