Indiana University Football wraps up spring practice with Spring Football Saturday
The Indiana Hoosiers wrapped up their 2023 spring practice session with their Spring Football Saturday event, that featured an hour-long scrimmage as well as an open practice and some fan-friendly competitions. The Hoosiers were split into two teams, Crimson (Defense) and Cream (Offense). Team Crimson hung on to win 25-17 after Cream’s fourth-and-goal attempt ended in a sack by Andre Carter.
The offense opened the scoring as Brendan Sorsby got the first snaps of the day. He marched the offense 70 yards down field and found wide receiver EJ Williams for a five-yard touchdown pass. Sorsby ended the day going 8-11 passing with 120 yards and a touchdown to an unofficial count. Sorsby also flashed his running ability with four rushes for 13 yards (plays were blown dead early). Tennessee transfer Tayven Jackson led the second drive for the Cream team which resulted in a stop from the defense in the form of a missed Chris Freeman field goal. Jackson had a solid day as well going 8-14 for 99 yards, but had an interception in the end zone on a pass that he tried to squeeze into Williams. Jackson finished with seven rushes for 25 yards as well.
True freshman Broc Lowery had the other touchdown pass for the offense as he found Camden Jordan for a nine-yard score. Lowery completed all three of his passes for 37 yards and ran once for 12 yards. The offense would add a short Freeman field goal to account for their 17 points. On defense, the Hoosiers had once takeaway (interception) and several sacks. Western Michigan transfer Andre Carter unofficially had four sacks, although a couple of them were negated by penalties. The defense also forced three missed field goals and stopped the offense inside the five-yard line as they were trying to tie the game on the final play of the day.
Overall, the event was a success. IU got fantastic weather and the fan turnout was solid. There were a few takeaways that fans could feel good about going into the summer. Those are that Andre Carter is going to be very good for IU and while the quarterback competition has not been settled, it seems IU has two capable signal callers to work with. The Hoosiers open the 2023 Season at Home against Ohio State on Saturday September 2.
Indiana University Baseball sweeps Illinois in a Saturday Doubleheader
Don’t tell the Indiana baseball team that one of the toughest things to do is sweep a doubleheader. The Hoosiers grabbed both games of the twin bill on Saturday at Illinois to win its fourth-straight Big Ten series to open conference play in 2023. Illinois took game 1 Friday Night 7-5. In the first game, Indiana (25-11, 9-3 B1G) won a seesaw contest, 6-4, over Illinois (15-17, 4-8 B1G), before a decisive 16-3 victory in the nightcap. The doubleheader sweep is the third in three tries this season for IU in conference play and marked the fourth straight Big Ten series win for the Hoosiers. Seven of the next nine games will be played on Bart Kaufman Field and that begins with a midweek tussle with Louisville tomorrow at 6pm. The game will air on ESPNU and can be heard on the Indiana Sports Radio Network viaIUHoosiers.com/Audio.
In game one, each team scored four runs over the first three innings, with Indiana getting two in the first and two in the third. Illinois got two in the second inning and two in the third to knot the game at four heading to the fourth. The Hoosiers scored one in the fourth and one in the sixth to earn the win. A scorching start to the series for sophomore Brock Tibbitts continued with a 4-for-5 day at the plate. He drove in four RBIs, a double and a home run. Sophomore Josh Pyne hit a home run and drove in two RBIs, while four other Indiana hitters posted multi-hit games. Seniors Hunter Jessee and Peter Serruto both collected three-hit games. Senior Phillip Glasser and freshman Devin Taylor both posted two-hit games. Sophomore Ryan Kraft (4-1) scattered six hits over six scoreless innings of relief work to earn the victory. He struck out three and walked two in the outing and didn’t allow a base runner to reach third base. Sophomore starting pitcher Luke Sinnard threw three innings and allowed four runs on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks.
Game two saw Indiana jump out to an early lead with a five-run third inning. Illinois scored one in the bottom of the third, before IU scored nine straight to take control of the game, 14-1. Illinois put up one in the sixth and one in the seventh inning, before IU finished the scoring with two runs in the ninth. Six Hoosier hitters posted multi-hit games, led by a 4-for-5 day at the plate for freshman Tyler Cerny. He scored three runs and hit his third home run of the season, all in Big Ten play. Taylor hit his eighth home run of the season and plated four RBIs in the second game, while Glasser had three hits, three RBIs and three runs scored. Redshirt junior Bobby Whalen had two hits, sophomore Carter Mathison added two hits and Pyne chipped in two in the nightcap. Junior Brooks Ey (1-0) got the win with six innings of work in the start. He allowed two runs on five hits and struck out two batters. Ey did not walk a batter in the game in his first start for the Hoosiers.
