Indiana University’s Jackson Bergman Selected in the 18th Round of the Major League Baseball Draft Jackson Bergman is set to join the ranks of Pro Hoosiers. The senior right-handed pitcher was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 18th round (525 overall) of the MLB Draft on Sunday evening to cap off the weekend’s proceedings. Indiana has now had at least one player selected in every full draft since 2007. Bergman made just three starts for the Hoosiers during his lone season in Bloomington before missing the rest of the campaign with an elbow injury. In 14 innings of work, the Ohio native had a 4.50 ERA with nine strikeouts. He’s the 13th player in program history to be selected by the White Sox. During head coach Jeff Mercer’s stint as the skipper, Bergman is now the 31st unique student-athlete to be picked in the MLB Draft. In totality, 118 different players have been selected since the MLB Draft went into effect. Bergman will spend the rest of the year recovering from injury before returning to throw. In addition to Bergman, incoming freshman signee Gavin Swartz (Bloomington, Ill.) was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 11th round of the MLB Draft. The young right-handed pitcher will choose between signing his professional contract or reporting back to campus.
Serbia and Indiana University Volleyball’s Teodora Krickovic Earn Silver at U22 European Championships After a thrilling five-set win in the semifinals; Serbia ran into top-seeded Italy for the second time in the tournament. Captain and Indiana sophomore setter Teodora Krickovic were awarded the silver medal at the CEV Women’s U22 European Championships following a four-set (21-25, 19-25, 25-18, 13-25) loss to the Italians in Sunday’s final. Serbia won three contests enroute to the Gold Medal Match, picking up victories over Portugal (3-1), Poland (3-1) and The Netherlands (3-2). Both losses came at the hands of Italy in tough four-set efforts. Krickovic started all five matches at setter and served as the team’s captain. She recorded 14 points in the tournament including seven aces. Krickovic will get to spend time at home in Serbia before reporting back to Bloomington for preseason camp at the beginning of August. She will join up with a talented core of returning players that includes sophomore outside hitter Jaidyn Jager and sophomore middle blocker Victoria Gray. The Hoosiers will open the regular season on August 28th at Louisville.
Indiana University Baseball’s Hogan Denny Gets a Hit and RBI as Team USA Beats Chinese Taipei Thanks to multi-hit performances by four different players, as well as a solid start from Luke Harrison on the bump, the Collegiate National Team (1-0) secured a 10-6 win over Chinese Taipei (0-1) in its World Collegiate Baseball Championship opener on Sunday evening at Intercontinental Stadium in Taichung City, Taiwan. Team USA got on the board early with a run in the first inning. Derrick Pitts and Landon Hairston led off the game with walks, and after a double play moved Pitts to third, he scored on Chase Fralick’s RBI single to left field. Chinese Taipei responded with pair of runs to take the lead in the bottom frame. With runners at the corners and one out, a wild pitch and single to right field by Chao-Hung Chang gave his team a 2-1 advantage.
Nico Partida knotted the score at 2-2 in the third, driving in Gavin Kelly on a sacrifice fly after he reached on a base hit and moved to third on Fralick’s single to right field. In the fourth, the stars and stripes plated three runs to take a 5-2 lead. Kolby Branch led off the frame with a home run to center field to bring the go-ahead run across. Anthony Pack Jr. followed up with an outfield single and later scored on a double to center field by Pitts. Kelly tallied his second hit of the night to bring Pitts across home plate and cap off the three-run inning. The U.S. tacked on three more runs in the fifth to extend its lead to 8-2. Pack Jr. reached on a double to center field, stole third, and scored on a wild pitch to bring the first run across. With the bases loaded following a hit-by-pitch and pair of walks, Kelly once again delivered with a two-RBI single to right field. Kelly tallied his fourth hit and fourth RBI of the night in the seventh inning when he hit a solo home run to center field, making the score 9-2 in favor of the red, white, and blue.
