Indiana University Baseball Wins Their Midweek Regular Season Finale at Louisville It’s been a magical week for freshman designated hitter Owen ten Oever. After winning Big Ten Freshman of the Week for his performance against Iowa, the young hitter continued his hot streak at the plate. He smashed his third home run in five days, part of another multi-hit effort for ten Oever. As a team, the Indiana Baseball team (20-25, 6-15 B1G) collected 11 hits in a 10-6 win over Louisville on Tuesday evening at Jim Patterson Stadium. Midweek offense has been a strong suit of IU this season. With the win over Louisville, IU finishes the year with a 9-2 record in Tuesday/Wednesday contests. In six of those games, the Hoosiers racked up double-digit runs. Sophomore outfielder Cole Decker and freshman second baseman Landen Fry drove in a pair of runs as part of a five-run third inning to break the game open.
Graduate student southpaw Conner Linn (W, 4-0) provided another fantastic start in a midweek affair. He tossed five scoreless innings, stifling Louisville’s power bats with a mix of fastballs and off-speed pitches. IU’s bullpen was hit hard but senior left-handed pitcher Anthony Gubitosi ended things with a scoreless ninth inning. Louisville’s slugging first baseman Tague Davis finished 0-4 with a trio of strikeouts. Late insurance runs from junior catcher T.J. Schuyler (RBI double) and sophomore first baseman Jake Hanley (solo home run) helped extend the lead to a comfortable margin. Sophomore shortstop Cooper Malamazian reached safely in all five trips to the plate in his 100th career game for the Hoosiers. Big Ten action will consume the remainder of the regular season for head coach Jeff Mercer. Up first is a trip to Northwestern to kick start the month of May. First pitch from Wrigley Field in Chicago will come at 8 p.m. ET on B1G this Friday evening.
Former Indiana University Men’s Basketball Player Aleska Ristic Transfers to Belmont Darian DeVries faced a major roster overhaul entering this offseason. Not only did Indiana’s graduating class of Lamar Wilkerson, Tucker DeVries, Sam Alexis, Tayton Conerway, Reed Bailey, and Conor Enright account for nearly 78% of the minutes played and 84.1% of the scoring from this past season, but six Hoosiers decided to enter the transfer portal. Among those deciding to leave Bloomington to test the portal waters was freshman guard Aleksa Ristic. Now, he has found a new college basketball home through the portal.
On Tuesday, Ristic’s agent Stevan Petrovic announced that Ristic has committed to Belmont through the transfer portal. The move from Bloomington to Nashville gives the 6’3″ guard a mid-major opportunity after seeing limited playing time with the Hoosiers in 2025-26. Ristic’s career at IU was plagued by injuries. He missed the first seven games of the regular season with a lower body injury and ultimately appeared in just 12 games coming off the bench. In those games, he averaged just 0.5 points and 0.1 rebounds per game seeing 2.5 minutes of playing time per game. Ristic played three years of professional basketball in the top league in Serbia for KK Dynamic. He averaged 13.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game over the course of 19 games in 2024-25 before heading to Bloomington.
Ristic is set to join a Belmont program that has been one of the better mid-major programs in recent years. However, the Bruins failed to make the NCAA Tournament in seven seasons under head coach Casey Alexander. Former Duke assistant Evan Bradds is now leading the program, and Ristic is his first portal commit at Belmont. Ristic is the second Hoosier to find a new home via the portal this month. Earlier this month, sophomore forward Josh Harris committed to Florida Atlantic through the portal.
Indiana University Basketball named a finalist for 2026 forward Ladarius Givan Indiana is in the running to add another freshman to the 2026-27 squad. The Hoosiers are one of six finalists for 6-foot-9 and 205-pound forward Ladarius Givan. A former Mississippi State commit, Givan reopened his recruitment in January. Givan’s final six schools are Indiana, LSU, Seton Hall, Mississippi State, NC State and UCF, Sam Kayser of League Ready is reporting. Kayser said on X Givan begins a visit to UCF today and plans to head to Indiana and potentially Seton Hall next. Givan initially committed to Mississippi State as a sophomore. He opted to not sign with the Bulldogs in the November period and then decommitted in January. Indiana offered soon after the decommitment. Givan attends Petersburg H.S. (Petersburg, Va.). He is a native of Montgomery, Ala. Givan helped Petersburg win the state championship this spring. For his senior year, Givan averaged 15.5 points and 12.1 boards a game and shot over 60% from the field and 72% at the foul line. He made 11 of 40 (28%) from three. Givan has a 4-star ranking at ESPN. He’s a 3-star in the industry average, and the No. 28 power forward and No. 201 player overall.
Class of 2027 offensive tackle Conner Rutherford includes Indiana University Football in final four IU football is in the final four schools for class of 2027 offensive tackle Conner Rutherford. Rutherford is also still considering Miami, Minnesota, and NC State. A 6-foot-6 and 300-pound offensive tackle from Chillicothe, Ohio. He’s a multi-sport athlete, also competing in wrestling. He has played on both the offensive and defensive lines in high school, but he’s an offensive line prospect for IU. Rutherford is a consensus 3-star prospect, the No. 723 overall player in the class, and the No. 50 offensive tackle. The Hoosiers formally entered Rutherford’s recruitment with an offer this month and they’ve been showing increasing interest since. IU offensive line coach Bob Bostad visited Rutherford at his school Monday as the Hoosiers make their final push. Rutherford has an official visit set in Bloomington May 29-31. He also visited during spring practice this month. He also has June visits set to NC State and Minnesota. The 2027 class should come together over the next two months as players complete their scheduled visits. As of Tuesday morning, IU has four 2027 commits as part of what is expected to be one its best recruiting classes of all-time.
