After a 10-run victory over Ohio State in game one of Friday’s doubleheader, Indiana freshman Hogan Denny strode to the plate during the nightcap for the biggest at-bat of his young college career.
Flashback
A few hours earlier, the Hoosiers scored 12 unanswered runs to claim the series opener, winning 12-2 in eight innings. Ohio State left fielder Nick Giamarusti homered to give the Buckeyes a 2-0 lead, but relievers Anthony Gubitosi (IP, 0 H, 2 BB), Drew Buhr (3 IP, 4 H, 4 K) and Gavin Seebold (2 IP, 0 H, BB) held Ohio State scoreless from there on out while Indiana’s offense scored in every conceivable fashion.
Although Indiana recorded 14 hits, few players had a better day than freshman first baseman Jake Hanley. Catcher Jake Stadler doubled in the third inning to give Indiana a 3-2 lead, and the left-handed hitting Hanley followed with the first home run of his career. It was a two-run blast that ricocheted high off the left-field scoreboard — far from an easy feat for a lefty.
Buhr came out of the bullpen to begin the fourth inning and Ohio State threatened with runners on second and third and only one out. At the bottom of the lineup, center fielder Reggie Bussey attempted a squeeze bunt. Hanley charged in from first base, barehanded the ball, and flipped it to Stadler, who tagged out Ohio State first baseman Will Carpenter for the pivotal second out. Leadoff man Trey Lipsey flew out to left, stranding two baserunners as Buhr escaped trouble.
Hanley entered Friday with no career home runs but ended game one of the twin-bill with a pair. His second two-run blast of the afternoon was the final blemish on Ohio State starter Chase Herrell’s performance. Indiana handed Herrell his worst outing of the season. In 4.2 innings, he allowed 10 hits, nine runs and three homers, two of which were Hanley’s doing.
Though Hanley has one of the strongest physical frames on Indiana’s roster, he went 17 games without a home run to begin his career. Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer reassured his first baseman, saying the power numbers will rise with time.
“Your power is going to come,” Mercer said postgame. “Just be a hitter. Don’t lose your high average to try to hit balls out of the ballpark.”
After Friday’s doubleheader, Hanley’s .403 batting average leads all qualified Indiana hitters.
“The difficult part is, once you start hitting homers, you fall in love with it,” Mercer said. “You hit homers because you hit balls on a line. He’s got to go back to his base-level approach and be a hitter. Kudos to him — what a mature player from a great player that’s been a great addition.”
Flash forward
The nightcap was a tougher nut to crack than the series opener. Indiana trailed from the jump after the Buckeyes jumped on starting pitcher Ben Grable and scored four runs in the first two innings. The Northwestern transfer had allowed just one run in his previous two starts combined, but Ohio State roughed him up in four innings, scoring five runs on eight hits.
“The truth is, they picked Grable’s pitches,” Mercer said. “We weren’t sure where it was coming from, but (verbal cues) were coming in and they were on time. Kudos to them for studying the tape.”
Trailing 7-3 entering the bottom of the eighth inning, Indiana rallied behind a raucous home crowd. Freshman right-hander Trey Telfer pitched a scoreless frame and Justin Haire’s squad saw another winnable game slip away.
The first-year Ohio State head coach watched helplessly as Indiana became the latest in a long line of opponents to erase a late deficit when facing his side. Reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week Cooper Malamazian’s two-run homer, the first of his career, cut Ohio State’s lead in half. With the Buckeyes up 7-5, Denny entered the game as a pinch-hitter and doubled to the opposite field. He scored on outfielder Andrew Wiggins’ triple, which Giamarusti misplayed.
Rather than trying to keep the ball in front of himself, he attempted a diving catch and whiffed, ending up on the turf as the ball rolled to the wall. Wiggins got jammed and, had Giamarusti let the ball bounce, Denny would have advanced to third while Wiggins likely would have settled for a single. Instead, Wiggins dove headfirst into third base and scored the game-tying run on a groundout from outfielder Devin Taylor.
