Indiana Baseball Sweeps Ohio State in Big Ten Opener, Remains Undefeated at Home

Indiana swept Ohio State with 14-6, 9-6 and 7-5 wins on Saturday and Sunday, moving to 17-7 overall and 3-0 in Big Ten play.

Aaron E. Martinez / American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana baseball team completed a series sweep against Ohio State on Saturday and Sunday, improving its record to 17-7 overall and 14-0 at home. 

Along with Michigan, Indiana was one of two teams to sweep its first Big Ten series of the season. The Hoosiers showed impressive resilience by overcoming deficits in the first two games to secure the victory. 

They faced the highest level of adversity in game one on Saturday when starting pitcher Evan Whiteaker walked the first four batters of the game. Gabriel Levy replaced Whiteaker in the first inning and gave up a pair of singles, allowing Ohio State to jump out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning.

The comeback started in the second inning when sophomore first baseman Brock Tibbitts put the Hoosiers on the board with a solo home run, followed by a pair of RBI from Tyler Cerny and Bobby Whalen to cut Ohio State's lead in half. Tibbitts drove in another run in the third inning, and Devin Taylor found a gap in the Ohio State infield to bring two more Hoosiers home and grab a 7-6 lead in the fourth. Ohio State starter Isaiah Coupet allowed 10 hits, 10 runs with one walk and four strikeouts across four innings. 

Meanwhile, Ryan Kraft stepped up with a clutch performance in relief. Allowing four hits, three walks and striking out three batters, Kraft kept the Buckeyes scoreless from the fifth through eighth innings. Home runs from Cerny and Matthew Ellis in the fifth inning gave the Hoosiers a cushion, and they blew the game open with a four-run eighth inning. Adrian Vega tossed a scoreless ninth inning on the mound, and Indiana claimed a 14-6 win in its Big Ten opener.

Due to a rainout on Friday, Indiana and Ohio State concluded the series with a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon. Similar to game one, Indiana had its back against the wall early on. After two clean innings, Indiana starting pitcher Luke Sinnard allowed a two-run home run and an RBI double in the third inning. 

The Hoosiers responded with a big inning of their own at the plate, beginning with a two-RBI double from Tibbitts. Cerny and Bobby Whalen drove in runs at the bottom of the order, and Indiana ended the third inning with a 5-3 lead. 

Sinnard's day was over after six innings, allowing eight hits, four runs and one walk with eight strikeouts. The 6-foot-8 sophomore righty now has a 3.82 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 33 innings of work. 

Ohio State tied the game in the seventh inning with a Mitchell Okuley home run off Aydan Decker-Petty, and the Buckeyes took a 6-5 lead when errors by Indiana's Craig Yoho and Bobby Whalen allowed a run to score. 

But again, the Hoosiers fought back in a big way. Senior Matthew Ellis blasted a three-run home run the seventh, then added an insurance run with an RBI single up the middle to score Tibbits. Yoho slammed the door with three strikeouts in the ninth, giving Indiana a 9-6 win in game two. Yoho finished his day with six strikeouts, two hits, one walk and zero runs across 2.1 innings. 

Seti Manase took the mound for Indiana in game three, tossing three scoreless innings with three hits, zero walks and two strikeouts. Sophomore third baseman Josh Pyne gave Indiana the lead with an RBI groundout in the third, followed by a two-run home run from Taylor in the next at-bat. 

Indiana extended its lead with RBI doubles from Pyne and Hunter Jessee in the sixth, but Ohio State responded with a three-run sixth inning to trim Indiana's lead to two. Ellis came up clutch again in the eighth with an RBI single, and Indiana's Luke Hayden tamed the Ohio State lineup, allowing one hit and one run with five strikeouts in 3.1 innings to secure Indiana's 7-5 win.

Next up, Indiana hosts Kent State at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday before heading to Penn State for a weekend series.

Here's Indiana's full schedule.

