Indiana (25-18-1, 10-5 Big Ten) played some of its best baseball versus Rutgers (24-19, 3-12 Big Ten) on April 26-28, sweeping the Scarlet Knights at home to keep pace with the conference frontrunners. The Hoosiers outscored Rutgers 38-15 in the series, keeping one of the league’s best offenses at bay despite the absence of Saturday starter and staff ace Connor Foley.
The series began with strong, extended outings from unlikely sources. Lefty Brandon Keyster and right-handers Julian Tonghini and Brayden Risedorph each turned in three strong innings in Friday’s series opener, going step-for-step with Rutgers starting pitcher Justin Sinibaldi, the ace of the Scarlet Knights’ pitching staff.
Indiana led wire-to-wire in the 8-3 Friday victory, catalyzed by a three-run homer from first baseman Joey Brenczewski in the first inning. With an emphasis on throwing strikes early in the count and commanding his slider and curveball, Tonghini shut down a fourth-inning Rutgers rally after Keyster ran into trouble.
Indiana extended its advantage in the seventh inning, adding insurance on homers from outfielder Nick Mitchell and designated hitter Cal Sefcik as Brenczewski turned in a 3-RBI performance. While Brenczewski’s bat has been strong all season long, he demonstrated sizeable strides in his defense versus Rutgers, snaring short-hops throughout the weekend.
“[Head] coach [Jeff] Mercer has been coaching me up every day,” Brenczewski said postgame Friday. “I used to play [the] middle infield, so I thought about how I would get mad when the first baseman didn’t pick the ball. I’m just trying to help [the infielders] out.”
In Foley’s absence, southpaw Ty Bothwell started Saturday’s game. Rutgers took an early lead in the top of the first, one that lasted just four pitches into the bottom of the frame. Outfielder Devin Taylor blasted a homer to center field and Indiana added four more runs in the bottom of the second, including two on a Taylor triple. One of the top prospects in the 2025 MLB Draft, Taylor went 6-for-13 with three home runs, one triple and five RBIs in three games batting leadoff versus Rutgers.
“I’m feeling good,” Taylor said postgame Sunday. “When I'm in the box, I’m not thinking about anything. Just ‘see ball, hit ball.’ I’ve always wanted to bat leadoff. I did it a couple times in my high school days, so this brings back memories and it’s been fun.”
Bothwell labored through four innings on the bump, allowing six runs on seven hits while walking two batters and hitting three. Bothwell began the fifth inning for Indiana, but failed to record an out, exiting the game after hitting Rutgers catcher Hugh Pinkney in the face with a 92 mile-per-hour fastball. Pinkney left the game and will miss the rest of the season with a broken nose that requires surgery, Rutgers confirmed postgame Sunday.
With silence blanketing Bart Kaufman Field following a lengthy injury timeout, right-hander Drew Buhr entered the game, inheriting runners on first and second with no outs. He allowed both inherited runners to score but induced a flyout off the bat of Josh Kuroda-Grauer, Rutgers’ best hitter, stranding the tying run at third base.
The Hoosiers added five runs to their lead in response, including a two-run, game-sealing homer from outfielder Carter Mathison. Buhr turned in five scoreless innings of relief, walking no Scarlet Knights and striking out four. The Bellarmine University transfer was once again spotless out of the bullpen for Indiana, demonstrating his ability to remain composed in high-leverage situations as Indiana clinched the series with a 12-6 win.
“I love it,” Buhr said postgame Saturday. “That’s why I came here, for these big games. I love these big moments and how we continue to get better.”
After using seven pitchers in the first two games of the series, Rutgers needed a strong start from righty Christian Coppola in Sunday’s series finale. Indiana led 9-1 after two innings.
Coppola recorded just four outs, allowing five runs on two hits, two walks and three hit-by-pitches. The Rutgers dugout stirred frantically as no relief pitcher could shut down Indiana’s offense Sunday afternoon. The Scarlet Knights used six pitchers in Sunday’s series finale, and all gave up at least one run.
The Hoosiers scored three or more runs on four separate Rutgers pitchers, again led by Taylor, Mitchell and Mathison. After being moved from first to eighth in the Indiana lineup, Mathison homered twice on the weekend and routinely made solid contact early in counts while playing shutdown defense in center field.
No hit in Sunday’s game was bigger than shortstop Tyler Cerny’s second-inning grand slam, which served as a warning for the impending offensive avalanche. While Rutgers cut the deficit to four and chased starter Ty Rybarczyk in the third inning, righty Aydan Decker-Petty came out of the bullpen and shut the Scarlet Knights down, working 4 2/3 hitless innings, allowing one unearned run on no walks and two punchouts.
Much like Buhr on Saturday, Decker-Petty kept any thoughts of a Rutgers rally strictly in the hypothetical world. Commanding his mid-90s sinker and high-80s slider on both halves of the plate, he carved up one of the Big Ten’s best batting attacks.
“Every pitch was his best stuff,” Mercer said postgame Sunday. “His slider was outstanding.”
Indiana scored eight more runs in the sixth inning, batting around for the second time in six frames and sealing the 18-6, mercy-rule win.
“Sometimes, in potential big innings, you assume it will happen,” Mercer said. “You can’t let your guard down — you have to finish. Today we really stepped up.”
While Indiana’s offense was prolific throughout the weekend, Mercer emphasized the pitching staff and its visible improvement.
“The ability to go with seven guys and get some length out of your bullpen changes the course of the weekend and the season,” Mercer said. “I cannot be more thrilled with our pitching staff, their growth and [pitching] coach [Dustin] Glant.”
The Big Ten regular season title race is wide open, with Illinois, Purdue, Nebraska, Indiana and Michigan separating themselves from the pack. The regular-season champion secures the No. 1 seed in the eight-team conference tournament in late May, and Mercer said everything the Hoosiers want is in front of them.
“Anything worth having is difficult,” Mercer said. “There’s nothing that college baseball can throw at us that we haven’t already been through. I have no idea what our RPI is, no idea where we stand. It doesn’t matter because, if you don't take care of the task at hand, the future is already lost.”
After bringing out the brooms, the Hoosiers (now top-70 in the RPI) have the week off before heading to Purdue to face the Boilermakers (29-15, 11-4 Big Ten) on May 3-5. Purdue is tied with Illinois at the top of the conference standings, while Rutgers is likely eliminated from Big Ten Tournament contention after languishing in league play.
Indiana’s series at Purdue begins at 6 p.m. Friday, continues at 2 p.m. Saturday and concludes at 1 p.m. Sunday. All three games will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.
Follow reporters Matt Press (@MattPress23) and Nick Rodecap (@nickrodecap) for updates throughout the Indiana baseball season.