Coming out of the bullpen for the first time all season, righty Cole Gilley retired the side in order in the top of the ninth inning. The Columbus, Indiana native punctuated the frame by striking out Buckeyes catcher Mason Eckleman, who entered his fifth at-bat 2-for-4 with a triple. Gilley, an Indiana State transfer whose first four appearances at Indiana were all starts, said postgame that he had to turn up the volume of his PitchCom because the Bart Kaufman Field crowd was so loud.
“(The coaching staff) said, once we tie the game or take the lead, finish the job,” Gilley said. “It was awesome to see. Hopefully we keep building on it, people keep showing up and it keeps getting louder and louder.”
Ohio State southpaw Hunter Shaw matched Gilley in the home half of the ninth, retiring Hanley, catcher TJ Schuyler and shortstop Tyler Cerny in order to send the game to extra innings, tied 7-7.
Gilley worked around a one-out baserunner who reached on a dropped third strike, holding Ohio State scoreless in the top of the 10th. Malamazian and Denny — the same freshman duo that started the Indiana rally — were due up. Shaw returned to the rubber and Malamazian led off the inning with a ground-rule double, his second extra-base hit in three innings.
A catcher by trade, Denny stayed in the game at second base after pinch-hitting for Jasen Oliver and stepped into the batter’s box again, this time with the winning run on second base. He chased a pair of curveballs in the dirt, falling behind 1-2. Mercer called timeout, as he often does in big spots, taking his young hitter aside.
“He was excited,” Mercer said. “Just trying to get him to slow down and stay on fastball timing.”
It worked. Denny watched a back-foot breaking ball for ball two, fouled off another pitch on the inner half of the plate to stay alive and took a curveball in the dirt for ball three. Shaw tried another low-and-in offspeed pitch, but Denny turned on it and hit a towering fly ball well over the fence down the left field line. The umpiring crew ruled that the ball was foul. Third base coach Blake Allen lobbied for a replay review, but the call stood.
“I think the homer was probably fair,” Mercer said. “It was probably just so far gone. BA never says anything.”
It didn’t matter. Denny’s shoulders rose and fell as he took a deep breath and calmly strolled back into the box. Shaw left a fastball out over the plate and Denny stayed with it, hitting a line-drive single into right-center field. Malamazian scored from second base and joined the mob of Indiana players celebrating with Denny after the first walk-off of his career.
“After Cooper hit the double, I gave (Mercer) a little look and asked him what he wanted to do,” Denny said. “He told me to have my at-bat. He was confident in me, and that set me off on the right foot. So proud of the guys for coming back and taking the series on night one.”
Denny started Indiana’s first five games in right field but scuffled at the plate. He has started just three times since. With Taylor battling an illness on Saturday morning, Denny started game one of the doubleheader in left field — a position he learned in the fall — and went 2-for-4 at the plate while also throwing out Giamarusti as he tried to stretch a double into a triple.
“We have a great freshman class, but we also have a great upper class,” Denny said. “Everybody has confidence in one another.”
The confidence starts up top.
“Honestly, I coach the freshmen harder than the upperclassmen,” Mercer said. “You don’t have to be a hero, you just have to do your job. It’s a player’s responsibility to believe in himself, and it’s a coach’s responsibility to believe in that player.”
Mercer continued, saying that belief may have wavered slightly as Indiana labored to an 8-9 start through the first month of the season.
“There’s no triple-A. We’re not calling anybody up,” Mercer said. “We’re going to have to fight our way through this.”
Indiana does not hesitate to lean on its young players from day one.
“As you come to Indiana, you’re going to be a great player from the beginning of your career and we’re going to believe in you,” Mercer said. “You’ve got to be physically available and you’ve got to be mentally available. If you’re not available to learn, I can’t help you. Those guys have done a good job of that.”
Indiana is over .500 for the first time since June 2024, now sitting at 10-9 overall and 3-2 in Big Ten play. With the series already in hand, the Hoosiers look ahead to Sunday, where they have the chance to sweep Ohio State in Bloomington for the second time in three years. The series finale is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch and it will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus and the IU Sports Radio Network.
