{"id":12878,"date":"2026-07-30T00:04:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T00:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloomingtonnews.online\/?p=12878"},"modified":"2026-07-30T00:04:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T00:04:47","slug":"local-sports-news-july-30-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bloomingtonnews.online\/?p=12878","title":{"rendered":"Local Sports News: July 30, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Indiana University Baseball Head Coach Jeff Mercer Completes his Coaching Staff for the 2027 Season<\/strong> The Indiana baseball program will have two new faces in the clubhouse for the 2027 campaign as head coach\u00a0Jeff Mercer\u00a0announced a pair of young assistant coaches to complete his coaching staff. Matt Morrow and Sean Mullen will join the Hoosiers’ staff this fall following stops at Kentucky and Omaha respectively. Morrow, a former player under Mercer at Wright State, comes to Bloomington after spending time at Kentucky as the Director of Offensive Development in 2026. He will be a full-time assistant coach with the Hoosiers and directly help with hitting and infield defense. Morrow will coach the first base box during games while fellow assistant coach\u00a0Zach Weatherford\u00a0continues third base duties. Mullen, an 11th round MLB Draft Pick in 2021, joins the staff with loads of collegiate and professional pitching experience. After wrapping up his playing career, Mullen served as the Director of Pitching Development for Omaha during the 2026 season. He will be an assistant coach and work directly with pitchers and catchers in Bloomington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt Morrow \u2013 Assistant Coach\/Hitting & Infield
A four-year letterwinner for the Raiders, Morrow played in 224 games with 214 starts during a brilliant playing career. He recorded 242 hits and scored 201 runs while sporting a career .415 on-base percentage. Morrow was a Freshman All-American in 2015 and a three-time First Team All-Horizon League selection. He advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2018 under the guidance of\u00a0Jeff Mercer. “We are thrilled to have Matt join our staff. He was a great player at Wright State for me and has developed into an excellent young coach,” Mercer said. “He has experience recruiting junior college and transfer portal players. With his infield development skills and his competitive relatability to our players, Matt will transition seamlessly into our program.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following his time in college, Morrow played two seasons of professional baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization after signing as an undrafted free agent. His collegiate coaching tenure began as a volunteer assistant at Illinois-Chicago. He made additional stops at Wabash Valley (2023-24), St. Louis (2025) and Kentucky (2026). “Born and raised in Indiana, I couldn’t be more to join the staff in Bloomington,” Morrow said. “I am excited to be reunited with a group of coaches that I know and trust. I’m ready to work and do whatever it takes to help the program win.” Morrow will work directly with IU’s infielders and assist with offensive efforts alongside Mercer and\u00a0Zach Weatherford. Morrow was a four-year starter at second base for the Raiders and sported a career .981 fielding percentage. He will coach the first base box during games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sean Mullen \u2013 Assistant Coach\/Pitching & Catching
Mullen had one of the best individual seasons on the mound during the tenure of legendary UCLA skipper John Savage. In 2021, Mullen went 9-1 with a 3.39 ERA before being picked in the 11th round of the MLB Draft by Tampa Bay. He was also a draft pick out of high school by the Colorado Rockies. “We’re excited to have Sean join the program. He had a terrific playing career at UCLA as well as in the Tampa Bay organization,” Mercer said. “He will assist our pitchers and lead our catchers. His experience with the NewtForce mound, biomechanic evaluations and training modifications will be invaluable to our staff.