Indiana University Men’s and Women’s Basketball set date for Hoosier Hysteria
IU Athletics has announced the date for its annual kickoff event for the men’s and women’s basketball programs. Hoosier Hysteria will take place on Friday, Oct. 20 this year. That’s obviously a date fairly late on the calendar relative to the start of the season, which comes just a couple weeks later in early November. Hoosier Hysteria has generally taken place in early October in recent years. But like last year, IU has aligned the event with its football homecoming weekend. IU football hosts Rutgers for homecoming at noon on Saturday, Oct. 21.
Indiana made a major modification to Hoosier Hysteria in 2022 by adding live entertainment to the agenda. They also had celebrity emcees, brought the head coaches out to the court in cars, and made other adjustments to add more energy to the evening. The Indiana men open the 2023-24 season on Nov. 7 when the Hoosiers host Florida Gulf Coast.
Three Indiana University Baseball players named to the Collegiate Baseball Freshman All American Team
After a 10th NCAA Tournament and its fourth NCAA Regional final appearance in program history, the Indiana baseball team saw three student-athletes earn Freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. The trio of Brayden Reisdorph, Devin Taylor and Craig Yoho were each honored by the publication. Reisdorph and Taylor each earn the honor as true freshmen, while Yoho was named to the team after spending most of his first four collegiate seasons injured with the 2023 season signaling his first full season of college baseball. It is the second straight season Indiana has seen multiple freshmen honored with Freshman All-America honors, as the trio of Carter Mathison, Josh Pyne and Brock Tibbitts each earned the honor in 2022.
Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Taylor finished the season with the most RBIs (59) for an Indiana freshman in program history and finished No. 2 on the freshman home run charts with 16. Overall, he led all Big Ten freshmen in nine major stat categories, which included batting average (.315), OPS (1.080), home runs (16), RBIs (59), total bases (130) and walks (36). His 16 home runs are No. 3 all-time by a freshman in Big Ten history behind teammate and 2022 Freshman All-American Carter Mathison and Iowa’s Brad Carlson (21; 1999)
Risedorph became just the second Indiana freshman to reach the 60-strikeout mark in a season as he fanned 60 batters in 52 1/3 innings of work. Over 25 appearances – five starts – Risedorph posted a 3-1 record with a team-best six saves. He did not allow a run of his own in 11 appearances and limited the opposition to three-or-fewer runs in 23 of 25 appearances. Along with his 60 strikeouts he walked just 19 batters – 13 appearances with zero walks – and posted a .255 batting average against.
Yoho was injured during his 2019 season and then saw his 2020 campaign canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. An injury forced him to miss the 2021 and 2022 seasons, at which point he moved from a position player to the mound and appeared in 18 games with a 3.41 ERA over 37 innings of work. he struck out 63 of the 174 batters he faced (46%) and walked just 19 to compile a 4-1 record with one save.
Indiana University Men’s Golfer Drew Slayers named PING All-American
Indiana junior Drew Salyers was named to the 2023 Division I PING All-America Honorable Mention Team, the Golf Coaches Association of America announced on Tuesday morning. Salyers is the first Hoosier men’s golfer to claim All-America honors since 2021 Olympian Jorge Campillo was selected to the First Team in 2009. The Howard, Ohio, native is the 16th player (26th occurrence) in program history to be tabbed an All-American.
The NCAA Finals qualifier paced the Indiana team with a round average of 71.55 during his third season with the Cream and Crimson. His stroke average is the fourth lowest in program history behind only two Jeff Overton seasons and Campillo’s All-American 2009 campaign. He earned six top-10 finishes in 13 total events played with three top-5 results and a pair of victories. He played 17-of-38 rounds at or below par for the season. In addition to the All-America selection, Salyers was also selected as an NCAA Division I PING All-Midwest honoree.
Fifth-year senior Mitch Davis was also named an All-Midwest golfer this season. Davis secured a round average score of 72.51, good for second on the team (minimum 10 rounds played) and 14th on the all-time Indiana list. He claimed three top-10 finishes and played 12 rounds at or under par in 12 total events this season.
Two More Indiana University Softball Players enter the Transfer Portal
Indiana Softball Freshman Outfielder Elle Smith and senior pitcher Kate Rehberg have entered the transfer portal, according to a report from Softball Portal early Tuesday morning. The news comes nearly a day after freshman infielder Taryn Kern put her name into the portal. Indiana has now lost three members of Team 50 to the transfer portal, a group that made it to the regional final in the NCAA Tournament before falling short to the University of Tennessee.
