Indiana clinched a huge B1G series victory Saturday with a decisive 8-1 win over Nebraska in game two of their weekend set with the Cornhuskers
by Garrod Creech • @creech_garrod • April 23rd, 2022
On a warm Saturday afternoon that saw wind gusts blowing out to left-center field reach 20 mph, Indiana pitching was outstanding. Bradley Brehmer bounced back in a big way, surrendering some hard contact early but holding Nebraska to one run in six innings. The Cornhuskers notched two long flyouts before Brehmer’s fourth pitch, but no visitors could beat the warning track today. The hard contact carried over into the second, where a 2-out walk and double gave Nebraska their first lead of the series.
Coach Mercer said that hard contact was a result of a fastball-heavy game plan early, but adding pitches allowed Brehmer to dominate from there.
“If he comes out and throws all four pitches in the first inning, everybody sees it, and you could see there in the sixth where they started to really recognize the slider and spin, and the changeup wasn’t quite as effective. Ya know, if you show your hand too early, that stuff starts to happen in the fourth and fifth inning instead of there in the sixth,” Mercer said. “We wanted to make them hit the fastball, then once they established they were gonna be able to do that, it was time to mix more.”
Once Brehmer started consistently locating his breaking balls, Nebraska’s offense couldn’t touch him. He would go six innings total, giving up four free bases, three hits, and the one run while tying his career-high in strikeouts with 11. He struck out eight batters in his last three innings of work.
“It was nice to have a curveball. I haven’t had that all year it seems like, but landing the curveball and the slider and having them off-balance all day, that was the big thing for me,” Brehmer said. “It was a pretty good day.”
Indiana’s offense wasn’t quite as successful as a whole, but they again showcased their ability to score in bunches. The Hoosiers entered the bottom of the second trailing 1-0. An error, a walk, and Max Johnson’s first hit of the season loaded the bases with two outs for Bobby Whalen. Whalen (4-5, 3 RBIs) dropped a bloop single into right that scored two runs. Another walk loaded the bases for Josh Pyne (3-5, 3 RBIs), who then came through with a bases-clearing double. Carter Mathison would tack one more on in the third by sending a ball out to his own picture on the scoreboard (his tenth longball of the season). The resulting 6-1 lead after three innings would stick until the bottom of the eighth.
Johnson flashed plus defensive play at shortstop in place of the injured Phillip Glasser, saving runs for both Brehmer in his final inning Brehmer’s successor, Ty Bothwell, in a scoreless seventh. Bothwell managed a couple of outs in the eighth too, but a leadoff double and two walks loaded the bases and ended his day. Reese Sharp took over for Bothwell and delivered a massive strikeout to end Nebraska’s biggest rally.
Bobby Whalen (4-5, 3 RBIs) tripled home Sam Murrison in the bottom of the eighth to add some insurance, then stole home himself, giving Sharp an 8-1 cushion to work with for the ninth. There would be no late-inning scares today though; the Cornhuskers went down in order and the Hoosiers clinched a conference series win. Their performance in all facets of the game was both encouraging and necessary for the team’s postseason aspirations.
“It was certainly one of the best games that we’ve played. We’ve played well multiple times, but today, in conference, against a really good opponent, to do what we did was terrific,” Mercer said.
Indiana, now 4-7 in conference play and 16-22 overall, will go for the series sweep Sunday, with game three set to start around 12 PM. Starters are still to be determined. The game should be available on BTN to watch, but fans can as always follow the iubase.com team for updates.