Hoosiers Retain Big Ten Lead With Huge 4-2 Win Over Nebraska

Indiana beats Nebraska 4-2 on Sunday thanks to a dominating complete game performance by Gabe Bierman, and the Hoosiers go 3-1 on the road for the weekend.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Indiana scored four run on six singles in the first inning on Sunday and then let starter Gabe Bierman take care of business from there. Bierman pitched a complete game four-hitter, the first of the year for the Hoosiers, in a 4-2 win over Nebraska that kept the Hoosiers in first place in the Big Ten.

With the win, the No. 23-ranked Hoosiers (23-10) won three of four on the weekend in the three-team pod with Rutgers and Nebraska, and stayed percentage points ahead of Michigan. Nebraska is now 1.5 games behind, and the Cornhuskers still have two games to play with Rutgers on Sunday and Monday.

The Hoosiers were red-hot early, blowing the game open in the bottom of the first inning. They opened the inning with consecutive singles from Drew Ashley, Paul Toetz, Grant Richardson and Cole Barr, and then after a strikeout, Ethan Vecrumba and Collin Hopkins added two more singles to put the Hoosiers up 4-0 off of Nebraska starter Shay Schanaman.

That's all they got all day, but it was also all they needed.

Bierman, the sophomore from Jeffersonville, Ind., was that good.

"Gabe was masterful,'' Indiana coach Jeff Mercer said. "I know we talk about him like this every Sunday lately, it seems, but today he was dialed in with all five pitches. His two-seam and four seam (fastballs) were great, his change-up, like always, was really good and his curveball might have been the best I've every seen it. That's how good he was.

Bierman, who is 4-0 in his last five starts with a 1.01 ERA, dominated Nebraska hitters all day. He started with six scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and a walk. The Cornhuskers broke up his shutout in the seventh, scoring an unearned run after a throwing error by Hopkins put a runner in scoring position and Cam Chick singled him home.

Indiana coach Jeff Mercer had closer Matt Litwicki ready for the ninth, but he sent Bierman back out there to finish the job. He did allow a one-out solo homer to Jaxon Hallmark, but then got a strikeout and groundout to end the game. He finished with a career-tying 11 strikeouts and lowered his Big Ten-leading ERA to 2.09.

"Matt was ready to go, and we talked about it, but we also thought Gabe was still our best option there with his off-speed stuff,'' Mercer said. "The pitch count – (95 to start the inning, 114 at the end) – wasn't an issue for him, and he still felt great. He still had his stuff, still had his legs.

"We asked him how he felt, and we know that kids are bad liars. They're always going to say they're good. But you could see it in Gabe that he still had plenty in the tank. It was great to watch him finish it off.''

It was Indiana's first complete game of the season and the Hoosiers' first since Pauly Milto pitched a complete game shutout during the NCAA Tournament in 2018

Indiana's starting pitching was terrific all weekend. Look at these lofty numbers:

• Friday (Beat Rutgers 8-3) : Tommy Sommer pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed only one earned run on five hits. He struck out six and walked only one batter.
• Saturday (Beat Rutgers 5-3 in 11 innings): McCade Brown was sensational. He was perfect through six innings and threw seven overall, allowing just a solo homer to lead off the seventh inning. He struck out 11 batters, and walked three batters in the seventh, but got out of that jam.
• Saturday (Lost to Nebraska 7-6): Emergency starter John Modguno pitched four innings and allowed just one earned run and four hits. He had two walks and four strikeouts.
• Sunday (Beat Nebraska 4-2): Gabe Bierman tossed Indiana's first complete game of year, allowing just four hits and one earned run. He struck out 11 and walked just one batter.
• TOTALS (3-1): They four starters combined for 26 2/3 innings, allowing just four earned runs, good for a stunning 1.35 earned run average. Together, they had 32 strikeouts and just 14 hits and seven seven walks.

Mercer said that he never likes to know how well his starting pitcher is doing in his bullpen session, but he said freshman James Espalin, who was down in the bullpen watching Bierman's stuff.

"He said Gabe was incredible, that his fastball was electric and you couldn't even see his changeup,'' Mercer said. "He's been good, so this didn't surprise me today, but that was the best I've seen him, quite frankly.''

The Hoosiers only had seven hits on the day, and just one after the first inning. Richardson was the only Indiana player with multiple hits. Barr had two RBIs, and Vecrumba and Hopkins had the others. 

"To be honest, after that long day Saturday, I woke up a little concerned as to how we'd react to an early start like that,'' Mercer said. "But they were great in the morning meetings and had a good BP (batting practice). The attitude was great, and you could tell they understood the magnitude of the moment. They know the standings, and you could tell they were ready to play.''

Indiana has a three-game series at Michigan next weekend, so they'll be braced for another intense weekend of games with first place on the line. The latest Big Ten standings are below, along with next weekend's schedule.

Sunday's game next weekend is on ESPN2.

Related stories on Indiana baseball

• HOOSIERS SPLIT ON SATURDAY: Indiana gets a dramatic extra-inning home run from Jordan Fucci to beat Rutgers, but fall to Nebraska in the nightcap on a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth.  CLICK HERE
• HOOSIERS BEAT RUTGERS FRIDAY: Indiana got a great start from Tommy Sommer and then exploded for six runs in the eighth inning to beat Rutgers in the series opener on Friday. CLICK HERE
• TOMMY SOMMER PROFILE: Indiana starter Tommy Sommer leads the Big Ten in wins and innings pitched, but he knows he's still capable of much more down the home stretch. Here's Tom Brew's profile on the junior from Carmel, Ind. CLICK HERE
• BIG TEN STANDINGS, SCHEDULE: Indiana took a half-game lead in the Big Ten, barely ahead of Nebraska and Michigan. Here's the latest, plus this weekend's critical schedule. CLICK HERE
• INDIANA SCHEDULE: Here is Indiana's complete schedule for the season, including links to game stories from Tom Brew for every game this season. CLICK HERE