Chinese Taipei cut into its deficit in the bottom half of the inning, scoring four runs on as many hits to make it 9-6. Cheng-Hao Wu and Chia-Yi Wang led off the side with back-to-back walks, and Tung-Hao Lu and Jun-Wei Zheng proceeded to tally run-scoring doubles to bring home the first three runs. Ting-Lun Hsu rounded out the scoring with an RBI single to center field, allowing Zheng to cross home plate. The U.S. added one final run in the ninth thanks to Indiana University’s Hogan Denny’s pinch-hit single to center field, scoring Kelly after he led off with his fifth hit of the game and moved to third a sacrifice bunt and groundout, respectively. Denny went 1-1 at the plate and with an RBI and played Left Field.
Kelly went a game-best 5-for-6 with four RBIs and three runs scored, contributing to Team USA’s 16 hits in the contest. Kelly’s five hits tied the program’s single-game hit record, as he is the first player to accomplish the feat since Heston Kjerstad in 2019 and 11th all-time to do so. Pitts also scored a game-high three runs, while Pack Jr. tallied two on the night. Fralick and Pack Jr. turned in three-hit outings, while Branch had a 2-for-4 performance at the plate with two walks, an RBI, and a run scored. Harrison was credited with the win after tossing five complete innings and surrendering two runs on three hits with one walk. He fanned six batters and threw his final four innings in shutout fashion. Walker Hooks closed out the game with 2.2 innings of shutout baseball, not giving up a run while tallying a pair of strikeouts. He ended his outing with a 1-2-3 inning to close out the game.
Preseason Game Odds Favor Indiana University Football to End One Long Streak and Another Forever Streak IU football has a chance to keep the first time ever, first time since train rolling in 2026. The Hoosiers haven’t won a game against Michigan in Ann Arbor since 1967, and the program has never won against USC. Ending those streaks won’t be easy this season. USC is No. 13 in ESPN’s preseason FPI, and Michigan No. 15. On paper they are the second and third most difficult games on IU’s schedule. But the odds are currently in IU’s favor to come away from those contests victorious. Indiana travels to Ann Arbor on Oct. 24 to face the Wolverines at Michigan Stadium. IU’s last win at the 100,000+ seat monstrosity came as part of their 1967 run to a share of the Big Ten title and the Rose Bowl.
DraftKings has posted an early betting line for that game and has IU as a 6.5-point favorite over Michigan. A few weeks later, IU will host USC on Nov. 14. The Hoosiers are 0-4 all-time against the Trojans, including a defeat in that Rose Bowl following the 1967 season. The teams last met in 1982. DraftKings currently likes Indiana to defeat USC by 10.5 points. As an interesting side note, USC is one of just three Big Ten teams Indiana does not own an active winning streak against. The other two are also on IU’s 2026 schedule: Minnesota and Rutgers. What all three have in common is Indiana hasn’t played them since Curt Cignetti was hired. And If the Hoosiers can run the table in the league for a second straight year, they’ll own active winning streaks against all 18 teams. There are also early betting odds for the season opener on Sept. 5. Indiana is a 40.5-point favorite against North Texas.
The Indiana Fever Flush the Las Vegas Aces in record night for Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell Winning 109-75 The Indiana Fever end their week-long West Coast Road trip with a dominant win over the reigning WNBA champs in Las Vegas, beating the Aces 109-75. Led by yet another double-digit scoring night from Kelsey Mitchell and energized by the return of All-Star Caitlin Clark, the Fever ran out to a 9-point lead in the first half and never took their foot off the gas the rest of the way. Mitchell’s 27 points mark the 38th consecutive game where the All-Star has reached double figures. That breaks the Fever franchise record previously held by WNBA legend Tamika Catchings. Clark finished the game with 12 points, shooting 5-for-11 from the field and snagging seven rebounds in 24 minutes of play. She also grabbed six assists, which makes her the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 600 career assists.
