Friday, March 1
Frisco, Texas
7:00 PM
Indiana University
vs
#16 Alabama
Baseball Central: Frisco Classic
2/29/2024 9:30:00 AM | Baseball
FRISCO, Texas. – Continuing its tough start to the 2024 season, the Indiana Baseball team (6-2) prepares for perhaps its hardest challenge to date. Jeff Mercer's team returns to Texas for the Frisco Classic as one of three ranked programs in the round-robin event at Riders Park.
No. 16 Alabama, No. 20 Indiana, No. 25 Dallas Baptist and perennial power Arizona meet in one of the premier early season collegiate baseball tournaments at Dr. Pepper Ballpark and Riders Field in Frisco, home of the Texas Rangers Double A-affiliate.
Paired with contests against No. 12 Duke (L, 3-6) and No. 18 Coastal Carolina (W, 7-2) from opening weekend, the Hoosiers will have met four ranked opponents in their first 10 games. A challenging non-conference slate has been a staple of the Mercer era and will provide more opportunities to bolster the RPI in the early parts of the campaign.
Full of offensive talent, the Frisco Classic will showcase some of the game's brightest starts including reigning Big Ten Player of the Week Devin Taylor (.500 avg., 3 home runs, eight RBI's). Sophomores Brayden Risedorph and Connor Foley will continue their roles as the Friday and Saturday starters respectively.
Action this weekend will be live from Frisco on Friday (vs. Alabama, 7:00 PM ET), Saturday (vs. Dallas Baptist, 1:00 PM ET) and Sunday (vs. Arizona, 1;00 PM ET). IU returns home to Bart Kaufman Field in Bloomington on Tuesday for 15 of its 21 games in the month of March.
Gameday Info
vs. No. 16 Alabama (Friday, March 1st)
Live Video: t.ly/UE6g4
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: t.ly/OfByw
vs. No. 25 Dallas Baptist (Saturday, March 2nd)
Live Video: t.ly/UE6g4
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: t.ly/OfByw
vs. Arizona (Sunday, March 3rd)
Live Video: t.ly/UE6g4
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: t.ly/OfByw
Probable Starters
#20 Indiana vs. #16 Alabama
• Brayden Risedorph (0-1, 5.62 ERA) vs. Ben Hess (2-0, 2.25 ERA)
#20 Indiana vs. #25 Dallas Baptist
• Connor Foley (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Jaron DeBerry (1-0, 4.50 ERA)
#20 Indiana vs. Arizona
• TBD vs. TBD
Notable
Weekend Recap – at Baylor
• Indiana continued its outstanding start to the season, sweeping Baylor in its own ballpark by a combined score of 29-10. The Hoosiers never trailed in the three-game series and took an early lead in the first inning of all three contests.
Weekend Notes
- First non-conference true road series sweep for IU since 2007 (at Florida A&M)
- Fewest runs conceded in a three-game series since 2019 (10)
- 15 runs scored in the Sunday game (Feb. 25) were most in non-conference road game since 2015
- Best start (6-1) to a full 56-game season since 2018
Moving Up in the Polls
• The Hoosiers find themselves in the four main baseball polls (D1 Baseball, Baseball America, Perfect Game and NCBWA) this weekend after a 6-1 start to the season. IU is as high as No. 20 (D1 Baseball), setting the stage for two more ranked matchups this weekend.
• Friday's matchup with No. 16 and undefeated Alabama will be a top-20 matchup in Frisco and will also pit IU against former Maryland coach Rob Vaughn. The Hoosiers will then see No. 25 Dallas Baptist on Saturday afternoon, another undefeated program.
• IU's first three weekends see it play four different top-25 programs. Following the trip to Frisco Classic is a visit from undefeated Troy, one of the top mid-major teams in the entire country.
Sophomore Stud
• Sophomore Devin Taylor is tearing the cover off the ball to begin 2024, reaffirming his case to be one of the top available college bats in the 2025 MLB Draft. Through seven games this year, the Cincinnati native is batting .500 (17-34) with three home runs and eight RBIs.
• He leads an IU lineup that is hitting a collective .312 on the campaign with four players at a .300 average or better. The Hoosiers have mashed 16 home runs this year and have scored 66 runs. He was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Feb. 26 and currently leads the conference in batting average.
Foley's That Dude
• Facing the task of building the entire weekend rotation from a year ago, sophomore Connor Foley has helped ease the task for Saturdays. Through two starts, he has yet to concede a run and has struck out 14 batters in 10 scoreless innings. He dominated Baylor on Saturday afternoon with six innings and just one hit enroute to the victory.