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He pitched two seasons in the Rays’ organization, making 30 appearances for High-A Bowling Green in 2022. Mullen also made a brief pit stop in Independent League baseball with the Lincoln Saltdogs in 2025. He transitioned into coaching as the Director of Pitcher Development for Omaha. “I’m extremely thankful to Coach Mercer for allowing me to join the Hoosier family and be a part of the Indiana baseball program,” Mullen said. “I’m excited to be in Bloomington and work with really talented coaches and players towards one common goal.” Mullen will assist pitching coach\u00a0Matt Myers\u00a0with the day-to-day efforts of IU’s pitching staff and bullpen. He will also have a hand in developing the group of catchers and work with all operations of the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone is talking about the Indiana Hoosiers Football Team <\/strong> We\u2019ve reached the pinnacle of talking season, and lots of people are talking about Indiana football. As we\u2019ve shared throughout the offseason, most national commentators and computer models are not picking the Hoosiers to repeat as national champions in 2026. But don\u2019t count ESPN\u2019s Pete Thamel among the IU doubters. \u201cI\u2019m just going to spoiler alert everything here,\u201d Thamel said on the\u00a0College GameDay Podcast<\/a><\/em>. \u201cI said this when we did way-too-early, whatever, in January after the year. I\u2019m taking Indiana. Until they prove otherwise, I am taking Indiana. \u201cThat\u2019s not that I think Ohio State\u2019s gonna be bad, or anyone else is gonna be bad. But I am all in on Indiana.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the same podcast, ESPN\u2019s Rece Davis said he think Penn State football can be the next Indiana. You read that right. The team with the seventh-most all-time wins can aspire to be the program with the second-most all-time losses.\u00a0 The college football world has truly flipped upside-down. \u201cIf you are of the belief that maybe there is someone who will make an Indiana-like unexpected run, certainly not a program that has been in the depths of despair for generations as Indiana had been prior to Curt Cignetti\u2019s arrival, but one who might follow the blueprint that Indiana established for a very quick turnaround,\u201d Davis said. \u201cI submit to you the Penn State Nittany \u2018Clones.\u201d Davis called them the clones because new PSU head coach Matt Campbell brought 24 players with him from Iowa State \u2014 significantly more than the 13 Curt Cignetti brought to IU from James Madison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of Penn State, remember Pat Kraft?\u00a0 Along with Scott Dolson, he was widely viewed as one of two finalists to replace IU AD Fred Glass.\u00a0 Instead, the former IU football player ended up becoming the AD at Penn State. Kraft was asked recently about the resources Penn State is directing towards the men\u2019s basketball program. \u201cAre we in the top? No, we\u2019re not spending $20 million on a basketball roster,\u201d Kraft said on\u00a0the Nittany Dispatch podcast.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cAnd I gotta be honest, I don\u2019t know if there will ever be a point where we would spend $20 million on a basketball roster. It\u2019s not a good investment. Let\u2019s just call it what it is.\u201d How do we think Kraft\u2019s philosophy would have been greeted in Bloomington? What if IU took that same approach for football before it hired Cignetti?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti was asked Tuesday his impressions of Dolson and Cignetti.\u00a0 Here\u2019s his full quote: \u201cYou sort of saw it right away in the start of that first season when the winning started, and I think there was skepticism about lots of things around Indiana and their first year when they went to Notre Dame, they lost to a team that made the final, and I think that somehow that season was sort of looked at in a way that wasn\u2019t respectful in terms of how good that football team was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou saw them double down and come out and do what they did last year, going through a difficult schedule and an incredible postseason run and the way they played and dominated across most of the games they played. \u201cLook, I mean, I think everybody will tell you in the Big Ten all the people that get to work with Scott (Dolson), he\u2019s tremendous to work with. He\u2019s collaborative. He cares deeply about the entire league. He fights hard for Indiana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think Cig is unique in terms of what his focus is. I think obviously the decision to bring Cig into the league has been something that you just can\u2019t imagine this when this hire was made and the success. We\u2019re obviously really extremely happy for the way it\u2019s worked out there and the quality of players and the program and the reaction. \u201cMore importantly, the reaction from the fans and just what that is now on a Saturday at Indiana. It\u2019s just absolutely great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darian DeVries: Indiana Men\u2019s Basketball \u201cgot a lot out of\u201d Peru trip<\/strong> Indiana men\u2019s basketball\u2019s summer trip to Peru went as expected in some ways but didn\u2019t in