Aliyah Boston also dominated the floor on both sides. Her 19 points and 11 rebounds are good for her seventh double-double of the season. Sophie Cunningham made a big impact off the bench, as well, scoring 20 points. Her six three-pointers ties her season high. Monique Billings and Tyasha Harris also contributed with 10 points each. Clark returned to the starting lineup after missing Thursday’s game in Phoenix to rest a nagging back issue. Head coach Stephanie White said Saturday that the superstar would be on a minute’s restriction against the Aces. The Fever return home winning three of the four games in the West Coast swing. They get set to play the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday in Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern.
Connor Wietgrefe Hurls a One-Hitter in the Indianapolis Indians Victory over the Toledo Mud Hens The Indianapolis Indians won their second straight series in a row thanks to a brilliant performance from the young southpaw Connor Wietgrefe, who blanked the Toledo Mud Hens for a 5-0 win at Victory Field on Sunday afternoon. Wietgrefe (W, 2-2), in his fourth Triple-A start, stole the spotlight in the series finale. Wietgrefe mowed down the Mud Hens (10-8, 44-48) batters, punching out six, walking none and throwing a career-high eight innings. Nick Cimillo kickstarted the four-run second inning for the Indians (11-7, 42-51) with a sharp RBI single to left field. With two on and two out, P.J. Hilson connected on a fastball from Sawyer Gipson-Long (L, 2-4) and sent it 378 feet to left field for his first Triple-A home run, a three-run dinger. In the third inning, Joshua Palacios rocketed a ball through the first baseman’s legs and to the right field corner, bouncing off the wall. Palacios jogged into third base on the error and plated Jhostynxon Garcia who hustled from first, extending the lead, 5-0. Landon Tompkins sealed the victory for the Indians with a scoreless ninth inning, shutting the door on a successful Triple-A debut and Indianapolis’ 4-2 series win. The Indians will head on a four-day break and resume the 2026 season on Friday, July 17 at the Columbus Clippers. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM ET. No starting pitchers have been named at this time.
Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham Makes her Debut as UFC Ring Girl in Las Vegas WNBA star Sophie Cunningham made a surprise cameo as a UFC ring girl during the highly anticipated UFC 329 fight on Saturday and fans went wild for the blonde athlete’s unexpected appearance. However, many were focused on one interesting detail: she didn’t wear shoes for the event. The Fever star appeared during the co-main event between Paddy Pimblett, who won the fight, and Benoît Saint Denis at T-Mobile Arena. She wore a black bodysuit and black short shorts, her signature blonde waves, and bare feet for the event, later posing with other co-main event fighter Max Holloway, who technically beat Conor McGregor after the UFC legend suffered an injury moments into the first round. She recreated her viral pointing moment for the photo after drawing controversy for pointing at Phoenix Mercury star DeWanna Bonner during a game weeks prior.
“The fact that he has on shoes, but she doesn’t hahahahahahahaha,” said one fan after seeing the photo with Holloway. Another questioned, “Why is she barefoot?” while a commenter responded, “Why not? That is total bad a– of her to be barefoot all night. It’s a new fashion statement.” A fourth contended, “She gonna get staph.” Other fans were excited to see Cunningham either way. “I switched over to watch the last couple of fights and I’m like holy s–t, that girl looks just like Sophie Cunningham!” one wrote. “That was unexpected.” Perhaps most interesting about Cunningham choosing to walk the ring sans shoes is that her own Adidas collaboration’s drop date was announced the same day. Cunningham is set to release her hot pink and baby blue “Crazy Energy” sneaker with pink and orange soles on July 24. According to Bleacher Report, the exclusive colorway will be available for $120. The unique choice in footwear (or lack thereof) could probably be attributed to the fact that the cameo was unplanned. “(We decided) eight minutes before she did it,” UFC CEO Dana White revealed at the post-fight press conference. “I love Sophie Cunningham. We’ve created a relationship. She was here tonight, and when she walked in, she goes, ‘Oh, I want to walk around that.’ I said, ‘Then you’re going to walk around it!’… She’s fun.”