IU Executes in Saturday Morning Session

 ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Indiana is in prime position for the final night of finals at the 2023 Big Ten Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships.

Of the 13 Hoosier swimmers eligible for final swims on Saturday (Feb. 25), 11 made championship finals with two more filling in consolation and C finals. IU posted the top qualifier in three of the four swimming prelims during the morning session at Canham Natatorium.

Then, five divers qualified for evening finals with four coming in the A final. Sophomore Quinn Henninger (431.15) gave IU its fourth top qualifier in the platform diving event, with fellow sophomore Carson Tyler (393.85) and redshirt senior Andrew Capobianco (391.10) taking the No. 3 and No. 4 spots and freshman Maxwell Weinrich (356.10) grabbing the No. 7 seed. Another freshman, William Jansen, earned the No. 15 spot with a career-best 278.85 to guarantee points from the consolation final.

Indiana put four out of four swimmers into the 200-yard breaststroke A final, including three of the top four qualifiers. Junior Jassen Yep (1:53.12) and senior Maxwell Reich (1:53.23) took the top two spots, with Josh Matheny (1:53.85) coming in fourth. Luke Barr (1:55.18) grabbed the No. 7 seed in a career-best time.

Senior Brendan Burns will look to defend his titles in the 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard butterfly Saturday night. Burns will be the No. 2 seed in the 200 back, going 1:41.17 this morning, and the top qualifier in the 200 fly with a 1:42.22. Last year, Burns became the first man to win the 200 back, 200 fly double at a Big Ten Championships.

IU placed the top two seeds in the 200 fly, as junior Tomer Frankel went 1:42.73 to capture the No. 2 spot. Frankel finished eighth in last year’s event with a 1:43.06. Sophomore Kai Van Westering finished behind Burns as an additional A finalist in the 200 back as a career-best 1:42.54 placed him seventh.

Indiana added five finalists in the 100-yard freestyle, three in the A final. Senior Van Mathias, already a gold medalist in the 50 free and silver medalist in the 100 breast this week, earned the top qualifier spot with a pool record 41.74 that missed an NCAA A cut by a hundredth of a second. Sophomore Rafael Miroslaw (42.68) and Gavin Wight (42.75) finished fourth and sixth in the morning to add to the A final, while Finn Brooks (43.11) and Jack Franzman (43.82) hopped into the B and C finals, respectively.

In addition to those five events, the 1,650-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle relay will be contested on Saturday night. Indiana has two swimmers, senior Mikey Calvillo and junior Warren Briggs, in the final heat of the 1,650 free which will kick off the final session at 5 p.m. ET. IU also has the top-seeded relay, owning a 2:49.51 set at midseason

.TEAM SCORES
Indiana – 1,030.5

Ohio State – 924.5

Michigan – 806

Wisconsin – 665.5

Minnesota – 516

Purdue – 483

Penn State – 407.5

Northwestern – 392

RESULTS
200 BACKSTROKE

2. Brendan Burns – 1:41.11 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)
3. Kai Van Westering – 1:42.54 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)

X – Alejandro Kincaid – 1:44.94 (Career Best)

X – Lucas Piunti – 1:46.11 (Career Best

X – Joseph Radde – 1:46.61 (Career Best)

100 FREESTYLE

1. Van Mathias – 41.74 (Championship Final Top Qualifier, Pool Record, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
2. Rafael Miroslaw – 42.68 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)
3. Gavin Wight – 42.75 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
4. Finn Brooks – 43.11 (Consolation Final, NCAA B Cut)
5. Jack Franzman – 43.82 (C Final)

X – Jacob Destrampe – 44.66

200 BREASTSTROKE

1. Jassen Yep – 1:53.12 (Championship Final Top Qualifier, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
2. Maxwell Reich – 1:53.23 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)
3. Josh Matheny – 1:53.85 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)
4. Luke Barr – 1:55.18 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)

200 BUTTERFLY

1. Brendan Burns – 1:42.22 (Championship Final Top Qualifier, NCAA B Cut)
2. Tomer Frankel – 1:42.73 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)

X – Alejandro Kincaid – 1:47.38 (Career Best)

