If one thing is at a premium in college baseball, it is pitching depth. It’s not unique, but this is the reality for Indiana. Entering his seventh season at the helm, Jeff Mercer’s squad has all the offensive firepower to make a run at the Big Ten title and its third straight NCAA tournament appearance. The question lies in whether the Hoosiers can stay healthy — last year, they didn’t.
Sitting at No. 25 in the Baseball America preseason rankings, Indiana is coming off a 33-26-1 (15-9 Big Ten) season in which it fell one win shy of a berth in the Big Ten Championship game and squeaked into the Knoxville Regional as one of the last teams selected to the 64-team NCAA tournament. It was seen by many as an underachieving effort, but one that makes more sense when considering preseason injuries to starting pitchers Luke Sinnard (DNP in 2024), Ben Grable (DNP) and a midseason injury to Connor Foley (14 starts, 4.71 ERA, .165 BAA) that left Mercer and pitching coach Dustin Glant scrambling to replace over 160 innings of production on the mound.
“Last year, I feel like there were a lot of times where we left a lot on the table,” shortstop Tyler Cerny said Jan. 29. “Obviously we had a lot of injuries, pitching-wise, but sometimes we didn’t show up at the plate very well. Being consistent in every single game we play, no matter who we’re playing, is going to be key for us.”
Key position players such as infielders Brock Tibbitts (.313 AVG, .876 OPS) and AJ Shepard (two HR in three games) also missed significant time — Shepard sustained his second season-ending injury in three years during Indiana’s third game of the season. He has since taken a medical waiver and is no longer listed on Indiana’s roster after joining the program in 2022 as a highly-touted recruit.
Sinnard, Foley and Tibbitts headlined a group of six Hoosiers selected in the 2024 MLB Draft. Also included here are outfielders Carter Mathison (.260 AVG, .876 OPS, 13 HR) and Nick Mitchell (.335 AVG, .970 OPS, 49 RBI, team-high four OF assists) as well as right-hander Brayden Risedorph (career: 100 IP, 6.30 ERA, 10.5 K/9).
Indiana’s roster features 23 newcomers (11 freshmen and 12 transfers) and 19 returners. Among these returners are outfielder and preseason Big Ten Player of the Year Devin Taylor (team-high .357 AVG, 1.109 OPS, 20 HR in 2024), preseason First Team All-Big Ten middle infielder Jasen Oliver (.285 AVG, .891 OPS, 10 HR), Cerny (.315 AVG, .903 OPS, team-high 60 RBI) and pitching workhorse Drew Buhr, a sixth-year senior righty who posted a 3.31 ERA in 49 innings out of the bullpen last season.
One returner poised for a breakout season is sophomore outfielder Andrew Wiggins. He played in 36 of Indiana’s 60 games last season, starting in 14. Across a sample size of 73 plate appearances, his numbers were good. The Indianapolis native posted a .309 AVG and a 1.011 OPS to go along with three HR and 15 RBI.
He has game-changing power and Mercer lauded his plate discipline and veteran-like approach last season — Wiggins saw increased playing time in the month of May. With Mathison and Mitchell departing for pro ball, Wiggins will likely compete for starting reps in the outfield alongside graduate Xavier transfer Tyler DeMartino (.298 AVG, .879 OPS, 23 HR, 95 RBI in 151 career games) and redshirt sophomore Louisville transfer Korbyn Dickerson (2024: .235 BA, .658 OPS in 22 PA). Wiggins may also DH like he did last season — 13 of his 14 starts came at designated hitter.
In keeping with giving young players opportunities to shine early in their careers, Indiana’s freshman class is loaded with talent – ranked No. 9 in the country by D1Baseball. It is headlined by a pair of MLB draftees in shortstop Cooper Malamazian and right-handed pitcher Henry Brummel, both of whom were selected in the final four rounds by the Milwaukee Brewers but opted to play in college instead.