#17 Indiana University Water Polo wins at #20 San Jose State
No. 17 IU defeated No. 20 SJSU, 7-6, behind a hat trick from freshman Louisa Downes on Saturday afternoon at SRAC Pool. The Hoosiers (16-12, 2-4 MPSF) got on the board first thanks to a goal from senior Zoe Crouch at the 5:24 mark in the opening frame. They would build a 4-2 lead late in the first on back-to-back goals from junior Sophie Wazzan and sophomore Skylar Kidd as the Spartans kept the game within one, 4-3. Each team scored a goal in the second to take a 5-4 lead at the break. Downes scored her first goal of the afternoon with 1:52 remaining before the half on a feed from senior Lanna Debow in the 6-on-5 opportunity.
SJSU (12-16, 0-4 MPSF) tied the game up in the third before Downes scored again on a counter goal with 3:44 left on the clock. She would follow up to complete the hat trick late in the third, giving her team a 7-5 lead headed into the fourth. Indiana would hold on to the lead in the fourth, as San Jose State scored with just under six minutes to play. Graduate student goalie Mary Askew came up big late in the game with clutch saves to help seal the win. Indiana’s win on Saturday is its 16th of the season, the most for the program since 2018. Downes led the way with three goals, freshman Grace Klinger, Crouch, Wazzan and Kidd all chipped in one as well. Askew led the way with two assists and made nine saves while also turning in two steals.
Former Indiana University Men’s Basketball player Tamar Bates transfers to Missouri
Former Indiana guard Tamar Bates wanted to get closer to his Kansas City home when he entered the transfer portal. He ended the suspense on Friday night, committing to Missouri. Bates spent two years at Indiana, arriving just after Mike Woodson was hired as the head coach in 2021. He was Woodson’s first recruit, and a big one at that. The Kansas City, Kan., native who played his final year of high school at IMG Academy in Florida, was a five-star recruit on some services and gave Woodson a quick splash.
Bates never found his ground at Indiana, though, struggling through both of his two seasons. As a freshman, he shot just 33 percent from the field and 29.8 percent from three-point range, averaging 3.9 points per game. A lot was expected of him as a sophomore, with coaches and teammates alive bragging about how well he played during summer workouts. But his 2022-23 season was filled with inconsistency. There were some highs he scored 22 points against Jackson State, 19 each against Nebraska and Kennesaw State, and 17 in a big home win over Michigan State but he also went through long stretches where he struggled to score, most notably during Indiana’s two NCAA Tournament games, where he went 0-for-6 against Kent State and 0-for-7 in the season-ending loss to Miami.
He only scored in double figures once in his last 16 games. After the Jan. 22 Michigan State game, he finished the season with one stretch where he went just 6-for-32 from the field. He averaged 6.1 points for the year and led IU’s rotation players in free throw shooting (92.6 percent). Bates thanked the Indiana basketball community for all their support during his two years in Bloomington. ”Thank you to the entire IU community for welcoming my family and I with open arms, especially at a point in my life where there was a lot of uncertainty,” Bates said in a tweet. “Regardless of how it ended I am forever grateful for the opportunity I had to be a Hoosier.”
Bates had to deal with a lot off the court, becoming a father during his freshman year. He didn’t like being away from Leilani for long stretches, and cherished his time with her when she came to Bloomington for games with his family. Leilani won a baby crawl race at Assembly Hall at halftime of the Michigan State game, and Bates had her on his lap during his postgame press conference, which went viral on social media.
He also made sure she was in his commitment announcement. Bates wore a Missouri jersey in the post, and his daughter was dressed up from head to toe in a Missouri Tiger costume. Missouri finished 25-10 last year, and 11-7 in the Southeastern Conference. They made the NCAA Tournament as a No. 7 seed and beat Utah state 76-65 in the first round before being upset by No. 15 seed Princeton in the second round. They are coached by Dennis Gates.
