Before Indiana’s season-opening trip to Surprise, Arizona, head coach Jeff Mercer acknowledged that his team’s defense would not be up to par. The Hoosiers committed seven errors in four games, dropping a pair of contests against UNLV, losing in extra innings to Xavier and being shut out by No. 7 Oregon State. Indiana is 0-4 for just the second time in Mercer’s seven-year tenure.
The box scores show that Indiana committed seven errors, but it had an equally poor showing in the batter’s box. The Hoosiers went 6-for-36 (.166) with runners in scoring position and 36 runners left on base — doing itself no favors in key situations while giving its opponents extra chances.
Friday
The series opener, played on Valentine’s Day, was decided in the top of the first inning — UNLV greeted Indiana starter Gavin Seebold with four consecutive hits, the last of which was the loudest. Outfielder Dean Toigo, a Division II transfer, blasted a grand slam off Seebold for his first Division I hit.
Seebold recovered well, allowing just one more hit and keeping the Rebels off the board for the rest of his Indiana debut. Despite his efforts and four shutout innings from veteran right-hander Drew Buhr in relief, Indiana failed to overcome the early deficit. The Hoosiers had their chances, loading the bases in the fourth inning and routinely putting traffic on the basepaths, but they left eight runners on base and lost, 4-2, despite recording nine hits to UNLV’s seven. The Hoosiers left eight runners on base and grounded into two inning-ending double plays.
Saturday
Saturday night’s meeting with Xavier was different. The Hoosiers led 2-0 after five innings following a bases-loaded walk in the third inning and a sacrifice fly from designated hitter Joey Brenczewski in the fifth.
Indiana starter Cole Gilley was stout in his Hoosier debut, turning in 5.1 solid innings while allowing two runs (one earned) and striking out a weekend-high 11. Xavier finally broke through in the sixth inning, chasing Gilley after infielder Jake Lambdin reached on a throwing error by third baseman Josh Pyne and outfielder Aedan Anderson brought Lambdin home with a ground-rule double to pull the Musketeers within a run.
Highly-touted Northwestern transfer Ben Grable replaced Gilley and, before throwing his first pitch, balked and allowed Anderson to reach third base. Grable then walked back-to-back batters and, facing infielder Landon Mensik, threw a wild pitch.
Anderson scored and so, too, did outfielder Isaac Wachmann after catcher Jake Stadler’s throw to the plate deflected off Grable’s leg. Mensik singled home infielder Connor Misch to give Xavier a 4-2 lead. Indiana clawed closer in the bottom of the seventh inning by way of Tyler Cerny’s solo home run, but Xavier led 6-3 entering the bottom of the ninth after adding insurance runs in each of the next two frames.
As the lineup card flipped over for the fifth time, the bats came alive. Freshman Hogan Denny picked up his first career base hit and Cerny followed with a single of his own to bring up second baseman Jasen Oliver. The sophomore whacked a hanging breaking ball over the left-center field wall for a game-tying three-run homer.
The momentum was short-lived. Ryan Kraft took the mound in the top of the 10th and, after a pair of strikeouts, allowed an infield hit to Xavier infielder Eddie Peters, who advanced to second base on Indiana’s fourth and final error of the night — a throwing error by Cerny. Pinch hitter Hayden Christiansen singled home Peters and came around to score on Xavier’s fourth-straight two-out single, this one off the bat of outfielder Carter Hendrickson.
Trailing 8-6, Indiana had one last chance with two outs in the bottom of the 10th — outfielder Devin Taylor began the last-gasp rally with a single. Denny walked and Cerny was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Oliver with the winning run aboard. Hitting game-tying and walk-off home runs in consecutive innings would have been a historic feat, but it was not to be. Oliver flew out to Anderson in center field to seal the 8-6 Xavier win in 10 innings.
Sunday
Scoring chances were harder to come by on Sunday when No. 7 Oregon State took on Indiana. The Beavers led 6-0 after five innings and allowed just five Hoosier baserunners — they no-hit Indiana for 7.1 innings. Junior college transfer Ethan Kleinschmit was nearly perfect in his Oregon State debut, spinning six no-hit innings, walking two batters and striking out five. Right-handers Wyatt Queen and Laif Palmer covered the final three innings, though they weren’t without issue.
After freshman Jake Hanley broke up the combined no-hit bid, sophomore Andrew Wiggins battled from an 0-2 count to work a walk and the tandem advanced into scoring position after a Brenczewski groundout. Palmer took over for Queen on the bump and walked Stadler on five pitches to load the bases for Taylor.
One would think the preseason All-American may have an advantage when stepping into the box against a reliever who toted a 2.82 WHIP and barely saw the mound in 2024, but such an assumption is foolish — Palmer struck out Taylor on three pitches and Indiana’s best offensive weapon went down with the bat on his shoulder.