X – Drew Reiter – 1:48.59 (Career Best)

PLATFORM DIVE

1. Quinn Henninger – 431.15 (Championship Final Top Qualifier, NCAA Zone Qualifier)
2. Carson Tyler – 393.85 (Championship Final, NCAA Zone Qualifier)
3. Andrew Capobianco – 391.10 (Championship Final, NCAA Zone Qualifier)
4. Maxwell Weinrich – 356.10 (Championship Final, NCAA Zone Qualifier)
5. William Jansen – 278.85 (Consolation Final, Career Best)
6. Dash Glasberg – 259.15 (Career Best) 

UP NEXT
Indiana will get to convert finalists into points Saturday night as it looks to shut the door on another Big Ten Championship. Finals begin at 5 p.m. ET, starting with the final heat of the 1,650 freestyle.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Sophomore pitcher Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) pitched her first shutout of the season on Friday as University of Southern Indiana Softball opened the Samford Bulldog Classic with a 1-0 win against Samford University.
 
Newman threw a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts across seven innings. She earned her second win of the 2023 season. The shutout performance on Friday follows six shutouts a season ago during Newman’s freshman campaign.
 
Southern Indiana (3-1) got on the scoreboard in the top of the second inning. After senior infielder Jordan Rager (Fishers, Indiana) reached on a fielder’s choice, a single by senior designated player Allie Goodin (Evansville, Indiana) and a defensive error by Samford allowed Rager to advance to third.
 
With runners on the corner and one out, senior infielder Rachel Martinez (Chicago, Illinois) sent one to right field for the RBI knock to bring Rager home and give USI the 1-0 lead.
 
After that point, Newman had all the run support she needed, as nine of her 10 strikeouts came after the first inning. In fact, Newman struck out the side in order in the third inning. She remained in control for the rest of the game.
 
Samford (2-8) only had two baserunners reach second base in the game. The Bulldogs had only four total baserunners.
 
Samford’s freshman pitcher Sara Bond was dealt the loss, allowing the unearned run and two hits in 1.1 innings. Sophomore pitcher MacKenzie Newcomb entered the game afterward and nearly matched USI’s Newman. Newcomb went 5.2 innings of relief with nine strikeouts and gave up just one hit.
 
The Screaming Eagles return to action at the Bulldog Classic Saturday at 1:30 p.m. to face an old Division II foe in the University of North Alabama. Later Saturday evening, USI will take on Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) at 6:30 p.m.
 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball lost the home opener to Bellarmine University, 4-2, Friday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. The Screaming Eagles watch their record go to 3-3, while Bellarmine goes to 4-0.
 
USI took the initial lead in the first frame when senior centerfielder Ren Tachioka (Japan) scored on a RBI-single to right center by junior first baseman Tucker Ebest  (Austin, Texas). Tachioka had moved into scoring position after reaching on an error and stealing second.
 
The 1-0 lead would last until the top of the third when Bellarmine grabbed a 2-1 lead on a two-run home run. The Knights extended lead to 4-1 with another two runs in the sixth.
 
USI cut into the deficit in the eighth with a tally to make the score 4-2. Junior rightfielder Drew Taylor (Jefferson, Indiana) entered the game as a pinch runner in the eighth and scored a sacrifice fly by Tachioka before USI left the bases jammed.
 
In the ninth, Bellarmine set USI down in order in the ninth to notch its fourth win of the year. The Eagles were limited to just three hits in the game.
 
On the mound, sophomore right-hander Tyler Hutson (Villa Hills, Kentucky) took the loss for the Eagles. Hutson (1-1) allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits and two walks, while striking out six in five-plus innings of work.
 

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer baseball team kicked off another big weekend at Jerry Blemker Field Friday afternoon when VU hosted Olney Central College.

VU’s defense proved to be the difference Friday afternoon after the Blazers committed three costly errors and fell to the Blue Knights 9-5.

Olney Central got things started early after taking advantage of a first inning walk and an error which could have ended the inning to pick up a run in the top of the first.

VU would quickly get this run back in the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run by sophomore Kaden Elliott (New Albany, Ind.), his second home run of the season.

