With an 0-2 home record, the Hoosiers have yet to win at Bart Kaufman Field this season
After playing 15 of its first 17 games on the road, Indiana baseball (8-9, 1-2 Big Ten) begins a stretch in which it plays 13 of its next 16 games at home. First on the docket is a three-game set against Ohio State (5-9, 0-0 Big Ten), which looks markedly different from its last meeting with the Hoosiers in the 2024 Big Ten Tournament.
Justin Haire took over as head coach after 10 years at Campbell and immediately had to rebuild the Buckeyes’ pitching staff. They lost 72.7 percent of their total innings pitched last season, including all three weekend starters.
The absence of arms such as Landon Beidelschies (84.2 IP, 4.15 ERA, 91 K, transferred to Arkansas) and Zach Brown (25 appearances, 4.22 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, transferred to Georgia) impacted Haire’s squad early — it held leads in the seventh inning or later in six of its first nine games but started the season 1-8. Ohio State has walked 95 batters, the most of any Big Ten team. The new-look roster has rebounded since the flat start, winning three games in a row.
“You learn a lot about yourselves really fast,” Haire said Thursday. “That margin of error is not very big. Every mistake you make gets amplified against good teams.”
Ohio State also lost five of its nine starting position players that were penciled in against the Hoosiers in Omaha, Nebraska last May. Despite numerous players taking on new roles, Haire likes what he’s seen from his bats so far this season. When they get on base, the Buckeyes cause problems — they’ve swiped 35 bases, which ranks third in the Big Ten.
“You’re not always going to hit your way to a 10-spot,” Haire said. “You’ve got to create, baserun, play the short game and be good with two strikes. I think our guys saw that and learned that. That ‘battle’ mentality was there for our offense from day one.”
Similarly, Indiana has battled through its first month of the season. The Hoosiers took down Indiana State on Tuesday, with lesser-utilized pitchers including southpaw Deron Swanson (3 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 5 K) and Pete Haas (1.2 IP, H, ER, 3 K) leading the way on the hill. Indiana put up five runs in the sixth, taking the lead for good as Indiana took advantage of two throwing errors committed by the Sycamores.
Four of Indiana’s five runs in the inning were unearned. Production from arms other than the weekend mainstays may be a sign of things to come for an Indiana pitching staff that has struggled this season. The Hoosiers are 14th in the Big Ten with a 6.29 team ERA through the first month of the season — a dilemma similar to, but not as magnified as Ohio State. The Buckeyes’ staff is dead-last in the league with an eye-popping 8.55 team ERA. With temperatures in the mid-70s expected for Friday’s doubleheader, both offenses may have a field day.
Indiana has its sights set on a third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth, and this stretch of home games may be the launching pad that head coach Jeff Mercer’s team needs to begin a run towards playing bonus baseball in late May and early June. The Hoosiers went 26-4 at home in 2023 but struggled last season, partly due to injuries that completely altered the starting rotation.
With a healthy stable of arms that has momentum to build on after Tuesday’s strong showing, Indiana is primed to improve on its 0-2 home record and not only eclipse .500 for the first time this year, but soar well beyond if its pitching staff can continue trending upward and its offense can continue raking. First baseman Jake Hanley (.406 AVG, 12 RBI), center fielder Korbyn Dickerson (1.265 OPS, 8 HR, 29 RBI) and left fielder Devin Taylor (1.231 OPS, 21 RBI) are just three of the eight Indiana hitters with an OPS of .950 or higher.
The Hoosiers have won nine of 12 Big Ten series at home since 2022 and won five straight league series after losing the conference opener to Illinois last year. If traffic on the basepaths remains the norm for Indiana, a similar trend may emerge in the spring months this season. Indiana’s defense of its home turf begins at 2 p.m. Friday versus Ohio State. The series continues at 6 p.m. Friday and concludes at 1 p.m. Sunday. All games will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus and the IU Sports Radio Network.