• L, 8-4: at Auburn, Feb. 17
• L, 6-1: at Auburn, Feb. 18
• W, 11-2: at Auburn, Feb. 19
• W, 13-5: vs. Miami (OH), Feb. 21
• L, 4-2: at Texas, Feb. 24
• L, 5-2: at Texas, Feb. 25
• W, 4-2: at Texas, Feb. 26
• W, 13-2: vs. Butler, Feb. 28
• L, 17-4: at East Carolina, March 3
• W, 4-3: vs. Georgetown in Greenville, N.C, March 4
• L, 10-4: vs. Long Beach State in Greenville, N.C. March 5
• W, 15-1: vs. Purdue Fort Wayne, March 8
• W, 5-3: vs. Bellarmine, March 9
• W, 9-7: vs. Bellarmine, March 10
• W, 13-3: vs. Bellarmine, March 11
• W, 3-2: vs. Bellarmine, March 12
• L, 12-2: at Kentucky, March 14
• W, 6-5: vs. Morehead State, March 15
• W, 23-5: vs. Morehead State, March 16
• W, 5-4: vs. Morehead State, March 17
• W, 15-5: vs. Indiana State, March 21
• W, 14-6: vs. Ohio State, March 25
• W, 9-6: vs. Ohio State, March 26
• W, 7-5: vs. Ohio State, March 26
• March 28, 6 p.m. ET vs. Kent State, Bart Kaufman Field, BTN-plus
• March 31, 6 p.m. ET at Penn State, Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, BTN-plus
• April 1, 1 p.m. ET at Penn State, Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, BTN-plus
• April 2, Noon ET at Penn State, Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, BTN-plus
• April 4, 6 p.m. ET at Indiana State, Bob Warn Field at Sycamore Stadium
• April 7, 6 p.m. ET vs. Iowa, Bart Kaufman Field, BTN-plus
• April 8, 1 p.m. ET vs. Iowa, Bart Kaufman Field, BTN-plus
• April 9, Noon ET vs. Iowa, Bart Kaufman Field, BTN-plus
• April 11, 6 p.m. ET vs. Ball State, Bart Kaufman Field, BTN-plus
• April 14, 7 p.m. ET at Illinois, Illinois Field, BTN
• April 15, 4 p.m. ET at Illinois, Illinois Field, BTN-plus
• April 16, 2 p.m. ET at Illinois, Illinois Field, BTN-plus
• April 18, 6 p.m. ET vs. Illinois, Bart Kaufman Field, ESPNU
• April 19, 6 p.m. ET at Cincinnati, UC Baseball Stadium, ESPN-plus
• April 21, 6 p.m. ET vs. Ohio, Bart Kaufman Field, BTN-plus
• April 22, 1 p.m. ET vs. Ohio, Bart Kaufman Field, BTN-plus
• April 23, Noon ET vs. Ohio, Bart Kaufman Field, BTN-plus
• April 25, 5 p.m. ET at Ball State, Ball Diamond at First Merchants Ballpark Complex
• April 28, 6 p.m. ET vs. Maryland, Bart Kaufman Field, BTN-plus
• April 29, 1 p.m. ET vs. Maryland, Bart Kaufman Field, BTN-plus
• April 30, Noon ET vs. Maryland, Bart Kaufman Field, BTN-plus
• May 5, 4 p.m. ET at Northwestern, Rocky and Bernice Miller Park, BTN-plus
• May 6, 2 p.m. ET at Northwestern, Rocky and Bernice Miller Park, BTN-plus
• May 7, 2 p.m. ET at Northwestern, Rocky and Bernice Miller Park, BTN-plus
• May 9, 6 p.m. ET vs. Southern Indiana, Bart Kaufman Field, BTN-plus
• May 12, 6 p.m. ET vs. Purdue, Bart Kaufman Field, BTN-plus
• May 13, 1 p.m. ET vs. Purdue, Bart Kaufman Field, BTN-plus
• May 14, Noon ET vs. Purdue, Bart Kaufman Field, BTN-plus
• May 16, 6 p.m. ET vs. Evansville, Bart Kaufman Field, BTN
• May 18, 6 p.m. ET at Michigan State, McLane Baseball Stadium at Kobs Field, BTN-plus
• May 19, 6 p.m. ET at Michigan State, McLane Baseball Stadium at Kobs Field, BTN-plus
• May 20, 1 p.m. ET at Michigan State, McLane Baseball Stadium at Kobs Field, BTN-plus
• May 24-28, Big Ten Tournament at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb., BTN/BTN-plus