Marcus Ericsson wins Indianapolis 500
Marcus Ericsson won the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 Sunday afternoon, becoming the just the second driver from Sweden to win the greatest spectacle in racing; Ericsson joins Kenny Brack, who won in 1999.
Ericsson took control of the race late — largely because of teammate Scott Dixon’s speeding penalty — and had it under control for Chip Ganassi Racing until a crash by teammate Jimmie Johnson with four laps remaining brought out a rare red-flag stoppage at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. IndyCar is among the purest forms of motorsports and rarely throws artificial cautions or issues stoppages that might change the outcome. But the crowd of more than 300,000, only a few thousand shy of a sellout and the largest sporting event since the pandemic began, roared when IndyCar called the cars to pit road.
The stoppage gave Pato O’Ward and the rest of the challengers almost 12 minutes on pit road to strategize how to catch Ericsson for the win. The race resumed with two laps remaining and Ericsson easily got the jump on O’Ward. The Mexican got one final look for the lead that Ericsson defended, and O’Ward knew not to force the issue. A crash by Sage Karam back in traffic brought out the caution on the final lap, and Ericsson coasted to the victory podium under yellow. Karam was transported to a hospital for evaluation of muscular soreness.
For Ericsson, it was his third career IndyCar victory in 52 career starts. All three have been strange wins in that Ericsson sealed the victories after red-flag stoppages, but he never assumed he had the Indy 500 won as he sat inside his cockpit waiting to get back to racing. But he did, and he held on for the biggest victory of his career. Ericsson was winless in five seasons in F1 before he packed up for the United States and a move to North American open-wheel racing. It is the fifth Indy 500 win for team owner Chip Ganassi who had not won the 500 in 10 years and sent five legitimate contenders to Indy to end the drought.
The win seemed to belong to Dixon, the six-time IndyCar champion who went more than 234 mph in qualifying to win the pole. The New Zealander led 95 of the 200 laps on Sunday and his Honda was easily the fastest in the field — so fast that Dixon didn’t slow down enough on his final pit stop. The penalty took him out of contention for the win. Tony Kanaan was third in a Ganassi car and followed by Felix Rosenqvist, another Swede, who was fourth for McLaren. Rosenqvist is in a contract year with McLaren and fighting for his job. American drivers Alexander Rossi and Conor Daly finished fifth and sixth, Rossi for Andretti Autosport and Daly for Ed Carpenter Racing. Helio Castroneves, last year’s winner, finished seventh and one spot ahead of Meyer Shank Racing teammate Simon Pagenaud. Reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou finished 10th in another Ganassi entry.
Dixon faded to 21st after the penalty, and although he visited Ericsson on the victory podium, he was consoled by his wife on pit road after the race. Johnson finished 28th in his Indy 500 debut. Honda drivers took six of the top nine spots, including the win. There were 6 cautions all for single car crashes that involved Rinus VeeKay, Rookie Callum Ilott, Romain Grosjean, Scott McLaughlin, Johnson and Karam.
Indiana University Baseball ends 2022 Season
The Indiana University Baseball Team ended the 2022 season with 14-2 loss late Saturday night/early Sunday morning against Rutgers in the Big Ten Baseball tournament in Omaha Nebraska. The game did not start until 11:53 pm Central Time which meant 12:53 am Bloomington time and after a 35-minute weather delay it ended at 3:10 am Central time which meant 4:10 am Eastern time. The Hoosiers beat top seed Maryland 6-4 in 11 innings Saturday afternoon to advance to see the Scarlet Knights that evening. Indiana lost to Maryland 6-5 in 11 innings Thursday Night and then beat Illinois 8-1 on Friday night to get to Saturday in the double elimination format. Indiana finishes the season with a 27-32 record.