C.J. Leary Wins the Larry Rice Classic to kick off the 100th season of Racing at Bloomington Speedway
The USAC Sprints had a strong field of 34 at Bloomington Speedway Friday Night. The fast time for the night went to Kevin Thomas Jr. at an amazing pace of 11.263. Mitchell Moles along with Chase Stockon and Brady Bacon made up the top 4 all in the 11.2 second bracket. This setup the 4 heat races. Both Brandon Mattox and Jadon Rogers had to make quick repairs after flipping during the hot lap and qualifying sessions. Heat race 1 Jordan Kinser would lead the first 2 laps but at the halfway point Robert Ballou took the lead and would win it over Jake Swanson, Jordan Kinser and Logan Seavey making it into the A main. Heat race 2 would be led early by Tim Creech with a strong run until the high bank in turn 1 got him and he gave up the lead to Justin Grant for the win over CJ Leary, Daison Pursley and Mitchell Moles. Heat 3 would be led the whole way by Bloomington Champ Geoff Ensign over Chase Stockon, Jadon Rogers and Brent Beauchamp. The final heat would be won by Brady Bacon in a strong run to the front over Sterling Cling, Kyle Cummins and Brady Short. This setup the B main with KT Jr winning it over Matt Westfall, Dalton Stevens, Emerson Axsom, Tim Creech and Harley Burns putting it in the show.
This setup the Larry Rice Classic A main with the front row of Logan Seavey and CJ Leary. With the rain shower just before qualifying the red clay was definitely fast all night. On the start Seavey said he got in the moisture too much down low and CJ Leary took the early lead. This would be a good strong mover early because the #15 of CJ was definitely on a mission trying to get his new team their 1st Usac win with him as the pilot. At the halfway point it was CJ over Jake Swanson and Logan Seavey. They were getting into lapped traffic and at times Jake looked as if he was going to have a chance to take the lead. With just 3 laps to go a right rear on the #69 of Brady Bacon exploded ending his night. On the final restart with no lap traffic ahead CJ Leary was able to hold on for the big win over Jake Swanson, Logan Seavey, Justin Grant and Emerson Axsom rounding out the top 5. Notables that passed the most cars Jordan Kinser went from 20th to 12th and Jadon Rogers went from 22nd to 14th. It was an outstanding show put on by the Usac teams. Congrats to CJ Leary for his Larry Rice Classic win.
The MMSA mini sprint group brought a strong field of 29 to open their 2023 season and their top 4 in qualifying all in the 11 second bracket were Mike Larrison, Bryan Brewer, Kayla Roell and Cody Knieriem. They had 4 heat races, and they were won by Eli Wilheimus, Bryan Brewer, Kayla Roell and Cody Knieriem. Shane McCray won their B main to put it in the A main. The 21-car field was set and definitely the racers were giving 100% because we had a couple wild flips to start the A main and thankfully all the drivers were okay. Mike Larrison would have a great start to the feature but him and the other front runners would get into lapped traffic just after the 5th lap. This was good for Bryan Brewer as he started 5th but once they got into lapped traffic, he seemed to get faster starting to pick up spots and eventually making a pass for the lead and then growing a very good lead for the win. Following Bryan at the finish was Kayla Roell, Mike Larrison, Cody Knieriem, Cody Trammell and Justin Davis. Brewer was definitely flying because he lapped 7th place on the final lap.
The UMP Super Stocks had 14 entries for opening night. There were some really fast cars from all the Southern Indiana tracks meeting up to do battle at the red clay to start the 2023 season. The 2 qualifying groups were led by Matt Boknecht (13.282) and Zach Sasser (13.473). The invert was drawn for the heats, and it was a 1 which put those 2 on the pole for their heat races. Heat race 1 Matt would take the early lead and look strong on the bottom holding off Derek Groomer and Justin Massie for the win. Heat race 2 Zach also looked very strong in his heat holding off Brad Cummings and Jordan Almanza for the win. This setup the A for 20 laps and the #22 machine of Boknecht’s from Seymour would take the early lead. Zach Sasser would run 2nd for the first half of the race but then things started to get wild. A couple cautions for drivers over the bank and some spinning their new rides set up the finish. Justin Massie had a great battle with Zach for 2nd with about 7 laps to go which let Matt Boknecht grow his lead and start getting into lapped traffic. He really did a good job with the lapped cars and was able to hold on for the win over Justin Massie, Jordan Almanza, Ralph Groomer and Josh Litton. It was a great night to start the 100th season at the red clay and the Speedway will be action this Friday night for the great show of our non-Wing 410’s along with Racesaver 305’s and UMP Hornets.
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