The Washington Hatchet Baseball team officially kicks off the season on Saturday at the Sports Complex with the annual hit a thon and Black and Gold Game. This will be the first time in two years that players will be on the diamond with the season cancelled last year due to Covid. Maria Bedwell with the Baseball Boosters explains a little more about Saturday’s fundraiser..
Bedwell went on to say the Junior High Program will also have a unique fundraiser coming in April that will be a lot of fun…
The Hatchet Baseball season starts one week from today with a road game at Evansville Harrison. First pitch is set for 5pm.
The Indiana Pacers look to snap a six-game home losing streak Wednesday night against the Detroit Pistons. The Pacers return home for one game after a three-game road trip necessitated by the NCAA Tournament being played over the weekend at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana won back-to-back games in Miami before losing by 27 to the division-leading Milwaukee Bucks Monday night. Indiana is a game and a half out of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference with a 19-23 record, while Detroit has the worst record in the East at 12-30. Both Myles Turner and Malcolm Brogdon are questionable after missing Monday’s loss with injuries. The Pacers and Pistons tip off from downtown Indy at 7 p.m.
The Indiana women’s basketball team takes on the 12 seed Belmont Bruins Wednesday afternoon in San Antonio in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The fourth seeded Hoosiers are aiming to advance past the second round for the first time ever. IU used suffocating defense Monday to defeat VCU 63-32, which marked the fewest points allowed by a Big Ten team in the history of the women’s NCAA tourney. Indiana outscored the Rams 41-15 in the second half and was led by Grace Berger’s 20 points. Belmont upset five seed Gonzaga 64-59 for the school’s first ever win in the “Big Dance.” The Hoosiers and Bruins tip off at 5 p.m. Eastern with coverage on ESPNU. The winner will face the region’s top seed North Carolina State in the Sweet 16. Indiana has never made the Sweet 16 in the tournament’s current format, although the Hoosiers previously made the round of 16 in 1983 when the tournament only featured 32 teams.
Indiana guard Armaan Franklin has entered the NCAA transfer portal. The Indianapolis native and Cathedral grad averaged 11.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game as a sophomore. He was IU’s most improved player and shot 42 percent from 3-point range. His mother India Franklin told the IndyStar that entering the portal does not necessarily mean he is leaving IU, but that he is keeping his options open. According to Zach Osterman of the IndyStar, Franklin met with IU athletic director Scott Dolson prior to entering his name into the portal. India Franklin went on to say “Once IU hires a coach, he’s definitely going to meet with that coach to make sure it’s a good fit for him, and make sure Armaan’s a good fit for the coach.” Dolson fired Hoosiers coach Archie Miller last Monday and has yet to name his replacement.
Purdue forward Aaron Wheeler also entered the NCAA transfer portal Tuesday. The 6-foot-9 Wheeler just finished his redshirt junior season and averaged 3.9 points and 4.4 rebounds for the Boilermakers. He played in all 28 games this past season with five starts, but the position is a bit of a log jam. Redshirt freshman Mason Gillis assumed the starting role and the Boilers have two top-60 recruits coming in at forward next season in Caleb Furst and Trey Kaufman-Renn. The Stamford, Connecticut native was a crucial piece off the bench during Purdue’s 2019 Elite Eight trip. He enters the portal as a grad transfer with two years of eligibility remaining.
