Indiana University Baseball’s Devin Taylor named Big Ten Player of the Week
Sophomore Outfielder Devin Taylor enjoyed one of the best weekends that any Indiana Baseball player has seen this season, helping to lead the Hoosiers to a series victory over Michigan to cap off the regular season. For his efforts, he was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday afternoon. The Cincinnati, Ohio native tore the cover off the ball against the Wolverines, hitting .636 (7-11) in three games with six runs scored, one double, three home runs and seven RBIs. He had 17 total bases and recorded an OPS of 2.259. He slugged 1.545 with a home run in each of the three games.
Taylor has been on an incredible run of form in the past three weeks, hitting .429 (18-42) in his past 10 games with home runs in seven of those contests. His 41 total bases are 17 better than the next best player (Tyler Cerny) on the roster in that time frame. Since being inserted into the leadoff role before the Rutgers series, IU has gone 7-5 without losing a game by more than three runs. A surefire choice for First Team All-Big Ten honors, the sophomore leads the Big Ten in runs (61), is second in home runs (17), fifth in hits (77) and top-10 in the league in batting average (.362). One of the most feared hitters, the game plan against Taylor is to throw nearly all off-speed pitches, which he’s still hitting at a high rate.
The Hoosiers begin the Big Ten Tournament this week in Omaha this morning at 11:00am Bloomington Time in a matchup with in-state rival Purdue. The winner of the game moves into the winner’s bracket on Thursday while the loser plays an elimination game on Wednesday night at Charles Schwab Field. This is Taylor’s second Big Ten Player of the Week award. It’s the sixth weekly award for a Hoosier this season.
Indiana University Rowing Finishes Second at the Big Ten Championships
No. 14-ranked Indiana Rowing collected its best-ever medal count to earn a program-record second place finish at the 2024 Big Ten Rowing Championships Sunday at Devil’s Lake State Park in Baraboo, Wisconsin. The Hoosiers totaled 144 points thanks to silver medal performances from the Varsity Eight and Novice Eight crews as well as bronze medals from the Second Varsity Eight and Second Varsity Four boats. IU outscored No. 13 Rutgers (137 points), and No. 12 Ohio State (121) in the team standings. Michigan’s 189 points captured the conference title. Indiana improved from third place – its previous standard – a year ago. Senior Piper Maaka repeated as a first-team All-Big Ten athlete, joined by freshman Nico Daly. Senior Abbey Armstrong and Graduate Student Annabael Oertel were named second-team All-Big Ten honorees. Freshman Lilly Murphy was named IU’s recipient of the Sportsmanship Award.
IU’s Varsity Eight took silver for the second consecutive season, tying the program-record conference finish in a dramatic race. The Hoosiers kept touch with Michigan throughout the race, and a late charge nearly won the title but ran out of room – Indiana finished just one second behind the top boat. “Racing today with these women was electric!” Maaka said. “With lots of competition across the board in this conference, it was such a great feeling to push others’ expectations of what it means to be an IU rower. We are so proud to have made program history as the Big Ten runner-up, excited to move forward to greater opportunities in Cincinnati for the NCAA Championships, and grateful to all our novices for a great season.”
In the N8 race, IU and Rutgers traded the second-place spot for the first 1,000 meters before the Hoosiers made a move within 500 meters of the finish line. Minnesota joined the medal conversation with a surge in the final 250 meters, but IU held the Gophers off through the finish with a time of 6:42.437. “In preparation for the race, our boat asked ourselves every day this year who is going to be the toughest on the water,” freshman Cat Madden said. “We made sure it was always going to be us, and it paid off today.”
The Hoosiers were part of the elite three in the 2V8 race, finishing in 6:22.677 behind Michigan (6:15.038) and Rutgers (6:19.616). IU crossed five seconds in front of fourth-place Wisconsin (6:27.726) and the rest of the field. “Though the result wasn’t what we aimed for, we left it all out there,” graduate student Aidan McIntyre said. “I’m proud to be a part of the highest finishing Hoosier team in history and excited to have two weeks to regroup and come back stronger.”
