Local Sports Headlines: May 22, 2023

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Southern Indiana Bobcats fall in the home opener to the Indiana Tornados
The Southern Indiana Bobcats Semi Pro Football team took the field for their first ever regular season game and came up on the wrong end 28-6 against the Indianapolis Tornados Saturday evening at Edgewood HS in Ellettsville. The Bobcats defense made a statement on the first play from scrimmage when Noah Ponce would recover the ball after the Tornados fumbled at the Bobcats 43-yard line. Once the Tornados got the ball back, they would score on an 8-yard touchdown run and convert the two-point conversion to lead 8-0 with 2:46 to go in the first quarter. The Bobcats would come back three plays 57 seconds later when Evan Gilligan found Luke Elgar over the middle for 65-yard sprint to endzone for the Bobcats first ever touchdown in team history. Dre Atkins missed the extra point to make 8-6.

The Tornados would respond with a 21-yard Touchdown Pass but missed the two-point conversion to make it 12-6 with 10:25 left to before halftime. Mason Scott got a fumble recovery for the Bobcats as the defense recovered another fumble on the next series after the Bobcats had to punt the ball away. The Tornados went to the air on the last series of the half going 4-6 with 52 yards and scored on an 18-yard touchdown pass with no time left and 2-point conversion to make it 20-6 going into the locker room. The Tornados outgained the Bobcats 225-111 in the first half.

In the Second Half on the first play from scrimmage the Bobcats had a bad snap and the ball bounced off Sean Simmons knee and went forward where the Tornados recovered the ball. Neither was able to score in the third quarter. The Bobcats had 17 play drive that 15-yard penalty and two quarterback sacks back them up facing an improbable fourth and long that they were unable to convert. On the play after the Tornados had a 5-yard penalty. Noah Ponce intercepted the Tornados Quarterback and Bobcats were able to get the ball back. TJ Knighton also got a pick for the Bobcats. The Tornados returned a 33 Yard Punt all the way to Bobcats one yard line where they were able to punch it in and get the two-point conversion with 35 seconds left to make it 28-6.

The Tornados finished the game going 16-30 for 254 yards Passing along with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. The Tornados game finished with 19 carries for 61 yards and 2 touchdowns along with 3 fumbles. The Bobcats Evan Gilligan was 6-14 passing for 84 yards with 1 touchdown pass and no interceptions. Seven Bobcats ran the ball 39 times for 49 yards. The Tornados had just 90 yards off total offense in the second half finishing with 315 for the game. The Bobcats had just 22 yards of total offense in the second half as they finished with 133. The Bobcats will hit the road to face the Kentucky Spartans in Owensboro Kentucky on Saturday June 3.

This was the first Semi Pro Football Game in Monroe County and at Edgewood HS since August 26, 2018, when the Indiana Cutters beat the River City Buccaneers 51-0 in a playoff game. A Good crowd was on Saturday Night to see Monroe County’s newest Semi Pro Football Team in action and the Bobcats will be home at Edgewood HS on Saturday June 10, for youth football night against the Indy Bison Red.

Grace Berger does not play in Indiana Fever Debut
For the 7,356 fans that were in attendance at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the Indiana Fever’s home opener with the Connecticut Sun Friday Night a majority of them were there to see one player. Former Indiana University Star Grace Berger was drafted with the 7th overall pick in the WNBA Draft in April. Fans that have watched Berger play the last 5 years for the Hoosiers flocked to the Fieldhouse to see her make her WNBA debut and when they left after the Fever lost 70-61 to the Connecticut Sun, they were disappointed to see that the hometown player did not get off the bench. Berger was the only player on the Fever not see the floor during the game. “Grace is going to be a good player one day” Fever Head Coach Christie Sides said after the game. “Grace has some learning to do, she knows that she comes out, she fights, and she helps makes up better” Sides Said.

Playing point guard in the WNBA behind Kelsey Mitchell and Erica Wheeler who have been in the league for a while is going to be a learning curve for Berger. Mitchell has been the face of the Fever since being drafted with the second overall pick in 2018 out of Ohio State. Wheeler has been in the league for seven seasons and return to the Fever this year after playing with the team from 2016-2019. Berger knows that it will take some time to crack the rotation but knows that just making the league with just 144 players and 12 teams is a big accomplishment. “It’s a dream come true” Berger said after the game. This is the highest you can get in this sport, so just being on the team, being able to learn from great players like Kelsey Mitchell, Erica Wheeler, see them up close in person and get to know them and learn from them it’s really special”.