The ninth inning was more straightforward — After Denny flew out, Cerny was hit by a pitch, but Oliver and outfielder Korbyn Dickerson went down quietly to seal the clinical 6-0 Oregon State win.
Thrust into a starting role, Stonehill transfer Pete Haas (3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, BB, 2 K) and southpaw Grant Holderfield (2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB) did little to stop an Oregon State lineup that is as potent as any in the country. Eight of nine Oregon State batters hit safely, with shortstop Aiva Arquette and left fielder Gavin Turley combining to go 5-for-7 with four RBIs and four runs scored.
A positive: Indiana relievers Seth Benes, Matthew Bonhert and Ryan Rushing combined to hold the Beavers scoreless for the final three innings.
Monday
Indiana’s second date with UNLV was a see-saw battle where the Rebels responded to everything Indiana threw at them. Indiana took a 3-0 lead on a second-inning Brenczewski homer, but the Rebels answered with four runs of their own in the top of the third.
Starting pitcher Aydan Decker-Petty allowed a leadoff single, wild pitch, an RBI double and a walk before being replaced by Kraft. The UNLV onslaught continued after a sacrifice bunt as infielder Cooper Sheff tripled home a pair of runs and fellow infielder JP Hefft followed with an RBI groundout to give the Rebels a 4-3 lead. They extended their advantage to 7-3 with fourth-inning help from Indiana reliever Will Eldridge.
UNLV loaded the bases with one out following a hit-by-pitch, walk and a single. Eldridge struck out Sheff for the second out of the frame and was a strike away from escaping without allowing a run, but he hit Hefft with his 1-2 offering and allowed an RBI single to Toigo, who continued to terrorize Indiana’s arms.
Indiana got those three runs back via a bases-loaded triple from Taylor with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, making the score 7-6 in favor of UNLV. The teams traded scoreless frames in the fifth and sixth innings and Indiana tied the game at seven when UNLV’s Alex Overbay balked, allowing Cerny to score. Indiana finally got a shutdown inning when lefty Anthony Gubitosi worked the fourth consecutive scoreless inning by an Indiana reliever — his third, plus a scoreless frame from Grable.
Indiana had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the eighth, but its struggles with runners in scoring position continued. Freshman Will Moore walked to lead off the frame and UNLV intentionally walked Taylor to set up a potential inning-ending double play with one out and Denny due up.
The gamble paid off — Denny struck out looking, but Cerny strode to the plate with Moore and Taylor now at second and third after a passed ball. Cerny, like Denny, left his bat on his shoulder and struck out looking to end the inning. However objectionable the strike zone was, UNLV reliever Will Marquart kept the game tied, 7-7, heading into the ninth.
Usually a dependable option at the back end of Indiana’s bullpen, Buhr did not have luck on his side when he was tasked with shutting down UNLV for a second time. UNLV recorded a pair of infield hits in the top of the ninth, the second of which came with two outs. Pinch hitter Michael Cruz brought both baserunners home with a decisive double and UNLV took a 9-7 lead to the bottom of the ninth.
Not to be outdone, Indiana responded with two runs of its own. Hanley brought Indiana within a run with an RBI single and Moore hustled down the first-base line to beat what would have been a game-sealing double play, allowing Dickerson to score. Stadler followed with an infield knock of his own, bringing Taylor to the plate with the winning run on second base. Facing fifth-year senior Mason Dillow, Taylor battled through a nine-pitch at-bat but flew out to left field, sending the game to extra innings.
Lipscomb transfer Matthew Bonhert allowed two baserunners to start the tenth inning, forcing a pitching change. With Indiana’s pitching staff depleted, freshman Henry Brummel made his college debut.
He walked Sheff to load the bases, which Hefft promptly unloaded via UNLV’s second grand slam in as many games against Indiana, giving UNLV a 13-9 lead. The Rebels were outscored 26-1 in their losses to Oregon State and Xavier, yet outscored Indiana 17-14 in two meetings.
Yet again, the Hoosiers had a chance. Denny walked to lead off the last of the 10th inning and Wiggins joined him via a two-out free pass. Down to his last strike, Dickerson hit a three-run home run to make the score 13-12, but Hanley grounded out to first base to end the game.
Four-game weekends are unusual in college baseball. Indiana’s pitching staff — stretched to the limit in Arizona — should have time to rest up before the Hoosiers head to Cary, North Carolina for games against Northwestern, Fordham and Harvard from Feb. 21-23. Indiana is scheduled to host Purdue Fort Wayne at 4 p.m. Wednesday, but this game will likely be canceled due to weather — the current forecast calls for a high of 23 degrees and games are rarely played when in sub-freezing temperatures.