“We have put in the work and proved in our results all year that we were here to compete,” senior Sofia Sperduto said. “We all knew that we had the chance to come in and do something special today, and I think that’s exactly what we did. I am proud of this team and excited to get back to work for the NCAA Championships.” Indiana finished just 25 hundredths of a second behind Michigan in the Second Varsity Four race in a time of 7:12.361, surging in the final 500 meters after keeping touch with the Wolverines through the first two segments of the race. Rutgers also caught late speed, but the Hoosiers kept their spot to earn the medal position.
“I am so proud to be a Hoosier,” senior Lili Toledano said. “We have worked every day for this moment, and I’m so proud of my teammates for finishing the highest IU ever has at the Big Ten Championships! My boat had a great race, and I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to row with my best friends for the last time and show everyone what the Hoosiers are all about!” The NCAA will announce its 22-team field for the 2023 NCAA Rowing Championships This evening, at 5pm on its website. The three-day championship event is scheduled for May 31-June 2 on Harsha Lake in Bethel, Ohio.
Indiana Pacers Win Game 7 and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2014
The Indiana Pacers beat the New York Knicks, 130-109, on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. The win in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals helped Indiana secure its first appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals since 2014. The Pacers started the game on fire, shooting 76.2% from the field in the first quarter. Forward Pascal Siakam shot 5-of-6 with 11 points, and point guard Tyrese Haliburton was 5-of-7, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range, totaling 14 points. Siakam and Haliburton’s efforts allowed the Pacers to build a 12-point lead after one quarter.
Indiana stretched its lead in the second quarter, taking a 52-30 lead via a dunk from forward Isaiah Jackson. The Pacers led, 70-55, at halftime. The Knicks cut the Pacers’ lead to six four minutes into the third quarter, but Indiana responded with another run, leading by 17 after three frames. New York never threatened in the fourth quarter, and Indiana closed out their second Game 7 win at MSG in franchise history. Haliburton led the Pacers with 26 points, and Siakam added 20. Guard Donte DiVincenzo paced the Knicks with 35 points. New York guard Jalen Brunson had to leave the game in the second half with a fractured left hand. The Pacers will take on the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. Game 1 of the series will be played at 8pm this evening in Boston.
Scott McLaughlin wins the Pole for the Indianapolis 500
Scott McLaughlin captured the pole for the 108th Indianapolis 500, clocking a qualifying speed of 234.220 mph in the Firestone Fast Six at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon. The run is the fastest pole speed ever recorded in the history of the Indy 500. McLaughlin’s Team Penske teammates, Will Power and Josef Newgarden, round out row one. This is the first All-Penske first-row since 1988. NASCAR driver Kyle Larson will start fifth as he attempts to race in the both the Indy 500 and the NASCAR Cup Series’ Coca-Cola 600 next Sunday. The last row was set before the run for pole position. Katherine Legge, Marcus Ericsson and Graham Rahal found enough speed in Last Chance Qualifying to secure their spots. Nolan Siegel crashed on his final attempt, locking Rahal into the 33-car field.
Four Indiana University Softball players Named NFCA All-Region
Indiana Softball’s Taylor Minnick, Brianna Copeland, Avery Parker and Aly VanBrandt were all recognized by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) on Saturday afternoon for earning all-region honors. The four Hoosiers earned the distinction as members of the NFCA’s All-Region teams in the Midwest. Minnick was named First Team All-Region while Copeland, Parker and VanBrandt were all named Second Team All-Region.
Minnick’s selection to the first team marked two years in a row that she earned the honor. Her junior season has been another great campaign from Minnick, posting a .360 batting average on 64 hits, including 12 doubles and ten home runs. She leads the Hoosiers in RBI (53), slugging percentage (.607) and on base percentage (.465). To complete the sweep of Minnesota in the regular season, Minnick hit two home runs, including the walk-off in the 5-4 victory on Sunday, April 14.