• Fellow sophomores Brayden Risedorph (Friday) and Ethan Phillips (Sunday) have made consecutive starts in their respective roles as well.
Offense is Rolling
• It should be no surprise that the IU offense is starting to click in the early parts of the season. Despite leaving a number of runners on base, IU has scored 66 runs in eight games and put up at least nine hits in each contest so far.
• Six different players have eight-or-more hits with four Hoosiers (Taylor, Carter Mathison, Josh Pyne and Tyler Cerny) in double figures for hits already this season.
Scouting the Opponent
Alabama (9-0, 0-0)
• Led by former Maryland head coach Rob Vaughn, Alabama is off to a 9-0 start in 2024 including a pair of weekend sweeps over Manhattan College and Valparaiso. These will be the first games the Crimson Tide have played outside of the state of Alabama this year.
• Led by prolific Friday night starter Ben Hess (2-0), Alabama boasts a 1.63 team earned run average through nine contests. It has conceded just 22 runs in the early going and has limited opposing batters to a .192 average.
• Six different players have at least 10 hits on the season including Gage Miller who has a team-best 16 hits, batting .457 (16-35) on the season with five home runs and 16 RBIs. TJ McCants has six home runs in his first nine games.
Dallas Baptist (8-0, 0-0)
• Another of the top-25 teams in this weekend's field, Dallas Baptist brings a perfect 8-0 record into the Frisco Classic. The Patriots won 47 games in 2023, the most in its program history since moving to the division one level.
• DBU owns weekend sweeps of SEMO and Central Michigan while also picking off Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in midweek contests. The local Dallas team opens with Arizona on Friday afternoon.
• Offense is the story for DBU with a collective team batting average of .345 through eight games. Its top five hitters are all hitting .323 or better with 10+ hits each. Grant Jay and Miguel Santos have combined for nine home runs.
Arizona (4-4, 0-0)
• The Hoosiers' Sunday opponent has played an extremely challenging schedule in the early portion of the year. Arizona took a weekend series from No. 23 Northeastern to open the year before losing two of three at San Diego. The Wildcats traveled down early and lost a midweek contest at No. 5 TCU.
• Garen Caulfield and Brendan Summerhill lead the offensive attack with 15 hits each in the first eight contests of the season.
Inside the Series
Indiana vs. Alabama
• The two schools have met just once with IU winning a 10-7 neutral site contest in Florida in 1989.
Indiana vs. Dallas Baptist
• These two programs have never met.
Indiana vs. Arizona
• IU and Arizona have never played in baseball but played a 14-inning contest in softball last weekend and played in the 2021 NCAA Women's Basketball Elite 8.
No. 16 Alabama, No. 20 Indiana, No. 25 Dallas Baptist and perennial power Arizona meet in one of the premier early season collegiate baseball tournaments at Dr. Pepper Ballpark and Riders Field in Frisco, home of the Texas Rangers Double A-affiliate.
Paired with contests against No. 12 Duke (L, 3-6) and No. 18 Coastal Carolina (W, 7-2) from opening weekend, the Hoosiers will have met four ranked opponents in their first 10 games. A challenging non-conference slate has been a staple of the Mercer era and will provide more opportunities to bolster the RPI in the early parts of the campaign.
Full of offensive talent, the Frisco Classic will showcase some of the game's brightest starts including reigning Big Ten Player of the Week Devin Taylor (.500 avg., 3 home runs, eight RBI's). Sophomores Brayden Risedorph and Connor Foley will continue their roles as the Friday and Saturday starters respectively.
Action this weekend will be live from Frisco on Friday (vs. Alabama, 7:00 PM ET), Saturday (vs. Dallas Baptist, 1:00 PM ET) and Sunday (vs. Arizona, 1;00 PM ET). IU returns home to Bart Kaufman Field in Bloomington on Tuesday for 15 of its 21 games in the month of March.
Gameday Info
vs. No. 16 Alabama (Friday, March 1st)
Live Video: t.ly/UE6g4
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: t.ly/OfByw
vs. No. 25 Dallas Baptist (Saturday, March 2nd)
Live Video: t.ly/UE6g4
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: t.ly/OfByw
vs. Arizona (Sunday, March 3rd)
Live Video: t.ly/UE6g4
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: t.ly/OfByw
Probable Starters
#20 Indiana vs. #16 Alabama
• Brayden Risedorph (0-1, 5.62 ERA) vs. Ben Hess (2-0, 2.25 ERA)
#20 Indiana vs. #25 Dallas Baptist
• Connor Foley (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Jaron DeBerry (1-0, 4.50 ERA)
#20 Indiana vs. Arizona
• TBD vs. TBD
Notable
Weekend Recap – at Baylor
• Indiana continued its outstanding start to the season, sweeping Baylor in its own ballpark by a combined score of 29-10. The Hoosiers never trailed in the three-game series and took an early lead in the first inning of all three contests.