The Number 1 overall pick in this year’s draft Aliyah Boston scored 15 points and pulled down 9 rebounds in her WNBA Debut for the Fever. Boston is 6-5 and played at the University of South Carolina and while she is used to going up against players her height, she also is dealing with the physicality that comes with playing at the highest level. Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 20 points. NaLyssa Smith had 9 rebounds and Queen Egbo made contributions on defense with 6 rebounds along with 3 blocks. The Sun were led by 18 Points and 11 Rebounds from Alyssa Thomas along with 19 points from DeWanna Bonner and 13 points and 9 rebounds from Brianna Jones. Connecticut led start to finish jumping out to an 11-point lead and never trailed. The Sun led 35-28 at halftime and 58-43 after the third quarter. The Fever held the Sun scoreless for the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter and cut the lead down to 3 points with under two minutes remaining. The Sun closed the game on 8-2 run and lead the all-time series 52-31 and are 23-20 when the two teams play in Indiana.

For the IU Women’s Basketball Fans that did not get to see Grace Berger play on Friday Night and chanted “We Want Grace” several times during the game. Head Coach Christie Sides says to stay patient, and the time will come. “She is learning, she’s growing. She is playing point in the best league in the world and that is a tough job. So, I don’t want to throw her out into the fire right now. She will get there I promise, we are lucky to have Grace Berger on our team”.

Indiana University Baseball secures the Number 2 Seed for the Big Ten Tournament
The eight one-run victory of the season for the Indiana baseball program locked up a second-place finish in the Big Ten as the Hoosiers claimed a 6-5 victory over Michigan State on Saturday inside McLane Stadium at Kobs Field. Indiana posted its first 40-win regular season since the 2013 team won 40 regular season games. The Hoosiers won 40 overall games in 2018, with 37 coming in the regular season. It is the ninth time an Indiana team won 40-plus games in a single season. The Big Ten Tournament will begin on Tuesday at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska, where No. 2-seed Indiana will begin play at 3pm. Each game of the Tournament will be carried on the Big Ten Network and Indiana Sports Radio Network via IUHoosiers.com/Audio.

Michigan State (32-20, 12-12 B1G) opened the scoring for the first time on the weekend with a single run in the first inning. Indiana (40-16, 16-8 B1G) pulled even with a run in the third inning. The Hoosiers scored twice in the fifth, once in the sixth and twice more in the eighth inning. The Spartans added single runs in the fifth and sixth, before a two-run ninth made it a one-run victory.

Freshman Devin Taylor posted his fourth multi-home run game of the season – third in Big Ten play – and moved into No. 3 on the all-time Big Ten freshman home run charts with his 15th and 16th of the season in the finale. He also reached the 10-home run mark in B1G play, just the sixth Hoosier to reach double figures in conference play. His three RBIs moved his season total 56, which ranks No. 6 on the rookie charts at IU. In all, Taylor was 3-for-4 with one walk, three RBIs and two runs scored. Sophomore Carter Mathison had two hits, two runs scored and one RBI. He hit his ninth home run of the season and added one walk. Freshman Tyler Cerny doubled, scored one run, and plated one RBI. Seniors Phillip Glasser and Peter Serruto also collected RBIs in the contest.

Senior Ty Bothwell allowed two runs over 4 1/3 innings in the start. He scattered five hits and one walk to go along with two strikeouts. Sophomore Luke Hayden (2-0) picked up the win in relief with 1 2/3 innings of one-run work. He struck out one and scattered three hits and one walk. Freshman Connor Foley (3) earned the save with eight strikeouts in three innings of work. He allowed two runs on three hits with three walks. For Michigan State Jack Frank and Mitch Jebb each posted three-hit games on the afternoon as Frank scored two runs and Jebb drove in a pair of RBIs. Brock Vradenburg drove in a pair of RBIs with a double. Ryan Szczepaniak (1-3) took the loss with two runs allowed on three hits in one inning.

Indiana University names Eric Hines as Cross-Country Head Coach
Ed Beathea who will take over as the Indiana Head Track and Field Coach beginning with the 2023-24 campaign, has named the first member of his coaching staff for next season. Eric Heins, the 2016 NCAA DI Men’s Cross-Country Coach of the Year, was named Indiana’s Head Cross Country Coach and Associate Track and Field Coach Distance, as announced on Friday.

