Indiana's Record-Setting Big Ten Tournament 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.

IU Athletics

Indiana baseball began its Saturday with a 1:51 p.m. CT first pitch against the No. 1 seed Maryland Terrapins, and the Hoosiers' night ended at 3:10 a.m. CT on Sunday morning.

After a losing a heartbreaker to the No. 1 seed on Thursday night, the Hoosiers were sent to the losers' bracket where they'd have to claw their way back to tournament contention. That started with an 8-1 win over Illinois on Friday night behind a complete game from Bradley Brehmer and a six-run eighth inning.

The rally began with a hit-by-pitch taken by Bobby Whalen, and Josh Pyne ignited the scoring with an RBI single up the middle. Carter Mathison roped an RBI double down the line, allowing Tyler Doanes and Phillip Glasser to drive in runs of their own. Indiana took advantage of two errors in this six-run inning, and Brehmer was dominant all night.

Brehmer picked up his fifth win and first complete game of the season on Friday, allowing four hits, one run, two walks and six strikeouts. The lone Illinois run came on a groundout in the sixth inning, and Brehmer completed five one-two-three innings. 

T8 | That's how you end an inning.@Bradbrehmer | #IUBase pic.twitter.com/glflNRdFNi

— Indiana Baseball (@IndianaBase) May 28, 2022

With this win, Indiana got another shot at Maryland, who defeated the Hoosiers in an extra-inning thriller on Thursday. And after allowing Maryland's winning run on a hit-by-pitch, Jack Perkins had a chance at revenge as Indiana's starter. 

Indiana manufactured a two-run lead after the third inning behind a sacrifice fly from Doanes and an error by the Maryland center fielder, which allowed Whalen to score. Perkins kept the Hoosiers competitive in a five-inning effort, allowing six hits, two runs, one walk and five strikeouts. The pair of Terrapin runs off Perkins came on RBI singles, and Perkins finished his day with a strikeout looking.

Ryan Kraft relieved Perkins to start the sixth, but he was pulled after allowing a walk and a single to the first two batters. Braydon Tucker made a throwing error on a bunt, which gave Maryland a one-run lead. But after his error, Tucker was lights out the rest of the night. Across six innings, Tucker allowed four hits, zero runs, two walks and five strikeouts against one of the highest-scoring lineups in the Big Ten. 

Tucker's gutsy effort continued into extra innings after Evan Goforth tied the game by grounding into a double play in the ninth. Tucker tossed a one-two-three inning in the 10th before Pyne lined a single up the middle to give Indiana a two-run lead in the 11th. Pyne has built a reputation for clutch hits in his freshman season, and Saturday was no different. 

Tucker allowed a single in the bottom half, but he struck out Big Ten Player of the Year Chris Alleyne to give Indiana a 6-4 win. With this win, Indiana became the first No. 8 seed to defeat the No. 1 seed in Big Ten Tournament history. The win also advanced the Hoosiers to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals where they'd face Rutgers in the fourth game of their Cinderella run.

But Indiana ran out of gas in a game that didn't begin until nearly midnight in Omaha, Neb. Indiana starter John-Biagio Modugno gave up six earned runs in one inning, and the Hoosiers lost 14-2 in a game that ended after 3 a.m. CT on Sunday morning. 

A bright spot in this defeat was Carter Mathison extending his Indiana freshman home run record to 19. This blast over the left field wall also moved Mathison into a tie for fifth place on the Indiana single-season home run charts with Craig Dedelow in 2017 and Doug DeVore in 1999. 

B6 | HR No. 19 💪@carter_mathison | #IUBase pic.twitter.com/kGA3Lf2PI6

— Indiana Baseball (@IndianaBase) May 29, 2022

Indiana also became the second team in Big Ten history to strike out over 600 batters in a season. And in their loss to Maryland on Thursday, Indiana set a Big Ten Tournament single-game record with 18 strikeouts.

As the Hoosiers' Big Ten Tournament run came to an end early in the morning in Omaha, its likely their season did, too. Indiana holds a 27-32 record, which won't be enough to qualify for postseason play. With four players on the Big Ten All-Freshman team, the Indiana lineup has a bright future.

Stories related to Indiana baseball:

• 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
• INDIANA SWEPT, QUALIFIES FOR B1G TOURNAMENT: Indiana was swept at Iowa this weekend, losing its first series in over a month. The Hoosiers finished with a 10-14 record in Big Ten play, which was enough to sneak into the Big Ten tournament as the No. 8 seed. CLICK HERE