Weekend Notes
- First non-conference true road series sweep for IU since 2007 (at Florida A&M)
- Fewest runs conceded in a three-game series since 2019 (10)
- 15 runs scored in the Sunday game (Feb. 25) were most in non-conference road game since 2015
- Best start (6-1) to a full 56-game season since 2018
Moving Up in the Polls
• The Hoosiers find themselves in the four main baseball polls (D1 Baseball, Baseball America, Perfect Game and NCBWA) this weekend after a 6-1 start to the season. IU is as high as No. 20 (D1 Baseball), setting the stage for two more ranked matchups this weekend.
• Friday's matchup with No. 16 and undefeated Alabama will be a top-20 matchup in Frisco and will also pit IU against former Maryland coach Rob Vaughn. The Hoosiers will then see No. 25 Dallas Baptist on Saturday afternoon, another undefeated program.
• IU's first three weekends see it play four different top-25 programs. Following the trip to Frisco Classic is a visit from undefeated Troy, one of the top mid-major teams in the entire country.
Sophomore Stud
• Sophomore Devin Taylor is tearing the cover off the ball to begin 2024, reaffirming his case to be one of the top available college bats in the 2025 MLB Draft. Through seven games this year, the Cincinnati native is batting .500 (17-34) with three home runs and eight RBIs.
• He leads an IU lineup that is hitting a collective .312 on the campaign with four players at a .300 average or better. The Hoosiers have mashed 16 home runs this year and have scored 66 runs. He was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Feb. 26 and currently leads the conference in batting average.
Foley's That Dude
• Facing the task of building the entire weekend rotation from a year ago, sophomore Connor Foley has helped ease the task for Saturdays. Through two starts, he has yet to concede a run and has struck out 14 batters in 10 scoreless innings. He dominated Baylor on Saturday afternoon with six innings and just one hit enroute to the victory.
• Fellow sophomores Brayden Risedorph (Friday) and Ethan Phillips (Sunday) have made consecutive starts in their respective roles as well.
Offense is Rolling
• It should be no surprise that the IU offense is starting to click in the early parts of the season. Despite leaving a number of runners on base, IU has scored 66 runs in eight games and put up at least nine hits in each contest so far.
• Six different players have eight-or-more hits with four Hoosiers (Taylor, Carter Mathison, Josh Pyne and Tyler Cerny) in double figures for hits already this season.
Scouting the Opponent
Alabama (9-0, 0-0)
• Led by former Maryland head coach Rob Vaughn, Alabama is off to a 9-0 start in 2024 including a pair of weekend sweeps over Manhattan College and Valparaiso. These will be the first games the Crimson Tide have played outside of the state of Alabama this year.
• Led by prolific Friday night starter Ben Hess (2-0), Alabama boasts a 1.63 team earned run average through nine contests. It has conceded just 22 runs in the early going and has limited opposing batters to a .192 average.
• Six different players have at least 10 hits on the season including Gage Miller who has a team-best 16 hits, batting .457 (16-35) on the season with five home runs and 16 RBIs. TJ McCants has six home runs in his first nine games.
Dallas Baptist (8-0, 0-0)
• Another of the top-25 teams in this weekend's field, Dallas Baptist brings a perfect 8-0 record into the Frisco Classic. The Patriots won 47 games in 2023, the most in its program history since moving to the division one level.
• DBU owns weekend sweeps of SEMO and Central Michigan while also picking off Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in midweek contests. The local Dallas team opens with Arizona on Friday afternoon.
• Offense is the story for DBU with a collective team batting average of .345 through eight games. Its top five hitters are all hitting .323 or better with 10+ hits each. Grant Jay and Miguel Santos have combined for nine home runs.
Arizona (4-4, 0-0)
• The Hoosiers' Sunday opponent has played an extremely challenging schedule in the early portion of the year. Arizona took a weekend series from No. 23 Northeastern to open the year before losing two of three at San Diego. The Wildcats traveled down early and lost a midweek contest at No. 5 TCU.
• Garen Caulfield and Brendan Summerhill lead the offensive attack with 15 hits each in the first eight contests of the season.
Inside the Series
Indiana vs. Alabama
• The two schools have met just once with IU winning a 10-7 neutral site contest in Florida in 1989.
Indiana vs. Dallas Baptist
• These two programs have never met.
Indiana vs. Arizona
• IU and Arizona have never played in baseball but played a 14-inning contest in softball last weekend and played in the 2021 NCAA Women's Basketball Elite 8.
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
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