“80-39 is your halftime score. That’s right, 80-39 is your halftime score.”

That was TNT’s Ernie Johnson intro to the halftime break.

“Down 41” and “Up 41” were trending nationally on X.

For the Pacers, it was the mother of all halves on a memorable Mother’s Day Sunday. Indiana blew out the Cavaliers, 129-109, in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals to take a commanding 3-1 series lead heading back to Cleveland for Game 5 on Tuesday.

A Mother’s Day mauling: Pacers blow out Cavaliers in Game 4, push Cavs to brink

Here’s the box score from Sunday’s laugher.

Pacers vs Cavs Game 4 Scoring by quarter

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Pacers vs Cavs schedule: When is Game 5?

(All times ET; *-if necessary)

Game 1, May 4: Pacers 121, Cavaliers 112

Game 2, May 6: Pacers 120, Cavaliers 119

Game 3, Fri., May 9: Cavaliers 126, Pacers 104

Game 4, Sun., May 11: Pacers 129, Cavaliers 109

Game 5, Tues., May 13: at Cavaliers, 7 p.m., Tuesday

*-Game 6, Thurs., May 15: at Pacers, TBA

*-Game 7, Sun., May 18: at Cavaliers, TBA

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – In Friday’s eight-run victory over Purdue, Indiana baseball showed what it could be when it all clicks.

In Saturday’s 5-1 loss to Purdue at Bart Kaufman Field, Indiana demonstrated what has held it back and what traits might ultimately keep the Hoosiers out of the NCAA Tournament.

Indiana (28-22, 13-13) scored in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead, but that was all the Hoosiers could muster in the scoring department. The Hoosiers are a good offensive team, but Indiana baseball coach Jeff Mercer lamented the habits that keep Indiana from being consistent.

“We hit some balls hard early that on most days are home runs, but we sometimes just have to adjust differently. We have to execute with guys on base,” Mercer said.

Indiana’s offensive performance looks worse when you consider that first baseman Jake Hanley accounted for three of Indiana’s seven base hits. The top three spots in the order went 1-for-10 against Purdue pitchers Cole Van Assen and lefty Michael Vallone.

“My frustration, and I told them, was our inability to execute to a different game plan,” Mercer explained. “(Purdue) brings in the lefty with low slot ride and they moved the entire infield over. You’re going to have to shoot the ball the other way, hit the ball on a line to right field, and we were unable to do that,” Mercer explained.

Purdue, fighting for its life as far as Big Ten Tournament qualification is concerned, played a steady game and were able to create scoring opportunities Indiana could not replicate.

After Cooper Malamazian drove home Hanley for the opening run of the game for Indiana in the second inning, it was all Purdue in terms of scoring.

Purdue’s Eli Anderson singled home Ty Gill in the third inning to tie the contest. Purdue (30-20, 10-16) then took the lead in the fifth inning on a towering Aaron Manias home run to center.

CJ Richmond singled home Brandon Anderson in the sixth to make it 3-1. In the eighth, Purdue slugger Logan Sutter hit a two-run home run to left to give Purdue the 5-1 edge.

All the while, Indiana created opportunities to push ahead, but the Hoosiers were unable to take advantage.

Some of it was bad execution, but some of Indiana’s issue were also just bad luck.

In the fifth inning, when Purdue’s lead was 2-1, Devin Taylor walked and Korbyn Dickerson hit a Van Assen offering into the right-center field gap. The speedy Taylor would have scored easily on the long shot, but it bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double and Taylor was compelled to stop at third. The Hoosiers were unable to drive Taylor or Dickerson home afterwards.

This inning was part of Indiana’s .143 average with runners in scoring position. The Hoosiers were 0-for-9 with two outs.

Indiana’s pitching wasn’t bad, but wasn’t outstanding either. Starter Ben Grable pitched 5 1/3 innings and struck out five batters. Gavin Seebold, a former starter, then went 3 2/3 innings in relief and struck out six.

 It was Grable’s 11th start of the season, but the Hoosiers have not been able to put together a starting staff that has stood the test of time. Ten different Hoosiers have started a game this season.

“Ideally, you’re able to you’re able to do that. You’re able to line guys up and and have defined roles,” said Mercer on the pitching roles.

“I would love to be able to do that, but when the draft is always an impact, and then injuries here and there, so then you have to problem solve. You have to play the cards that you’re dealt,” Mercer said.

Realistically, to have a shot at an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, Indiana probably had to run the table of its remaining regular season games and make a deep run in the Big Ten Tournament.

With the loss to Purdue, that isn’t a possibility. Indiana’s RPI remains in the 70s, not good enough to earn an at-large bid.

The series against Purdue concludes at 4 p.m. on Sunday at Bart Kaufman Field.

(WPTA) – A man on Indiana’s death row for killing a Beech Grove police officer is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court weeks before his scheduled execution.

The petition from Benjamin Ritchie’s lawyers comes nearly one month after the Indiana Supreme Court ordered him executed May 20.

According to the filing, the court failed to take into account Ritchie’s ineffective lawyers at trial and in other post-conviction matters.

Ritchie’s attorneys say past counsel failed to investigate evidence related to brain damage from Partial Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, with which Ritchie has been diagnosed.

“While the jury was made aware that Ritchie’s mother drank during pregnancy, no evidence of any fetal alcohol syndromes was introduced,” the filing reads.

In a final plea for clemency, Ritchie appeared before the Indiana Parole Board on Monday, May 5.

The board will have another clemency hearing for public comment next Monday, May 12, in Indianapolis at the Indiana Government Center South Auditorium.

The board will hear testimony in favor of clemency from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and testimony opposed to clemency from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

After both hearings, the board will make a recommendation, but a final clemency decision about whether to commute Ritchie’s death sentence to life in prison without parole will ultimately be up to the governor.

There’s no timetable for the board, or Braun, to issue opinions.

Ritchie was sentenced to death in 2002 for the Sept. 29, 2000, shooting death of Ofc. Bill Toney.

Per court documents, the underlying crime began as a police pursuit of a stolen van. Toney pursued Ritchie on foot, and Ritchie ultimately fired four shots at the police officer, who did not survive the shooting.

Ritchie and six other men remain on the state’s death row at the Indiana State Prison.

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