Olney would again take advantage of a fielding error in the third inning to score a pair of runs in the inning, taking a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the third without recording a hit.

Vincennes would again answer back with a run of their own in the third after sophomore Colton Evans (Henderson, Ky.) led off the inning with a double, one of his four hits on the day and later scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman Holden Clifton (Louisville, Ill.).

The Blue Knights would break the game open in the fourth with four straight hits and another fielding error trying to turn a double play allowed Olney Central to score four runs and hold a 7-2 lead.

Olney Central would increase their lead again with a run in the sixth before VU plated a run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Kaden Elliott, his second RBI of the game.

The Blue Knights would get this run back in the eighth before VU would score on an RBI single by freshman Carter Whitehead (Huntingburg, Ind.).

VU would look to complete a late comeback in the bottom of the ninth, with the first four batters reaching base in the inning and Colton Evans scoring his second run of the game after sophomore Kobe Bartlett (Rockport, Ind.) was hit by a pitch.

The Trailblazers had the bases loaded with no outs down by four in the ninth and were unable to get another run on the board after the game ended on a strikeout and a double play to give the Blue Knights the 9-5 win at Jerry Blemker Field.

“Those errors really cost us, we had a chance to get a double play and get out of the inning in the first and the ball got through,” VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. “It was just a lack of communication. In the fourth we started off with an error and it just snowballed from there.”

“We out hit Olney today,” Barney added. “We ended up giving up three runs on no hits in the first three innings and we had some opportunities. Kaden Elliott did a great job at the plate today. I thought Jace Parnin threw really well. I thought Caleb Moore threw okay and obviously Schlotterbeck did a good job at the end. Bryton Griffy going out and getting one of the first two guys he’s faced all year out is a pretty good start.”

“The top of the order, Elliott and Evans really did a great job for us,” Barney said. “We’ve just got to get a little more production out of some guys when the game is on the line. Unfortunately, it takes more than two guys to get it done in baseball. Holden Clifton had a good first two at bats and got a couple of hits and then didn’t get a whole lot after that.”

“We’ve got to figure it out, put the lineup together and bounce back tomorrow,” Barney added. “The good news is that we’ve got three more games still to play this weekend and we will still feel good about ourselves if we come out of here with three wins.”

VU was led off on the mound by sophomore Dawson Blaylock (Eaton, Ohio) who threw three and one-third innings, allowing seven runs, three earned runs, on four hits and striking out three.

Sophomore Caleb Moore (St. Louis, Mo.) was the first out of the bullpen throwing one and two-thirds innings, allowing one run on one hit and striking out one.

Freshman Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) took over in the sixth and pitched two full innings, retiring all six batters he faced including four strikeouts.

Freshman Christian Pinson (Elizabethtown, Ky.) retired the only batter he faced on three pitches, before turning the game over to fellow freshman Bryton Griffy (Louisville, Ill.) who made his first appearance on the mound this season. Griffy allowed one run on one hit and struck out the first batter he faced.

Freshman Keegan Schlotterbeck (Centerville, Ind.) closed out the final one and one-third innings, allowing two hits and striking out one.

“People are going to look at Dawson’s line score but what they are not going to realize is that if we turn that double play in the first, he’s out of that inning in about 10-12 pitches instead of 25-30,” Barney said. “Same thing in the fourth inning when he went back out there and the error cost him. Unfortunately he gave up a couple of hits right after that error and a couple of wild pitches allowed two runs to score. We gave up three runs on wild pitches today.”

“We’ve got to be better if we expect to compete,” Barney added. “But we’ll get there.”

The Trailblazers will look to get back on track tomorrow when VU faces off against Morton College Saturday, Feb. 25 at 10:30 a.m. eastern.

Vincennes will then return to the field to close out the day at Jerry Blemker Field Saturday against NJCAA Division III No. 13-ranked Joliet Junior College at 6 p.m. eastern.

“We’ve got to play better defense and get better pitching tomorrow,” Barney said. “If we can do that and come up with some timely hitting, we’ll get there. We’ve got to start putting all facets together in a game and not just rely on one or two of them and try to get by on that. We’ve just got to get ourselves ready to go because it’s not going to be an easy weekend here.”