Indiana University Softball Heads to the NCAA Tournament for the Third Consecutive Year Indiana Softball earned an NCAA Tournament bid for the third consecutive season Sunday night as announced on the ESPN’s NCAA Softball Tournament Selection Show. The Hoosiers will be the No. 3 Seed in the Fayetteville Regional. The regional will take place from May 16-18 at the University of Arkansas. Arkansas is the No. 4 seed in the tournament. Indiana will play against No. 2 seed Oklahoma State in their first game of the regional on Friday May 16 at 4 p.m. (ET)/3 p.m. (CT). No. 1 seed Arkansas will play against No. 4 seed Saint Louis at 6:30 p.m. (ET)/5:30 p.m. (CT) that evening. The regional round is a four-team, double-elimination tournament played over three days. Indiana enters the postseason with a 33-18 record and reached the quarterfinals in the Big Ten Tournament.
Indiana University Baseball Dominates Purdue in the Home Finale When head coach Jeff Mercer watched Sunday’s batting practice, he thought it was as locked in as his team had been all season. Boy, was he correct. The Indiana Baseball team (29-22, 14-13 B1G) jumped all over in-state rivals Purdue, finishing off the weekend series victory with a 14-4 (F/7) win at Bart Kaufman Field. It marked the third-straight series win over the Boilers and the eighth win in the last 10 tries against the team to the north. IU took advantage of 13 free passes from Purdue on Sunday afternoon. Redshirt sophomore outfielder Korbyn Dickerson made the visitors pay with a three-run blast that cleared the bullpen in left field. IU’s first six runs came off of just one hit.
As the game settled in, IU’s bats started to pick up the juice. Freshman shortstop Cooper Malamazian had a pair of RBIs on a double in the fifth and a single in the seventh. The Hoosiers scored six in the seventh inning to bring the run-rule into effect. Freshman first baseman Jake Hanley brought home two on a single and Malamazian finished off the job with a “walk-off” single. Graduate student right-handed pitcher Cole Gilley (W, 8-3) pitched one inning in Friday’s win but was called back to give the Hoosiers some length on Mother’s Day. He went six strong innings, allowing just three unearned runs on a home run in the fourth inning. Junior reliever Aydan Decker-Petty (SV, 2) came into the game with the tying run on deck but induced a double play on the only batter he needed to face.
IU’s win was the 2,500th in program history – dating all the way back to the 1890’s. Mercer has been part of over 200 of those victories and continues the long legacy of successful baseball in Bloomington. Players such as junior outfielder Devin Taylor played likely their final game at Bart Kaufman Field but capped it off with a win. The final three games of the regular season take IU on the road as the Hoosiers close the Big Ten campaign at Michigan Thursday through Saturday before a likely trip to the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha.
Brianna Copeland Named to the Big Ten All Tournament Softball Team Indiana senior Brianna Copeland was named to the Big Ten’s All-Tournament Team for the 2025 Big Ten Softball Tournament on Saturday night. This is Copeland’s third consecutive year being named to the All-Tournament Team by the conference. The 2025 Big Ten Tournament was held from May 7-10 in West Lafayette, Ind. at Bittinger Stadium. The Hoosiers defeated Washington 2-0 in the first round before dropping a close 5-4 game to UCLA in the quarterfinals. Copeland was extremely impressive in both outings for the Hoosiers. In the circle, she was very dominant, posting a 2.25 ERA, 1-1 record and eight strikeouts in the two games. She also only allowed nine hits and three earned runs across both contests. At the plate, Copeland hit .429 with a stolen base.
Kurtis Rourke Signs his Rookie Contract with the San Franscisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers have signed former Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke to his rookie contract. Rourke was selected in the seventh round with the 227th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. According to Over The Cap, Rourke’s four-year deal is worth approximately $4.33 million. It includes a signing bonus of $134,236 and carries a 2025 salary-cap hit of $873,559. All rookie contracts are set at four years under the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which extends through the 2030 season. Only first-round picks come with a team option for a fifth year, which doesn’t apply to Rourke. Rourke won’t participate in the 49ers’ rookie camp after having postseason knee surgery. He has been cleared to throw and should be a full-go for NFL training camp, his agent Casey Muir revealed, according to NFL insider Tom Pelissero. During Rourke’s lone season at Indiana, he threw for 3,042 yards, 29 touchdowns and five picks, while also adding two rushing touchdowns. Once the 24-year-old fully returns from his ACL injury, he’s expected to compete for a depth role in the 49ers’ quarterback room. 49ers’ 4th round pick C.J. West remains unsigned.
Indiana Pacers take a 3-1 Series Lead with a Dominating Game 4 Win over the Cleveland Cavaliers The Indiana Pacers dominated the Cavs in Game 4, winning 129-109, to take a 3-1 lead in the series. The Pacers built a 41-point halftime lead, which tied the NBA postseason record. They scored 80 points in the first half, which was a franchise postseason record. The Pacers were especially dominant in the second quarter, as they went on a 17-0 run and beat the Cavs 42-16 in that quarter. “We haven’t done anything yet,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’re a pretty significant underdog in every game we’ve played in this series and that will continue till the end. We’re going to keep approaching this like we have everything to prove.” “I was really, really proud of our performance,” Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “I thought obviously the first half was pretty amazing. The shot making, and I thought we were really good on the defensive end.”
“I think we have a group of people that probably wasn’t given anything,” Pacers forward Pascal Siakam said. “We’re in a situation where at the end of the day, nobody really cares to see us win. So, when you have that, you have that belief of it’s us against everybody, we are who we are.” Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 21 points. He shot 9-10 from the field and 2-2 from beyond the arc. As a team, the Pacers shot 52.7% from the floor and 42.9% from three-point range. Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell had just 12 points. He did not play in the second half after suffering a left ankle injury. Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin was ejected in the first quarter after an altercation with Cavs forward De’Andre Hunter. The Pacers are now just one win away from making it to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive year. Game 5 is scheduled for tonight at 7 p.m. in Cleveland.
Indy Ignite fall in the Pro Volleyball Federation Championship Game in Las Vegas The inaugural season for the Indy Ignite ended just one win shy of a championship after the team lost in four sets to the Orlando Valkyries in the PVF Championship Match. Orlando won 25-21, 25-19, 19-25 and 25-15, to claim the $1 million bonus as the 2025 PVF champions. Even though they came up short, it was still a hugely successful first season for the Ignite. “This is a big step for our organization,” said Azhani Tealer, the PVF All-First Team opposite hitter and All-Star who led the Ignite with 16 kills against the Valkyries. “The first year (for the franchise), being in this match is a huge thing. I don’t think any of us have forgotten that, so we’re really excited about that.
After losing the first two sets, Indy rebounded to take the third set and keep their championship hopes alive. However, the Valkyries went on a 10-4 run early in the final set and the Ignite just couldn’t recover. “I wish we could’ve played a little cleaner like we did on Friday,” Ignite head coach George Padjen said, referring to the Ignite’s semifinal over top-seeded Omaha. “We just looked choppy. It kind of felt like we had something going there in the third game and (Orlando) just settled in nicely and kept passing the ball. Good by them.”