Smith was mainly used as a pinch runner. She appeared in 39 games, scored 15 runs and stole four bases in five attempts. The Blue Spring, Missouri native had two hits and one walk at the plate in only three at-bats. Smith also recorded three putouts in the field and has three years of eligibility remaining. Rehberg enters the portal as a graduate transfer with one year of remaining eligibility after graduating from IU in May. Rehberg hails from Omaha, Nebraska and in four years with the Hoosiers tallied 13⅓ innings pitched in 14 appearances, collecting seven strikeouts with an earned run average of 12.29.
Indiana Fever lose in Overtime to the Chicago Sky
The Indiana Fever (1-5) nearly secured its second road victory of the season, but ultimately fell in overtime to the Chicago Sky, 108-103, on Tuesday night at Wintrust Arena. Indiana and Chicago (5-3) will meet again on June 15 at 8pm back in Chicago. Despite the loss, the first of four regular season matchups between Indiana and Chicago became a record-breaking night for the Fever as Erica Wheeler dished out a new franchise-best 12 assists, to go along with 12 points. Six Fever players ended the night scoring in double figures, led by WNBA Rookie of the Month Aliyah Boston rattling off a career-high 25 points and 11 rebounds. Kelsey Mitchell had 14 points, NaLyssa Smith ended with 10 points, and Lexie Hull notched a season-high 13 points. Kristy Wallace came off the bench to contribute 16 points to lead the Fever reserves.
Boston and Wheeler’s double-doubles on Tuesday night was the first time two Fever players have contributed such performances in the same game since June 17, 2021, against Seattle when Jessica Breland and Teaira McCowan both recorded double-doubles. Boston added to her record-setting night shooting 12-of-15 from the floor, a first-year performance that ranks second in franchise history behind Tamika Catchings’ 13 completed field goals against Orlando during her own rookie year in 2002. Per Across the Timeline, Boston became the first rookie to have at least 25 points on 80 percent shooting or better from the field, to go along with at least 10 rebounds and two blocks in a game. It was only the 11th occurrence in WNBA history overall. Former Indiana University standout Grace Berger played 7 minutes missed a three pointer and pulled down a rebound.
Indiana presented a well-rounded offensive effort in the first quarter as they worked to respond to a quick five-point lead from Chicago to open the first three minutes of the game. Seven Fever players contributed to the scoring column in the first quarter, collectively shooting 57.9 percent from the floor (11-of-19) to support Indiana’s hot shooting start but trailed the Sky at the end of the first ten minutes, 26-25. The Fever finally claimed the lead at the 6:46 mark in the second quarter and shifted focus to maintaining it throughout the first half. Hull and Wallace led the charge offensively in the quarter each scoring eight points in the second quarter alone. Indiana delivered its highest scoring first half of the season and entered the locker room leading the Sky, 50-44.
Indiana remained in control of the game throughout the third quarter holding Chicago to a 38.9 shooting percentage from the floor (7-of-18). Wheeler and Mitchell pitched in six points each as the third quarter concluded with Indiana holding the advantage, 67-62. The fourth quarter became a game of back-and-forth scoring as Chicago sped the offensive pace in their successful attempt to shrink the deficit. Boston fueled the Indiana offense by pouring in 10 points in the final five minutes of regulation, including the last six Indiana points in regulation on her own. Following a pivotal putback layup from Boston during the Fever’s last possession of regulation leaving only 2.7 seconds remaining, a layup at the other end from Chicago’s Alanna Smith tied the game as the clock expired, sending the game to overtime, 91-91. In overtime, the Sky outscored Indiana, 17-12, including nine points from Sky guard and Gary Indiana Native Dana Evans on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting clip and made the lead insurmountable for Indiana to rally back.
Chicago was led by four players finishing the night scoring in double figures: Marina Mabrey (28), Kahleah Copper (24), Evans (20), and Alanna Smith (18). The Sky shot a combined 23-of-25 from the charity stripe, with Mabrey leading the way going 9-of-9 from the free throw line. Chicago was outrebounded by Indiana, 35-25, on Tuesday night. The Fever will be on the road again on Friday night at the Minnesota Lynx. Friday’s game will be broadcast on ION Televison starting at 8pm.
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