Indiana freshman right-handed pitcher Ethan Phillips and freshman second baseman Tyler Cerny were named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week and Player of the Week, respectively, the conference announced Monday. These honors are the first of both players’ careers.
Phillips is the first Indiana pitcher to be named Pitcher of the Week this season. He dominated on the mound this week, stringing together 8.1 innings of one-hit ball across two appearances and earning the win in both. Against the No. 12 University of Louisville last Tuesday, Phillips hurled 4.2 innings in relief, retiring seven batters in a row and giving up just one unearned run. In the series finale versus the University of Ohio on Sunday, Phillips pitched 3.2 innings without allowing a hit and striking out five Bobcat hitters.
[Related: Indiana baseball’s underclassmen spark five-win week]
Cerny is the second Indiana freshman to be named Freshman of the Week this season, with outfielder Devin Taylor earning the honor three times so far. Cerny posted a .444 batting average in Indiana’s five games last week along with a slugging percentage over 1.000 and an on-base plus slugging of 1.601. Three of his five extra-base hits were home runs, including a pair in Indiana's 17-2 rout of Ohio on Saturday.
The Hoosiers will look to extend their winning streak to eight games when they visit Ball State University on Tuesday. The midweek tilt is slated for a 3 p.m. first pitch. The Maryland Terrapins, who are currently second in the Big Ten, come to town for a weekend series that runs from Friday through Sunday. The series opener starts at 6 p.m. Friday, continues at 1 p.m. Saturday and concludes at noon Sunday. The games versus the Terrapins will be available to stream on B1G+.