Copeland’s selection to the second team was her second NFCA All-Region distinction of her career. The junior has been fantastic in the circle for the Hoosiers, going 20-11 while posting a 2.81 ERA. She has also thrown 170 strikeouts and is holding opposing hitters to a .214 batting average. Copeland helped lead the Hoosiers to three wins and a Big Ten Tournament Final appearance, including a nine-strikeout performance in the 6-3 win over Purdue. Earlier this season in a 7-2 win at Michigan State (April 7), Copeland threw a career-high 12 strikeouts. In addition to being a standout pitcher, Copeland is hitting .332 at the plate with 36 RBI and eight home runs.
Sophomore Avery Parker’s All-Region Second Team selection is also the second time in her collegiate career that she has been named to an all-region team. This season, Parker is having another great year ––– hitting .302 at the plate with a team-high 13 home runs, 43 RBI and ten doubles. She also has scored 34 runs of her own while posting a .587 slugging percentage. Against Purdue (April 17), she had a two-home run game for the second time in her career. Additionally, she hit home runs in back-to-back games twice this season, doing so against Valparaiso and Bowling Green (March 2-3) and against Mercer (March 15-16). As a freshman, VanBrandt’s selection to the NFCA All-Region Second Team is the first NFCA award of her collegiate career.
VanBrandt has been a sparkplug for the Hoosiers, making an immediate impact for the team both at the plate and at second base. The freshman leads the team in batting average, hitting .370 on 57 hits. She has four doubles and a team-high three triples to her name along with 16 RBI. Additionally, she has scored 33 runs and 12 stolen bases. In the team’s opening round win over Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament, VanBrandt went 2-for-3 at the plate with a triple and two RBI.
New York Liberty take care of the Indiana Fever in Brooklyn
The New York Liberty beat the Indiana Fever, 91-80, for the second time this week in New York’s regular season opener in front of a sellout Barclays Center crowd. Saturday was the third consecutive sellout crowd Indiana (0-3) has played in front of to open the 2024 regular season. Fever rookie guard Caitlin Clark led Indiana in scoring with a career-high 22 points to go along with a team-high eight assists and six rebounds. Clark’s eight assists on Saturday tied her with Julie Allemand for the fourth-most assists made by a Fever rookie in a regular-season game. Clark played 34 Minutes, going 9-17 from the field and 4-10 from three-point range. Clark had 1 steal, 3 fouls and 8 rebounds.
Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell started Saturday’s contest with a 3-pointer in her first starting nod of the 2024 regular season. Mitchell was Indiana’s second-leading scorer with 17 points and tallied two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Fever center Aliyah Boston and forward NaLyssa Smith also scored in double figures for Indiana with 12 and 11 points each. Smith posted a team-high eight rebounds with Boston following closely behind with seven rebounds. Fever forward Katie Lou Samuelson added seven points, five rebounds and four assists to round out the starting five. Former IU Star Grace Berger did not play.
All of New York’s starters scored in double figures Saturday, led by forward Breanna Stewart again with 24 points on Saturday. Stewart led the Liberty in scoring on Thursday against Indiana with 31 points as well. Stewart also recorded five rebounds, four steals, three blocks and went 8-of-8 from the free throw line to help New York stay perfect at 3-0 this season. Liberty center Jonquel Jones was behind Stewart with 14 points and recorded a team-high 12 rebounds for her second double-double against Indiana this year. Jones and guards Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot all distributed five assists as well. Indiana outscored New York, 43-34, in the second half after New York shot better than 55 percent from the floor in the first half. Indiana outscored New York, 38-32, in paint points and also outscored the Liberty, 16-8, in second chance points. The Liberty countered by winning the fast-break points advantage, 28-2.
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