Indiana University Women’s Soccer match with Bellarmine rescheduled for this afternoon
The Indiana Women’s Soccer home exhibition match versus Bellarmine that was scheduled for Wednesday Night was canceled due to inclement weather that moved into Bloomington Area. The match against the Knights has been rescheduled for this afternoon at Bill Armstrong Stadium. Kick-off is set for 3pm and the game will not be livestreamed nor will live stats be provided. Admission to the matches is free of charge.
Second Ranked Indiana University Men’s Soccer opens preseason
No. 2-ranked Indiana Men’s Soccer officially kicked off preparations for its 51st varsity season Wednesday morning with its first team training session. IU head men’s soccer coach Todd Yeagley met with the media following the session. “It was sharp, I thought (in) the tone and the details, how we move in our session,” Yeagley said. “It’s a teaching day as much as it is evaluation, especially with 12 new faces that were not here last August.”
Indiana comes into the campaign the No. 2-ranked team in the nation according to United Soccer Coaches after appearing in its record 22nd NCAA national final last season. The Hoosiers finished 14-5-6 with an 8-4-1 mark against ranked opponents. Yeagley has once again put together a challenging slate for the Hoosiers, who will face seven teams that reached the 2022 NCAA Tournament and eight opponents that finished top 40 in RPI last fall. Five of IU’s contests against 2022 top-40 RPI teams will be played at Armstrong Stadium, and fans can purchase season tickets (10 games) for just $40 and $20 for youth. Fans can also purchase single-match tickets, and IU students get in free with a valid crimson card.
IU opens its season at Notre Dame on Aug. 24 before its home opener against DePaul Aug. 29. In the build-up, Indiana opens its exhibition schedule on Friday hosting Wright State at Bill Armstrong Stadium. The Hoosiers will then travel to the Grand Park Sports Complex in Westfield, Ind., on Tuesday Aug. 15 to play Bowling Green before welcoming Louisville to Bloomington on Aug. 18 in their final tune up. Admission is free for all preseason exhibitions.
Former Indiana University Women’s Basketball player Grace Berger shines for the Indiana Fever
A fourth quarter rally from the Los Angeles Sparks was enough to defeat the Indiana Fever, 87-80, on Tuesday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the third time during the regular season. WNBA All-Star Kelsey Mitchell’s 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor and 6-of-6 shooting from the charity stripe led the way for Indiana (7-22). With her three made 3-point field goals on Tuesday night, Mitchell moved into 25th place for most 3-point field goals made in WNBA history. Mitchell ended the night at 412 makes from beyond the arc for her career heading into Tonight’s matchup against Minnesota which starts at 7pm at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and will be televised on Bally Sports Indiana.
With 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting, All-Star starter Aliyah Boston earned her 13th career game with at least 10 points on 60 percent shooting, allowing her to surpass Brittney Griner’s 12 games in 2013 and set a new WNBA record for most such games by a rookie, per Across The Timeline. Boston also neared a double-double as she pulled down nine rebounds on the night and is averaging 20.7 points over the last three contests. Rookie guard and Former IU Star Grace Berger came off the bench to pitch in 14 points in 22 minutes for Indiana, which was her second-highest offensive output of her career. Berger ended the night with career-highs in field goals made (6) and 3-point field goals made (2), while dishing out four assists. Berger led Indiana’s second unit to outscore the Los Angeles reserves, 32-19. Berger was 6-11 from the field and 2-3 from three-point range. Berger pulled down 2 rebounds, a steal, a block and committed a turnover. After missing nine games due to injury, Fever forward NaLyssa Smith returned to the court this evening and contributed eight points to go along with six rebounds. In addition, Kristy Wallace came off the bench to add six points, along with career-highs of seven assists and four steals.
Though the Sparks opened the first two minutes of play with a 10-2 scoring run for its largest lead of the night, Indiana soon rebounded with the help of Boston’s 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the court. Along with Boston’s highest scoring quarter of her career and Mitchell’s nine points; Boston, Mitchell and Smith combined to shoot a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line in the opening quarter. After taking the lead at the 1:09 mark, Mitchell extended Indiana’s lead to four points with a three-pointer to cap off the first quarter, 27-23. Indiana stretched a 25-9 scoring run into the second quarter and grew the lead to as many as nine points. Berger led the Fever as she recorded a new career-high for most points in a quarter with eight points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor and 2-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc. Los Angeles ended the second frame on a 13-5 scoring run of its own, but the Fever maintained the lead going into halftime, 41-40.
The Sparks overcame an eight-point deficit in the third frame with a 14-6 scoring run but would only hold their advantage for less than one minute as the Fever took the lead back with a pair of free throws from Boston. Led by Boston and Vivians’ four and three rebounds respectively, the Fever outrebounded the Sparks, 11-4, in the third quarter. Indiana finished the quarter on an eventual 14-6 scoring run of their own and owned a 58-57 lead at the end of the third quarter. A 10-2 scoring run from the Sparks, capped off by a layup from forward Nneka Ogwumike, allowed the Sparks to take the lead for the final time at the 4:12 mark in the fourth quarter. Karlie Samuelson’s eight points and Layshia Clarendon’s seven points in the fourth quarter led the way in the Los Angeles comeback effort.
The Sparks’ (11-18) nine players in the scoring column were led by Ogwumike, who recorded a double-double on the night with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Clarendon notched 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the court and dished out five assists. In addition, Jordin Canada added 10 points to go along with a team-high seven assists, while Samuelson contributed 13 points and six rebounds.
