Indiana

Even in new role as starter, Indiana baseball’s Connor Foley still plans to ‘attack’

Published

2 years ago

February 4, 2024

Even in new role as starter, Indiana baseball’s Connor Foley still plans to ‘attack’

The first part of learning anything, Indiana baseball head coach Jeff Mercer said, is to be aware.

Sophomore pitcher Connor Foley knows he was over reliant on his fastball last season. Still, the righty hurler emerged as a weapon out of the bullpen, especially in the postseason.

Foley — a Jasper, IN native — became an arm the Hoosiers could turn to in clutch situations. And with the imposing 6-foot-5 Foley mowing down batters from his perch on the mound, those decisions were often rewarded.

“Last year I came into games just trying to attack, attack,” Foley said. “I had like one pitch — it was just throwing it by guys hopefully.”

For the most part, that plan succeeded. Foley’s flamethrowing fastball topped out just under triple digits on the radar gun as a freshman and settled comfortably in the mid 90s, giving him a velocity that would be viable even in the majors.

In 29 innings tossed as a freshman, all of which came in relief, Foley accumulated a 3.72 earned run average and logged 42 strikeouts. He authored a nine-out save against Michigan State May 20, and tossed 2 2/3 scoreless frames against the University of Kentucky in the NCAA Regional June 3, the latter featuring a bases-loaded escape act in the seventh inning.

Foley had no trouble getting amped up for those opportunities. With the ‘attack’ mentality preached incessantly by pitching coach Dustin Glant, Foley craved the chance to have the ball in his grasp with a game on the line.

“I love being in those situations,” Foley said. “I want the ball in those situations as a lot of people do.”

Instead of relieving starters, Foley will be tasked with making Indiana’s bullpen’s life easier. Mercer said Jan. 26, Foley is in the mix for the top spot in the starting rotation alongside sophomore Brayden Risedorph, juniors Ryan Kraft and Jack Moffitt and redshirt senior Ty Bothwell.

Being charged with laboring four or five innings at a time won’t change Foley’s menacing approach on the mound. He said his arm is in good enough shape to maintain his velocity through higher pitch counts.

Still, Foley won’t have the luxury of being a wildcard for opponents this season. Unlike last year, there will be scouting reports. Teams will be prepared to face him — and ready to face his fastball.

“He’s not going to surprise anybody anymore,” Mercer said. “He’s gonna have to be more adjustable. The big thing is that coach Glant just forced him to get that off-speed out of his hand a ton.”

Mercer, Foley, Risedorph and several other players stood in the outfield watching Indiana’s scrimmage Jan. 31. Foley and Risedorph arrived in Bloomington together before last season with relatively undefined roles.

The two became significant contributors during their debut campaigns as Hoosiers. The conversation in the outfield turned to their development, and how much they’ve grown in a year’s time.

Mercer said the two pitchers were making fun of themselves, laughing about where they started. With junior Luke Sinnard — the ace of Indiana’s staff last year — out for the season due to an elbow injury, Foley will have to aid in recouping that production.

Throughout the fall, in scrimmages against Indiana State University and the University of Notre Dame, Foley incorporated a sizable dose of off-speed pitches. He mixed in a slider and changeup as supplementary offerings, and Mercer said he went to those pitches 50– to 60% of the time in those exhibitions.

Junior pitcher Grant Holderfield witnessed that evolution from the start.

“I’ve really seen him take a big stride in his game,” Holderfield said. “He’s able to manage, but also get a second and third pitch.”

Part of that expansion stemmed from dueling with teammates in practice. Indiana’s lineup features some of the most fearsome bats in the conference, including sophomore standout Devin Taylor and the junior trio of Carter Mathison, Josh Pyne and Brock Tibbitts.

Taylor garnered Big Ten Freshman of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten honors last season, setting Indiana’s freshman RBI record with 59. Pyne and Tibbitts appeared on All-Big Ten teams as well while Mathison mashed 10 homers — tied for second on the team — and drew a team-high 41 walks.

Throughout the 2023 season, opposing pitchers had enough on their hands dealing with the Hoosiers’ potent array of hitters. Foley, who knows them better than anyone, understands how beneficial that experience is.

“If we can get through our lineup, we can get through pretty much any lineup in the country,” Foley said.

The pitching staff might say the word “attack” roughly 20 times a day, Foley said. It’s become the unquestioned mantra of the group, and something Glant has meticulously engrained in his pitchers.

There’s a philosophy within that message that goes beyond mere aggression. Some of that approach means pounding the strike zone and limiting walks, because at the end of the day, Foley said he knows he controls the game’s outcome.

By forcing hitters into contact, Foley and the other pitchers can eliminate opportunities for a lineup. So much of what Glant and Mercer preach is about reducing traffic on the bases and dealing with the solo home runs as they come.

How can they make that happen? Attack.

“So much of our life is either prohibited or inhibited by our mentality and our attitude,” Mercer said. “As an across-the-board kind of motto is they talk about attacking and being the aggressor in the count.”

Until Foley steps on the bump for his first regular season start, it’s hard to gauge exactly how far he’s come in developing his new arsenal. Mercer and Holderfield raved about the off-speed additions and how they’ll pair with Foley’s scorching fastball.