The Hoosier pitching staff fanned five batters to push its season total to a school-record 600. The 600 strikeouts mark the second time in Big Ten history that a pitching staff fanned 600-plus batters in a season (Iowa; 2022). IU fanned at least five batters in 57 of 58 games and reached the double-digit mark 34 times. Freshman Carter Mathison hit his 19th home run of the season to move into a tie for #5 on the Indiana single season charts with Craig Dedelow (2017) and Doug DeVore (1999). He drove in two RBIs to tie for the most RBIs by a freshman in a single season, equaling the total of Phil Dauphin (1998). The home run moved his reached base streak to 26 games, which is the second longest of the season, and extended his IU freshman home run record.
After tossing the first complete game of the season for the Indiana baseball program in an elimination game victory over Illinois, senior Bradley Brehmer was named to the Big Ten Tournament All-Tournament Team. With its tournament life on the line, Brehmer fired the complete game to earn his fifth victory of the season. He threw 112 pitches and allowed just one run on four hits. He walked two and struck out six in his second career complete game. Both career complete game efforts have come in the conference postseason tournament, with his other in the 2021 Horizon League Tournament versus UIC. It was the first Big Ten Tournament complete game for a Hoosier pitcher since the 2013 championship game when Will Coursen-Carr went the distance against Nebraska in Minneapolis. The last complete game for a Hoosier came in the 2021 regular season via Gabe Bierman versus Nebraska on May 9 in Piscataway, New Jersey. He is the first Indiana pitcher to earn all-tournament team honors since Christian Morris did so in 2014 and the 38th selection to the B1G postseason tournament team.
Indiana University Football lands Quarterback Broc Lowry for 2023
Indiana secured a commitment from class of 2023 quarterback Broc Lowry who hails from Canfield, Ohio and led Canfield H.S. to an 11-2 record in 2021. As a junior, Lowry completed 65 percent of his passes for 1,921 yards and 17 touchdowns. A dual-threat, he also ran for 871 yards and 13 scores.
Lowry is a 3-star prospect and the No. 56 quarterback in the 2023 class. He also excels at safety in high school. The 6-foot-3 Lowry chose the Hoosiers over offers from Iowa State and a host of Midwest-based Group of Five programs including most of the MAC Conference. He also had interest from Wisconsin and other Power Five schools. Lowry is Indiana’s third commitment in the 2023 class, joining three-star tight end Sam West and three-star offensive lineman William Larkins.
Aleksa Gulbe signs contract to play Pro Basketball in Spain
Indiana University women’s basketball alum Aleksa Gulbe has signed a professional contract with Perfumerías Avendia in Salamanca, Spain for the upcoming season. The Riga, Latvia native wrapped up her four-year career ranked 28th in all-time scoring with 1,071 career points, 618 career rebounds, and ninth all-time in career 112 blocks. She played in 123 games and made 89 career starts and is one of the program’s three all-time winningest players with 90 wins. Gulbe averaged 8.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in her career and graduated from IU with a degree in public financial management in May 2022. She also spent the 2022 WNBA training camp season with the Connecticut Sun.
Gulbe helped the Hoosiers to three NCAA Tournament appearances including back-to-back Sweet Sixteens, and an Elite Eight appearance. As a senior, she earned All-Big Ten second team honors and averaged 11.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.0 blocks, shot 42.2% from the floor, 34.3% at the 3-point line and one of the team’s best at the free throw line by shooting 80.4%. She scored in double figures 18 times and tied a team-high three double-doubles. Perfumerías Avendia were the Spanish LF Endesa champions in 2021-22 and finished third in EuroLeague.
Indianapolis Indians Coverage
Indians Stay on The Road to Face Omaha
The Indianapolis Indians remains on the road this week facing the Omaha Stormchasers in a six-game series at Werner Park starting tonight at 8:05pm. The teams will play tonight through Saturday at 8:05 pm and Sunday’s game will start at 6:05pm.
The Indians are coming off a seven-game series with Saint Paul in which the Indians were 3-4 in the series. St Paul won 9-8 on Friday and 8-7 on Sunday. The Indians won 7-4 on Saturday Night. Indianapolis is 24-23 on the season while Omaha comes in with 24-23 record after splitting a six-game series with the Louisville Bats 3-3.
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