As the Big Ten regular-season crown hangs in the balance, Indiana baseball (25-18-1, 10-5 Big Ten) heads to Alexander Field in West Lafayette to take on Purdue (30-15, 11-4 Big Ten) with both teams entering the weekend on five-game unbeaten streaks.
The Boilermakers, winners of 10 consecutive Big Ten games, are tied with Illinois atop the conference standings. They represent two of the five teams within one game of first place. Purdue and Illinois hold identical conference records, while Nebraska, Indiana and Michigan are tied for second.
Indiana has its hands full to close the regular season — the Hoosiers visit Purdue, then head to Nebraska from May 10-12 and close the regular season versus Michigan from May 16-18. If Indiana struggles against these formidable opponents, it will be eliminated from NCAA Tournament contention unless it secures the Big Ten’s auto-bid by winning the conference tournament.
Purdue and Indiana boast two of the best offensive attacks in the conference. They represent two of four teams with an OPS above .900 and are ranked first and second, respectively, in runs scored.
Offensively, Purdue is led by infielder Luke Gaffney, whose .412 batting average is second-best in the conference behind Rutgers shortstop Josh Kuroda-Grauer. Indiana held Kuroda-Grauer to a 4-for-12 (.333) weekend in its sweep of the Scarlet Knights from April 26-28. Gaffney’s 1.225 OPS is first among qualified Big Ten players, and he is one of four Boilermakers with an OPS north of 1.000.
Catcher Connor Caskenette, the reigning Big Ten Co-Player of the Week, has belted 12 home runs, good for fifth in the Big Ten. Gaffney is close behind with 11, and the tandem shares the conference lead with 60 RBIs. The Boilermakers are disciplined at the plate and clinical on the basepaths, posting a league-best 239 walks and swiping 69 bases on 86 attempts.
Outfielder Mike Bolton Jr. (19-21) and infielder Camden Gasser (15-18) are the Boilermakers’ premier baserunning threats. Gasser has had no shortage of opportunities either — his .541 on-base percentage is the best in the Big Ten by 39 points and ranks sixth in Division I.
While Indiana languished on the mound in the first half of the season, Purdue has been consistent throughout. It ranks second in the Big Ten, trailing only Nebraska in ERA (4.64), WHIP (1.45) and walks per nine innings (3.6), meaning opposing offenses rarely put together sustained bouts of pressure. Friday will feature two southpaws on the mound, with Brandon Keyster (1-0, 5.17 ERA, 0.89 WHIP) getting the ball for Indiana in the series opener. He will face Purdue’s Jordan Morales (6-4, 4.50 ERA, 1.45 WHIP).
Saturday is headlined by the return of Indiana’s Connor Foley (4-1, 4.74 ERA, 1.24 WHIP), who is scheduled to pitch for the first time in three weeks. He returns after back tightness kept him sidelined in Indiana’s series victories over Minnesota and Rutgers. Despite missing two starts, Foley ranks fifth in the Big Ten with 65 strikeouts in 43 2/3 innings pitched.
His 13.4 strikeouts per nine innings is second in the conference to Iowa ace Brody Brecht. Foley will face Purdue lefty Luke Wagner (7-0, 5.04 ERA, 1.66 WHIP), who is tied with Nebraska ace Brett Sears for the most wins among Big Ten pitchers. Neither team has announced a starting pitcher for Sunday’s series finale. Notably, lefty Ty Bothwell is not listed among probable pitchers.
Usually Indiana’s Friday starter, Bothwell struggled April 27 versus Rutgers. In four innings, he allowed six runs on seven hits, walking two batters, hitting three and throwing a wild pitch. His outing ended when he hit Rutgers catcher Hugh Pinkney in the face with a fastball with no outs in the fifth inning.
Indiana enters May trending in the right direction, posting a 10-4-1 overall record and averaging north of 10 runs per game in April. Outfielder Nick Mitchell and first baseman Joey Brenczewski are batting over .400 over their last 15 games, doing their part to replace the production of infielder Brock Tibbitts, who has not taken an at-bat since March 30 after sustaining a leg injury while catching versus Indiana State University on April 2.
Mitchell and Brenczewski spearhead an Indiana lineup that is second in the Big Ten with 62 home runs, including 11 in its last three games. Shortstop Tyler Cerny is third among Hoosier hitters with eight homers and he leads the squad with 50 RBI.
Outfielders Carter Mathison and Devin Taylor are tied for the team lead with 11 bombs this season, and the MLB Draft-eligible Mathison enters the weekend tied with Kyle Schwarber for sixth place in Indiana history with 40 career home runs. The Indiana program home run record, set by Alex Dickerson from 2009-11, is 47.
Despite what the numbers suggest, the Hoosiers do not rely exclusively on the long ball — their 103 doubles are first among Big Ten teams and their 236 walks are tied for second. The consistent offensive production has buoyed a pitching staff that has been known to get knocked around.
Indiana’s 6.68 ERA is third worst in the conference, but the Hoosiers held Rutgers to just five runs per game on account of strong bullpen outings from Drew Buhr (27 IP, 3.67 ERA), Julian Tonghini (24 IP, 4.88 ERA), Brayden Risedorph (35 IP, 7.71 ERA) and Aydan Decker-Petty (22 1/3 IP, 6.04 ERA), who have all become more reliable as the season has progressed. Indiana will need more quality innings from these hurlers to hold Purdue’s explosive offense at bay.
Indiana is 8-3 against Purdue under head coach Jeff Mercer and 5-2 in the last seven weekend series versus the Boilermakers, but few tilts have had as much influence on the conference title race as the upcoming three-game set. It begins at 6 p.m. Friday with matinees scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday and 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.