Still, games are different. There will most likely be fluctuation as he adjusts to his new role, meaning the hits and home runs will come.

Mercer isn’t scared of that possibility — he knows Foley will get beat occasionally. But the only way he can improve, and maybe become the ace this year’s Indiana team needs, is to persevere.

“You gotta let him cook a little bit,” Mercer said. “Someone’s gonna homer one, and he’s gonna have to get back up there and do it again. That’s the only way that he’s really gonna grow.”

Follow reporters Matt Press (@MattPress23) and Nick Rodecap (@nickrodecap) for updates throughout the Indiana baseball season. 

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Indiana

Freshmen from Indiana show potential in UConn-Butler game: ‘Heck of a player’

Published

4 hours ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

Freshmen from Indiana show potential in UConn-Butler game: ‘Heck of a player’

Former UConn forward, NBC Sports broadcaster Donny Marshall knows a thing or two about talented UConn guards.

The former Husky played for legendary coach Jim Calhoun and was teammates with the fifth pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, 10-time NBA All-Star Ray Allen. Watching UConn play against Butler on Tuesday night, Marshall said he sees a lot of Allen in reigning Indiana Mr. Basketball Braylon Mullins.

Mullins made the second start of his career against the Bulldogs. The former Greenfield-Central star missed UConn’s first six games of the regular season with an injury, but the 6-foot-6 guard is quickly coming into his own and showing why he’s a projected lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

Against Butler, Mullins showed off his sweet jump shot, going 2 for 5 from 3-point range. He finished with 12 points, three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal.

“He’s a scorer,” Butler coach Thad Matta said of Mullins. “He’s got a scorer’s mentality. He gets his shot off quick. They move him around and create some angles for him. Obviously, he’s a heck of a player.”

Mullins did most of his damage in the first half, scoring eight of his 12 points before halftime. The former five-star recruit was the highest-ranked player in UConn’s 2025 class. Butler’s top-ranked recruit, Azavier “Stink” Robinson isn’t the NBA prospect Mullins is, but he held his own after a shaky start to the game.

Robinson has been thrust into the starting lineup with starter Jalen Jackson out for the season with an ankle injury. Robinson looked out of sorts at times in the first half, going scoreless with two assists and a turnover. In the second half, Matta moved him off the ball, giving him catch-and-shoot looks, and opportunities to drive to the basket without worrying about running the offense.

The former Lawrence North star responded with one of the better halves of his career, scoring 10 points on 3 for 6 shooting, including 2 for 5 from 3 to go along with two rebounds, one assist, one steal and one turnover.

Facing a veteran team like UConn, nothing comes easy. UConn’s guards harass ball handlers and getting into an offensive set is not easy. This time last year, Robinson was still in high school and, on most nights, the most athletic player on the court. Playing a UConn team where the goal is a national championship, Robinson was forced to grow, and he did not back down from the challenge in the second half.

“He’s coming along,” Matta said of Robinson. “That’s the first Big East road game of his career against maybe the best team in the country. It tells you how tough he is. He’s resilient. He keeps going.”

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Indiana

Indiana's Curt Cignetti becomes the first back-to-back winner of AP coach of the year

Published

16 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Indiana's Curt Cignetti becomes the first back-to-back winner of AP coach of the year

Curt Cignetti has been named The Associated Press coach of the year in college football for the second consecutive season. He is the first coach to win the award back-to-back since it was first presented in 1998. Cignetti has led Indiana to unprecedented success, with a 24-2 record over two seasons. The Hoosiers are 13-0 this year, Big Ten champions for the first time since 1967, and the top seed in the College Football Playoff. Cignetti received 47 first-place votes. Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire and Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea received two each, and Virginia’s Tony Elliott got one.

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Central Indiana schools announce closures, delays planned for Tuesday

Published

1 day ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Central Indiana schools announce closures, delays planned for Tuesday

INDIANAPOLIS — Some schools in central Indiana are planning to close or delay the start of their classes on Tuesday.

The closures and delays come in the wake of a difficult weekend of severe winter weather in the Hoosier State. On Saturday, a wintry system dumped more than six inches of snow in some portions of the state.

Points north of Indianapolis like Lafayette received between three and four inches of snow. Towns south of the Circle City like Seymour saw similar snowfall totals. As for Indianapolis itself, more than five inches of snow were recorded in some portions of the city.

After Saturday’s snow, frigid temperatures took hold in the area. A Cold Weather Advisory was issued for much of the state as wind chill values dipped well below zero.

The cold and snow triggered a bevy of school closings and delays for Monday. Schools began to announce delays and closures for Tuesday late Monday night as snow removal crews across the state continued to try to keep roadways clear.

Though some schools plan to close or delay the start of classes on Tuesday, temperature improvements are forecasted. High temperatures are anticipated to exceed the 32-degree freezing threshold and hit 36 degrees. The warming trend is expected to continue on both Wednesday and Thursday, with high temperatures forecasted to reach 40 and 50 degrees, respectively.

Precipitation is forecasted for Thursday, though temperatures are expected to remain warm enough for Indiana to get rain instead of snow.

FOX59/CBS4 is tracking the closures and delays schools plan to implement on Tuesday. Check out the latest available list of closings below:

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