Indiana Fever Exercise Fourth Year Option on Caitlin Clark’s Contract The Indiana Fever announced on Tuesday that they exercised star guard Caitlin Clark’s fourth year contract option. Clark is now officially under contract with the Fever through the 2027 season. Clark averaged 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 8.8 assists per game in an injury-riddled season in 2025. She is a two-time All-Star and was the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year. Clark scored 7 points in the Fever’s win in its preseason opener on Saturday. It was Clark’s first time playing with the Fever since July of 2025.
Clark announced will have a picture book out this fall based on her own life, one she knows is like few others’. Random House Books for Young Readers announced Tuesday that “EXTRAordinary! A Little EXTRA to Reach BIG Dreams” will be published Nov. 3. In rhyming verse, the WNBA star shares a message about the importance of effort and support. Clark, whose book features illustrations by Adriana Predoi, was inspired by an inscription above the mirror that hung in her childhood bedroom: “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is the little EXTRA.” “Basketball has given me so many incredible opportunities, but what has always meant the most to me are the people who’ve supported me along the way,” Clark said in a statement. “I hope this book reminds kids that they’re never alone in chasing their dreams and that giving a little extra to the people and moments is what makes them EXTRAordinary.” The 24-year-old Indiana Fever guard, widely credited with raising the profile of women’s basketball, returned to action recently after injuries limited her to 13 games in 2025.
Indy Car Drivers get their first crack at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway During Open Testing The “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” is just 26 days away. Preparations began Tuesday afternoon with the first day of Open Testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 33 IndyCar drivers will compete in the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500, and they couldn’t be more excited to be back in Indianapolis. Among the drivers was the 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner, Marcus Ericsson, and his Andretti Global No. 28 car. “It’s the best place in the world to drive a race car,” Ericsson said. “To get back here every year and do those first few laps is always super special. It sort of blows your mind those first few laps because you’re like, oh my God, it’s so fast, and then you get used to it, and you get into working on the car. Always special being here.”
Last year’s Indianapolis 500 winner, Alex Palou, has been on a tear in the IndyCar series. Palou has won four IndyCar series championships, all of them since 2021. Palou more than anyone understands the target on his back as he and his team prepare for this May’s Indy 500. “I cannot wait to make this our home base for the next month, and I’m excited to get started,” Palou said. “…we know what momentum does to us and to every athlete and to us. It was a goal for us to try to get good momentum before the 500. You never know if you’re going to achieve it or not, but we’ve been lucky enough to do it again. It doesn’t really mean much, it just means everybody has been doing an excellent job at CGR [Chip Ganassi Racing], but now the real work starts. I’m happy that for everybody working at CGR that they’ve been able to show that what happened last year it’s over. We’re here to try and do it again.”
2023 and 2024 Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden has plenty of great memories at the Indianapolis 500. The two-time winner shared how much he cherishes his time at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the first day of Open Tests. “This track means a lot, I think, to everybody,” Newgarden said. “It’s a very historic race, it’s arguably the most historic motor race across the world. We love it tremendously, we love this place and love Indianapolis, and I always cherish laps around here.” The Indianapolis 500 is set for Sunday, May 24th.
Indy Fuel Take Down the Fort Wayne Komets in Game 3 of the Kelly Cup Playoffs The Indy Fuel hosted the Fort Wayne Komets for the third game of the Central Division Semifinals on Tuesday night. After going down 2-0 in the series over the weekend, the Fuel fired back at Fort Wayne with a dominant 6-4 victory. Tyler Paquette opened the scoring at 2:50 with a goal assisted by Trevor Zins and Kyle Aucoin. This put the Fuel up 1-0 early. Fort Wayne answered back with a goal by Austin Magera at 3:34 to tie the game. Jordan Martin took the game’s first penalty at 5:25. He sat for two minutes for tripping, but Indy killed it off successfully. At 8:31, Thomas Sinclair took a holding penalty. This gave the Fuel their first power play of the game. While Indy was putting pressure on, Fort Wayne’s Dru Krebs took a high sticking minor penalty. With a 5-on-3 chance, the Fuel capitalized with a goal by Matt Petgrave. With the help of Tyler Weiss and Marcus Joughin, he made it 2-1 in favor of Indy. Still on the power play, Chase Dafoe scored with assists from Joughin and Cody Laskosky. This put the Fuel up 3-1. After one period, Indy was leading 3-1 while outshooting the Komets, 12-2.
At 6:13, Jordan Martin scored to give Indy a 4-1 lead. Harrison Israels and Tyler Weiss claimed the assists on that goal. Less than two minutes later, Fort Wayne’s Brady Stonehouse scored, making it 4-2. Jordan Martin scored his second goal of the game at 16:12. Israels picked up his second assist of the night with the primary assist while Joughin collected his third point of the night with the secondary assist. That is how the second frame ended, with the Fuel up 5-2 while outshooting the Komets, 23-14. After the period ended, both teams lingered on the ice as they participated in some extracurricular activities but that was eventually broken up.
Weiss collected his third point of the night on Indy’s sixth goal at 3:26. Petgrave and Israels had the assists. At 5:33, Fort Wayne captain Alex Aleardi took a cross checking penalty but it was killed off. Indy’s Owen Robinson sat next at 9:54 for tripping. Fort Wayne capitalized on their power play with a goal from William Dufour. That made it 6-3, still in favor of the Fuel. With about two minutes to go, Fort Wayne pulled Nathan Day from net. There were a few empty net chances for the Fuel, but ultimately the Komets scored with the advantage to make it 6-4. The goal came from Matt Copponi. Time expired soon after with the Fuel taking a dominant 6-4 win over Fort Wayne, while outshooting them 29-26.