others. The Hoosiers participated in the FISU America Games in Lima, Peru and captured the gold medal on Monday. They were rarely, if at all, seriously challenged by opposition in the tournament. Monday\u2019s 43-point victory for the championship was IU\u2019s closest game of the tournament. Even without SMU transfer center Samet Yigitoglu available, that level of dominance was expected against countries with far less infrastructure for college basketball. But Indiana expected to have six games in Peru \u2014 three in the group stage of the tournament, with three knockout games. But a team withdrew from the field late, leaving IU with only four games. That allowed the program to do more non-basketball activities and sightseeing. Head coach Darian DeVries enjoyed that, but the trip wasn\u2019t as basketball-centric as he\u2019d envisioned going in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt did allow us to do a lot more things, you know, outside, outside of the basketball. got to do a little bit more exploring. So that was fun,\u201d DeVries said. \u201cOne of the things I know we learned was the traffic laws here are optional, so that was\u2026 We spent a lot of time on the bus in traffic jams, I think.\u201d Still, the Hoosiers have plenty of positives to take away from Peru. Even with two fewer games than anticipated, this was still a lot more game action than most other teams across the NCAA will get this summer. It\u2019s difficult to know just how much that will help the team this fall, but it certainly can\u2019t\u00a0hurt<\/em>. Indiana had some defensive miscues throughout these games, but this was a good opportunity to continue working out kinks against other teams as this group learns to play together. Additionally, the freshman class of Vaughn Karvala, Prince-Alexander Moody, and Trevor Manhertz all showed good things \u2014 a big positive going forward, for both short-term and long-term outlooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI loved how hard our guys played all week. I thought that we got a lot out of that. I thought our transition game was really good. I liked how we got out of the blocks, so to speak. And then I loved our offensive rebounding,\u201d DeVries said. \u201cI thought we had a very clear mindset. I thought there was great carryover from practices, and (focus on) what we\u2019ve emphasized, and taking that to the game floor.\u201d Both the players and coaches will go into an extended break upon return to the U.S., until the fall semester starts in August. Official practices can resume in late September, with several exhibition games on deck in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indiana Fever take down the Seattle Storm 105-95 in a Road Win<\/strong> \u00a0 The Indiana Fever (18-10)\u00a0earned a season sweep over\u00a0the Seattle Storm with\u00a0a 105-95\u00a0win\u00a0on\u00a0Tuesday\u00a0night, setting WNBA history with their 12th\u00a0100+ point scoring game of the season and fourth\u00a0consecutive of such games. Caitlin Clark led the Fever with 32 points, followed by 28 points from Kelsey Mitchell\u00a0and a double-double from\u00a0Monique\u00a0Billings to\u00a0take\u00a0the victory. Outscoring the Storm 37-20, the Fever took a 17-point lead in the first quarter, led by 11 points\u00a0in three minutes\u00a0from Sophie Cunningham, in addition to\u00a0nine from Clark and eight from Billings.\u00a0Following an injury to Aliyah\u00a0Boston,\u00a0the Storm went on a run, cutting into what was a 20-point lead for the Fever, but\u00a0Indiana was\u00a0able to\u00a0grit\u00a0it\u00a0out\u00a0for\u00a0the remainer of the quarter to remain in front 58-47\u00a0at the halftime break. The Storm outscored the Fever 25-18 in the third quarter, but 16 points from Clark helped Indiana\u00a0maintain\u00a0its lead heading into the final 10 minutes.\u00a0With 18 points from Mitchell\u00a0in the fourth\u00a0quarter,\u00a0the Fever reestablished\u00a0their\u00a0double-digit lead,\u00a0securing the\u00a0road victory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caitlin Clark recorded her ninth 30+ point scoring game of her career with\u00a032\u00a0points scored, one away from tying Tamika Catchings (10) for the\u00a0second most in franchise history. The game marked Clark\u2019s\u00a0fourth 30+ game of the season, tied with Kelsey Mitchell and Breanna Stewart for the third most\u00a0in\u00a0the league this season. Caitlin Clark\u2019s 30+ points and 5+ assists mark the ninth of her\u00a0career. All other Indiana Fever\u00a0players\u00a0across\u00a0the history of the franchise have eight combined. Kelsey Mitchell recorded her 12th\u00a0consecutive 20+ point scoring game with\u00a028\u00a0points scored, marking the third longest streak in league history, tied with