A 27-time Big Sky Coach of the Year between men’s and women’s cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field while at Northern Arizona, Heins has spent the past three years as the Head Cross Country/Assistant Track coach at the University of Louisville. Heins has coached at five different schools including a 10-year stay at Northern Arizona, helping to turn the school into a distance powerhouse. He led Northern Arizona to the team’s first men’s cross country national title in 2016, pushing four All-Americans across the line in his final race as the Lumberjack head coach. It was the school’s first national title in any sport. In his nine appearances at the NCAA Men’s Cross-Country Championships, Northern Arizona podiumed on six occasions. Heins won Big Sky Men’s Cross-Country Coach of the Year nine times including a run of eight straight from 2007-2014. He was named the USTFCCCA Men’s Mountain Regional Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2013 and 2016 and wrapped up his stay as head coach of Northern Arizona by winning the USTFCCCA Men’s National Cross-Country Coach of the Year Award in 2016.

Over the past three seasons at Louisville, Heins helped lead Ian Kibiwot to a third-place finish in the 5000 meters indoors at the ACC Championships, the highest finish by an athlete in program history. Albert Kosgei finished third in the 3000-meter steeplechase at the 2021 ACC Outdoor Championships and went on to finish 18th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. During his career he has helped coach 64 conference champions, 14 All-Americans, two national champions and one Olympian. David McNeill swept the 2010 NCAA titles indoors and outdoors in the 5000 meters to give Heins his first national champion. He coached Diego Estrada to a spot in the 2012 London Olympics, representing Mexico in the 10,000 meters. Familiar with the Indiana running landscape, Heins coached Indianapolis native (North Central High School) and eight-time All-American Futsum Zeinasellassie at Northern Arizona. Zeinasellassie finished third in the 2014 NCAA Cross Country Championships and second over 10,000 meters at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Heins ran for the University of Cincinnati from 1995-1999 and spent one year on the Indiana Track and Field team (2000) while working on his graduate degree. He is the winner of the 2004 St. Louis Marathon and competed at the 2008 United States Olympic Marathon trials.

Indiana University Field Hockey announces 2023 schedule
Indiana Field Hockey head coach Kayla Bashore has announced the team’s 2023 schedule. The schedule includes 19 regular season games, featuring eight Big Ten matchups, 11 non-conference contests and one scrimmage. Indiana will play Ball State on Friday, August 18 for its lone scrimmage of the preseason. The opening weekend of the regular season will feature two premier road contests as the Hoosiers will play at Duke on August 25 and at Liberty on August 27.

During two September road trips, Indiana will play a road game and a neutral-site game bunched into the same weekend. On Sunday, Sep. 3, Indiana will play Saint Francis (PA) in Oxford, Ohio, while playing Miami (OH) the next day. On Friday, Sep. 15, Indiana will open Big Ten play at Northwestern and then will be followed by a neutral-site game on the 16^th in Evanston against Penn. The Hoosiers will play their first true home game against James Madison on Sunday, Sep. 24.

The last regular season contest will be against Kent State on Sunday, Oct. 29 in Bloomington. The Big Ten Tournament will take place from Nov. 7-Nov.12 in Ann Arbor, Mich. The NCAA Tournament’s opening rounds will be held at selected campus sites with the semi-finals and championship being hosted in late November at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. Dates and times are subject to change between now and the start of the season.

Indiana University Women’s Tennis welcomes Three new signees for 2023 recruiting class
Indiana Women’s Tennis head coach Ramiro Azcui has announced the signing of three new student-athletes in their 2023 recruiting class. The Hoosiers have signed Lene Mari Hovda, a graduate transfer from Saint Mary’s College, Magdalena Swierczynska, an incoming freshman from Poland and Chase Boyer, an incoming freshman from Evansville, Ind. All three players will join the team in the fall, also arriving in Bloomington at the same time as fellow signees Sarah L’allier, Li Hsin Lin and Elizabeth Dunac.

Hovda is originally from Norway and comes to Bloomington after playing four years at Saint Mary’s. This spring, Hovda played at No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles for the Gaels. She recorded a 15-8 mark in singles and went 19-8 in doubles this spring. She has a Norwegian Women’s National Singles Championship in her career accolades, as well. Swierczynska enters her collegiate career with an ITF ranking of No. 132 with extensive international playing experience on both the junior ITF tour and ITF Women’s Tour. She has eight total WTA points to her name. Boyer, a native Hoosier, is a graduate of Reitz Memorial High School in Evansville. She is considered a four-star recruit nationally and is the No. 2-ranked recruit from the state of Indiana by Tennisrecruiting.net.

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