Hoosiers Now

Carter Mathison Shares Big Ten Freshman of the Week Honors

Carter Mathison broke the Indiana freshman home run record on Sunday, and on Wednesday he was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week along with Iowa's Keaton Anthony. Mathison joins Josh Pyne as the second Hoosier to win this award in 2022.

Jack Ankony

IU Athletics

Indiana picked up a crucial series victory over Michigan last weekend to move to seventh place in the Big Ten standings, and freshman slugger Carter Mathison was a big reason why.

Mathison went 5-for-12 at the plate across three games against Michigan, good for a .417 batting average. He scored six runs, drove in five, walked twice and belted two home runs against the Wolverines to earn some conference-wide recognition. On Wednesday, Mathison was named Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week alongside Iowa's Keaton Anthony, who won the award for the fifth time this season.

“He’s obviously a really physical kid, but he’s also a kid that can have an at-bat," Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer said of Mathison on April 30. "He gets deep in the counts, he’s going to get himself into a leverage count. He fouled two 2-1 fastballs straight back, and those are pitches he normally thumps. He doesn’t expand, he doesn’t chase, he gets in good counts and he’s very gifted and very talented. When you’re a talented player who hits the ball hard and you have a good eye and you get into a good count consistently, it gives you confidence to put him in the middle of the order."

Mathison moved his hit streak to a season-long eight games after defeating Michigan on Sunday. And after driving in a trio of runs in the series-clinching win, Mathison tied the 2022 Indiana record with his 13th multi-RBI game. 

The young slugger's most notable at-bat of the weekend was a three-run home run to right center field, which gave Indiana a 5-4 lead in the fifth inning. His 15th home run of the set an Indiana freshman record, passing Alex Dickerson, who hit 14 in 2009. Dickerson has since enjoyed a six-year MLB career where he has hit 40 home runs across 339 games. 

This was Mathison's first time winning Big Ten Freshman of the Week, and he joins Josh Pyne as the second Hoosier to win this award in 2022. Mathison and Pyne have become mainstays in the middle of the Indiana lineup, and have helped the Hoosiers win three consecutive series.

On the season, Mathison is sixth among Hoosiers with a .278 batting average despite leading all Indiana hitters with a .623 slugging percentage, 101 total bases and 46 runs scored. He is fifth on the team with nine doubles, and he's tied with Matthew Ellis for the team lead in home runs with 15. 

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Jack Ankony
JACK ANKONY

Jack Ankony is a Sports Illustrated/FanNation writer for HoosiersNow.com. He graduated from Indiana University's Media School with a degree in journalism. Follow on Twitter @ankony_jack.

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