Arike\u00a0Ogunbowale\u00a0and Breanna Stewart, one shy of the\u00a0second most held by Diana Taurasi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With\u00a0four\u00a0three-pointers made,\u00a0Kelsey Mitchell surpassed 75\u00a0three-pointers\u00a0made in a single season\u00a0for the\u00a0fifth season in her career,\u00a0tied for the second most in WNBA history. Kelsey\u00a0Mitchell also extended her\u00a0WNBA record for most consecutive games with at least three 3PM\u00a0to 12 games,\u00a0totaling\u00a0four\u00a0three-pointers made on the night. Monique Billings earned her second double-double of the season, finishing the night with\u00a014\u00a0points and\u00a011\u00a0rebounds. Kelsey Mitchell\u2019s 18 points scored in the fourth quarter are good for the\u00a0second most in a single quarter in franchise history, one shy of the franchise record of 19 points set by Mitchell herself on May 20,\u00a02022\u00a0against Connecticut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Indiana Fever recorded their 12th\u00a0100+ point scoring game of the 2026 season, setting a new WNBA record for most of such games in a single season. The\u00a0previous\u00a0record of 11 games was set by the Las Vegas Aces in\u00a02023, a record which took them 40 games to\u00a0do,\u00a0the Fever did so in 28 games. Additionally, the Fever surpassed 100+ points scored for the fourth consecutive game, setting a\u00a0new\u00a0record\u00a0most consecutive games with 100+ points scored. The Fever\u2019s 37 points scored in the first quarter are tied for the third most points in a single quarter in franchise history, three shy of the record of 40 points set on\u00a0September\u00a01,\u00a02026,\u00a0against the New York Liberty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enmanuel Valdez\u2019s Ninth Inning Knock Lifts the Indianapolis Indians Over the Louisville Bats<\/strong> Enmanuel Valdez hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the top of the ninth inning to push the Indianapolis Indians to a 5-4 win on Tuesday night at Louisville Slugger Field. With the Indians (18-10, 49-54) trailing, 4-2, in the final frame, Dominic Fletcher and Derek Berg opened with back-to-back walks. Joshua Palacios grounded into a double play with Fletcher advancing to third. On 0-2 with the game in the balance, Termarr Johnson cut the deficit to one with an RBI single into right field. Mitch Jebb then walked on a 3-2 pitch to put the tying run in scoring position. Jebb\u2019s walk was the end of Hunter Parks\u2019 (L, 2-2) outing as Trevor Kuncl entered from the Louisville (9-19, 48-53) bullpen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A wild pitch from Kuncl moved both runners into scoring position as Ronny Simon drew ball four later in the at-bat to load the bases. Valdez entered a 3-2 count and laced a line drive into left center for two runs and the lead. Indy struck first with an RBI double from Jack Brannigan in the fourth inning as the Bats countered with all four of their runs in the fifth, capped by H\u00e9ctor Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s 25th home run of the campaign. Duce Gourson drove in the Indians\u2019 second run with a single in the sixth. Noah Davis tossed 5.0 innings for Indy as he allowed the four Bats runs. CD Pelham followed with 2.0 scoreless innings and Derek Diamond (W, 3-0) recorded the next three outs unscathed. Beau Burrows (S, 8) stranded Rodr\u00edguez at third with a strikeout of Michael Chavis to conclude the contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indianapolis Colts Defensive Tackle DeForest Buckner cleared for training camp after neck surgery<\/strong> After more than six months of the NFL offseason, the Colts reported back to Grand Park Tuesday for the first day of Training Camp. One player looking for a bounce-back season is the Colts\u2019 seventh-year defensive tackle, DeForest Buckner. The two-time All-Pro defensive lineman missed the most games of his career last season, sidelined by a neck injury he suffered in Week 9 against the Steelers. Buckner missed seven of the last eight games of the season and received neck surgery on New Year\u2019s Eve, the same week of the Colts\u2019 final game of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several months later, 32-year-old Buckner says he has been cleared to return to the playing field for the start of Training Camp. \u201cIt feels like graduation day,\u201d Buckner said. \u201cFrom where I started on New Year\u2019s Eve, not being able to do a whole lot after surgery, just pretty much being in bed not being able to move around. I couldn\u2019t even pick my kids up. I couldn\u2019t pick anything up heavier than 10 pounds for the first couple of weeks.