A two-time IHSA 3A state champion, Malamazian is the No. 11 overall 2024 prospect in Illinois per Perfect Game. Standing at 6-foot-5 and weighing 210 pounds, Brummel has already hit 93 MPH on the radar gun and, given his frame, could shape up similarly to either Sinnard or Foley on the hill. With how battered Indiana’s pitching staff was in 2024, Brummel could prove to be a real asset for Indiana if he adjusts well to the college game.
Another headliner in the freshman class is Mooresville native Hogan Denny, a catcher and outfielder who was named the 2024 Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year and earned second-team high school All-American honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings. With fifth-year senior Jake Stadler and sophomore TJ Schuyler both returning, it may be difficult for Denny to find a consistent foothold behind the plate. Like Wiggins did last year, Denny may see time at designated hitter as he looks to gain experience in the college ranks.
“It’s probably the deepest team in terms of depth,” Mercer said Jan. 24. “There are a lot of unknowns as far as who we’ll play. (We) could go in so many directions right now. The freshman group is talented, competitive and will probably be ready to play pretty early on.”
Indiana has no shortage of talent on the offensive side. The Hoosiers will only go as far as their pitching staff can take them. Indiana posted a 6.21 team ERA last season, ranking ninth in the Big Ten. It allowed a conference-worst 97 home runs, though this was largely a byproduct of living around the plate — the Hoosiers’ 10.1 K/9 was second-best in the conference behind only Iowa (11.1). If you live around the plate, any mistakes will be punished.
There are a lot of unknowns surrounding Indiana’s pitching staff. Pitchers who were expected to produce at a high rate last year either sustained injuries (Grable, Foley) or massively underperformed, the latter of which afflicted lefty Ryan Kraft more than anyone else. After twirling 61.2 innings to the tune of a 2.48 ERA and First Team All-Big Ten honors in 2023, Kraft cratered in 2024, turning in a subpar 7.27 ERA in just 26 innings.
Kraft will have help from both sides of the rubber this year as he looks to return to form — Lipscomb transfer southpaw Matthew Bonhert is healthy after missing all of last season with an injury. So too is Grable. Sophomore righty Jacob Vogel (23.1 IP, 2.31 ERA) emerged as an option at closer last season, Aydan Decker-Petty (37 IP, 6.32 ERA) showed signs of improvement in year two and Mercer added some intriguing players via the portal including Cole Gilley (Indiana State), Clayton Weisheit and Gavin Seebold (Southern Indiana).
“There are a lot of different ways we could go on the weekends,” Mercer said. “I don’t have a super clear idea of what the rotation will be yet.”
That’s not a new issue for Indiana — the Hoosiers didn’t have a three-man weekend rotation last season. Southpaw Ty Bothwell and Foley were the team’s only true starters. Sundays were usually bullpen games.
Mercer added that Seebold, Gilley, Kraft, Decker-Petty and Saint Louis transfer right-hander Jackson Yarberry as potential weekend starters. He also added that Grable, who is now a year removed from the injury that kept him off the mound last season, may either start later in the season or become a mainstay at the back end of the bullpen.
“(Grable) would’ve been a starter for us last year,” Mercer said. “He’s been (sitting at) 93-95 (miles per hour) with a good slider and splitter. At minimum, he’s on track to be a multiple-inning bullpen closer option with the potential of starting.”
Indiana begins its season versus UNLV at the Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic on Feb. 14, a weekend where it will also face Xavier and No. 9 Oregon State. Its home opener is Feb. 19 versus Purdue Fort Wayne, which upset then-No. 20 Indiana in Bloomington on Feb. 27, 2024. Other early-season expeditions include late-February trips to Cary, North Carolina and Deland, Florida before Big Ten play begins at Penn State on March 7.
As is the status quo under Mercer, Indiana will play a tough non-conference schedule. This year’s slate features five teams that made the 2024 NCAA tournament, including Evansville, which came within one game of eliminating eventual national champion No. 1 Tennessee at the Knoxville Super Regional. The full schedule can be found on IUHoosiers.com.
