Foley shuts down Illinois bats as Indiana earns first B1G victory

Foley’s dominance, Indiana’s offense highlight well-rounded performance to notch first conference win

By Zach Horwitz @HorwitzZach March 23rd, 2024

The Hoosiers hadn’t allowed fewer than seven runs in a ballgame since March 6th when they took a midweek matchup into the win column. Connor Foley, rebounding from an outing in which he allowed six runs, took matters into his own hands.

The sophomore twirled seven shutout innings, striking out 10 of 24 Illinois batters he faced. 

Indiana Hoosiers 8, Illinois 1:

Inning by inning details in the Live Game Blog | Box Score

Following a 9-1 loss in the first game of the series, Jeff Mercer mentioned that Foley would “need to see a variety in the pitch mix” to be successful and establish his blazing fastball to set off the Illinois hitters. The flamethrower followed suit, firing 103 total pitches, rising up to 96 mph on the radar gun in his performance in which he allowed only two hits.

Foley was totally in control, spinning offspeed pitches to keep hitters off-balance and especially “executing the fastball and later with two strikes…” Mercer mentioned, “To be an ace like (Luke) Sinnard did last year, you have to eliminate waste pitches. You don’t lose focus.”

In fact, Connor Foley’s 10 strikeouts is the most since Luke Sinnard on May 18, 2023, where he notched double-digit strikeouts at Michigan State.

On the offensive end, Foley was backed by Josh Pyne who drove in a two-out, two-run double in the 3rd inning as the first of eight Indiana runs on the afternoon. The run support continued as Joey Brenczewski was slotted into today’s lineup, smacking a pair of singles and driving in a run. Nick Mitchell also had a multi-hit day, driving in a run on a sacrifice fly in the 7th.

The Hoosiers also had Foley’s back when contact was made at the dish. In the 4th, Josh Pyne and Carter Mathison flashed the leather on consecutive batters. Jeff Mercer’s defensive alignment has brought Indiana no errors for the second consecutive game. Indiana still leads the Big Ten in errors, with 32.

Brayden Risedorph trotted out of the bullpen for his seventh appearance of the season, one in which he allowed one run in his two innings of work, clinging to a 4-1 Indiana lead.

The 8th inning included multiple tallies for IU, beginning with a pinch-hit bunt from Brandon Burckel. The Houston transfer placed one down the third base line and an errant throw allowed for the bases to be cleared. Tyler Cerny added on a safety squeeze of his own, and Carter Mathison stole home en route to an Indiana win.

“It’s obvious what this performance does for a team… we can just hit the ground running full of momentum,” Foley declared. 

The Hoosier bats were alive and well. Connor Foley achieved his career-high in innings pitched, strikeouts, and total pitches as IU gets their first conference win of the season.

Illinois (9-11, B1G 1-1) and Indiana (12-11, B1G 1-1) will meet for the rubber match of this three-game set tomorrow. Both squads will rely on a pitching committee to get them through the game and take the series. Mercer indicated the need for run production yet again, stating “It’s a lot easier to manage a game… and I’m confident that we’re capable.”

First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. at Bart Kaufman Field.