\u201d Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard said Buckner is cleared for Training Camp and is in a \u201cgood frame of mind,\u201d noting the veteran defensive tackle is ready to get going. Ballard said the team will \u201cwork him back slowly,\u201d adding that Buckner, now entering his 11th NFL season, will be ramped up day by day throughout camp. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buckner posted a career\u2011low 47 tackles last season and finished with four sacks, the second\u2011lowest total of his NFL career. After rehabbing from neck surgery, Buckner says ramping up physically throughout camp might still come with a few bumps in the road, but he feels much better than how he once did. \u201cSlowly ramping it up throughout training camp,\u201d Buckner said. \u201cI think the majority of it is going to be the mental part. Physically, I feel great. The doctor said there have been guys around the league who\u2019ve had the surgery and felt better afterward. I truly believe you can feel better physically, which is great, but it\u2019s the mental part, getting past that block of trusting yourself and trusting that everything\u2019s fine.\u201d Buckner shared how joyous it felt to hear he was cleared after spending several months trying to feel like himself again. \u201cJoy, relief, all the hard work that I\u2019ve put in over the last seven months in recovery and getting back to this point,\u201d Buckner said. \u201cIt was just a big sigh of relief.\u201d The Colts will continue training camp until August 20th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IndyCar Releases New Race Car that will debut in 2028<\/strong> \u00a0 IndyCar announced a new chassis and powertrain package coming to the series in 2028. The car has been created to provide faster race times and improved raceability. The car looks to feature more wheel-to-wheel action, while also creating the \u201csafest car yet.\u201d The new car will weigh around 100 pounds less than the current car. The car has new front and rear wings, geared for style and efficiency. It also has aerodynamic architecture that was made to optimize the wake and improve passing opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The power for the new car will be provided by 2.4-liter twin-turbocharged V6 internal combustion engines, which can produce up to 760 horsepower. The driver cockpit will be able to accommodate a greater range of driver heights and better internal airflow and cooling. \u201cSeeing the car for the first time made me even more excited about where INDYCAR is going,\u201d Chip Ganassi Racing\u2019s Alex Palou said in a news release. \u201cThe design is super cool and feels like a proper next step for the series while still looking like an INDYCAR SERIES car. I think the fans are going to love it, and as a driver I cannot wait to get behind the wheel. The most important thing is that we keep the close, fun racing that makes INDYCAR special, and from what I\u2019ve seen, we\u2019re heading in a really good direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a \u2018wow\u2019 factor,\u201d 2026 Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist said in a news release. \u201cThe first thing that struck me is that it has more room in the cockpit and will fit differently-sized drivers, which is really good. Secondly, it definitely has the INDYCAR DNA, which was a worry for me that it wouldn\u2019t look like an INDYCAR SERIES car. This definitely does. It also has an aggressive look with an integrated aeroscreen and a car that addresses a lot of little tweaks that drivers have asked for. Dallara has delivered on almost everything. I\u2019m super excited for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Indiana University Baseball Head Coach Jeff Mercer Completes his Coaching Staff for the 2027 Season The Indiana baseball program will have two new faces in the clubhouse for the 2027 campaign as head coach\u00a0Jeff Mercer\u00a0announced a pair of young assistant coaches to complete his coaching staff. Matt Morrow and Sean Mullen will join the Hoosiers’ …<\/p>\n

Local Sports News: July 30, 2026<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nLocal Sports News: July 30, 2026 - Bloomington News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bloomingtonnews.online\/?p=12878\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Local Sports News: July 30, 2026 - Bloomington News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Indiana University Baseball Head Coach Jeff Mercer Completes his Coaching Staff for the 2027 Season The Indiana baseball program will have two new faces in the clubhouse for the 2027 campaign as head coach\u00a0Jeff Mercer\u00a0announced a pair of young assistant coaches to complete his coaching staff. 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