Indiana University Football adds Wisconsin transfer Drew Evans
Drew Evans, formerly an offensive lineman for Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin Badgers, has transferred to coach Tom Allen and the Indiana Hoosiers for the 2023 season. This is a very unusual time for a transfer to be announced, seeing as fall camp is well underway, and that IU only has 24 days till its season opener against Ohio State on Sept. 2.
Evans committed to Wisconsin as a two-star prospect in the class of 2022, according to 247 Sports. However, the 6-foot-4 offensive linemen did not see the field at all this past season and spent his lone year in Madison as a walk-on. Despite that, Evans will be on scholarship at Indiana. A Wisconsin native, Evans was a three-sport athlete at Fort Atkinson High School, excelling in football, basketball and track and field. During Evans’ senior year at Fort Atkinson, he was named to the Badger-Small Football All Conference first team at tackle, second team All Conference in basketball and broke his school’s 55 year-old record in the shot put with a throw of 54 feet and 10 1/2 inches.
With the addition of Evans, Indiana now has 19 offensive linemen currently on its roster. According to the Indiana football team account’s announcement post, Evans will wear No. 62 in Bloomington after wearing No. 77 at Wisconsin. Given how late into the offseason Evans is joining the team, as well as his former walk-on status and lack of playing time at Wisconsin, it’s highly unlikely he’s seen on the field for Indiana this year in meaningful snaps, if any. However, in hiring Bob Bostad as the new offensive line coach this offseason, Allen sent the message that he wanted improvement in that position group. Evans won’t help with that right away, but perhaps in time, he’ll contribute up front for the Indiana Hoosiers.
Indiana University Football’s Jaylin Lucas named to Doak Walker Award watch list
A second national award has tabbed Indiana sophomore Jaylin Lucas is a part of its preseason watch list, as the Doak Walker Award released its list of players to watch during the 2023 season. A first-team All-America selection as a true freshman, Lucas was the first Hoosier in program history and first freshman in Big Ten history to earn the conference’s Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year. The running back/return specialist was the only player in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) with multiple kickoff returns for a touchdown in 2022.
He led the Big Ten in combined kick return yardage (591) and kickoff return yards per game (28.1 ypg) and was among the top 16 in the conference in all-purpose yards per game (85.8 ypg). His game-opening kickoff return for a touchdown at Rutgers was the first kickoff return score at IU since Tevin Coleman in 2012 (at Northwestern). His two kickoff returns each went 90-plus yards and he added a 71-yard touchdown run for three scores of 70-plus yards. He was the first Hoosier since Coleman in 2014 with three 70-yard scoring plays in a single season. The first-team All-Big Ten selection at kick returner, Lucas rushed for 141 of his 271 yards over his last three games (at Ohio State, at Michigan State, vs. Purdue). His best game from scrimmage came against the Boilermakers with 110 yards rushing on nine carries to go along with five receptions.
The prestigious Doak Walker Award was created in 1989 to honor the nation’s most outstanding collegiate running back. Named for the 1948 Heisman Trophy winner and three-time All-America selection from SMU, the Doak Walker Award recognizes a football player’s outstanding performance on the field, as well as his achievements in the community and in the classroom. Each summer, all NCAA FBS colleges and universities are invited to nominate a running back from their respective football teams. Prior to the end of the college football season, the PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors convenes to select semifinalists for the award. The Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee, comprised of sports writers, television commentators, analysts, radio sports personalities and former All-America and All-Pro football players, then narrows the field to three finalists and determines the recipient.
The recipient of the Doak Walker Award is announced in December during The Home Depot College Football Awards and is honored at the Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet in Dallas in February. In 1998, the Athletic Forum created the PwC Doak Walker Legends Award to honor former running backs who excelled at the collegiate level and went on to distinguish themselves as community leaders. These awards are presented by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum, widely regarded as America’s preeminent sports lecture series, hosting four annual luncheons, and the Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet. The Doak Walker Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses college football’s most prestigious awards.
Indianapolis Indians drop Series Opener to the Nashville Sounds
The Indianapolis Indians rallied for seven runs in the sixth inning, but their comeback efforts fell short due to a pair of four-run frames for the Nashville Sounds that accumulated an early eight-run lead to defeat the Indianapolis on Tuesday night at Victory Field, 9-8. Nashville (57-50, 17-16) stormed ahead early with eight runs off starter Beau Sulser (L, 0-1) in 2.1 innings of work. After a wild pitch plated the opening run, shortstop Patrick Dorrian belted a three-run shot over the center field wall to cap a four-run first. In the third, Jahmai Jones, Dorrian, Owen Miller and Brian Navarreto each notched run-scoring hits to extend Nashville’s lead to 8-0.
Caleb Boushley (W, 7-5) held the Indians to just one hit – a line-drive single from Canaan Smith-Njigba – through 5.0 innings before Indy broke through in the following frame. Indianapolis (50-57, 17-16) plated seven runs on five hits in the sixth to come within one run. Miguel Andújar’s 26th double of the season sparked the rally, scoring Ji Hwan Bae. Ryan Vilade roped a two-run single, and Aaron Shackelford plated two more on a fielding error by Monte Harrison on a shallow fly ball to center field. Catcher Grant Koch capped the seven-run frame with a two-RBI double. Nashville quickly countered in its following plate appearance with Dorrian’s second home run and fifth RBI of the contest.
Down two runs in its final at-bat, Indy threatened after Bae drew a leadoff walk and Nick Gonzales singled to put the winning run at the plate. Andújar drew the second walk of the frame to load the bases with no outs. After a run-scoring fielder’s choice by Smith-Njigba put Indy within one, Thyago Viera (S, 5) escaped the jam by striking out Malcom Nuñez. The Indians defense placed error-free baseball for the 12th consecutive game, their longest streak since their 12-game streak from Aug. 12-25, 2022.
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