Indiana Baseball: Hoosiers Win Weekend Series at Missouri State Thanks to Hot Bats

Indiana scored 29 runs in three games and took two of three at Missouri State over the weekend, raising its record to 4-6 on the season. The Hoosiers also got quality starts from pitchers Jack Perkins and Bradley Brehmer in the two wins.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Indiana won its first series of the season over the weekend,  taking two of three games at Missouri State.

The Hoosiers, now 4-6 on the season, scored 29 runs in the three games and also got great starts from Jack Perkins and Bradley Brehmer in the two wins.

Earlier in the week, the Hoosiers played their first home game of the year on Tuesday and beat Miami of Ohio 15-2.

This week the Hoosiers have home games against Cincinnati and Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then travel to Troy, Ala., for a three-game series this weekend. The home games start at 4 p.m. E.T.

Sunday: Indiana 10, Missouri State 4

Indiana jumped on Missouri State for six runs in the first inning and cruised to an easy 10-4 victory in the series finale. Five Hoosiers — second baseman Tyler Doanes, shortstop Phillip Glasser, center fielder Bobby Whalen, catcher Matthew Ellis and left fielder Carter Mathison — had two hits each, and Mathison had a triple and a home run.

Bradley Brehmer, a 6-foot-6 senior from Indianapolis, pitched six solid innings to get the win. He allowed just four hits and three earned runs. Ryan Kraft pitched the seventh and gave up a run, and Braydon Tucker closed the door with two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. Tucker has allowed just one earned run in the past six innings of work.

Saturday: Indiana 12, Missouri State 3

Matthew Ellis had a double and two home runs and drove in seven runs in Indiana's 12-3 rout of Missouri State. The Hoosiers were hot right out of the gate, scoring five runs in the first inning and added two more in the second. 

Outfielders Bobby Whalen and Morgan Colopy had three hits each, and freshman first baseman Brock Tibbitts was 4-for-5. Indiana had 16 hits on the day.

Jack Perkins (2-0) had a second straight solid start. The Louisville transfer from Kokomo, Ind., allowed just one run on two hits in six innings, and struck out seven.

Friday: Missouri State 9, Indiana 7

Indiana frittered away a five-run lead, giving up seven runs in the fifth inning that led to a 9-7 Missouri State victory in the opening game of the three-game series.

Indiana starter John Modugno allowed just one hit in the first four scoreless innings, but he got roughed up in the fifth. He allowed a single, double and home run, and then walked a batter and hit another before being replaced by Reese Sharp. He allowed three singles and a walk before getting a strikeout to end the inning.

Indiana scored single runs in the seventh and eighth on homers from Morgan Colopy and Carter Mathison to tie the game, but Missouri State won it in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run homer by Dakota Kotowski off of Sharp.

Tuesday: Indiana 15, Miami of Ohio 2

Indiana opened the home portion of its schedule with a solid 15-2 rout of Miami of Ohio on Tuesday at Bart Kaufman Field. Freshman first baseman Brock Tibbitts was 2-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs.

Indiana used five pitchers, and freshman Grant Holderfield was the best of the bunch, pitching two scoreless innings with four strikeouts.