Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Face Key Big Ten Series at Michigan
5/14/2025 11:00:00 AM | Baseball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Late afternoon sunshine washes over Bart Kaufman Field. Indiana Hoosiers visit with family and friends just outside the baseball facility while inside coach Jeff Mercer analyzes rivalry defeat.
"We were stagnant and stationary," he says after Saturday's (May 10) 5-1 loss to Purdue. "We just didn't execute very well."
Victory can follow if lessons are learned and mistakes are corrected. 24 hours later, they are. IU follows that loss with a 14-4 seven-inning Sunday dominating win over the Boilers that sets up, but doesn't guarantee, a Big Ten tourney opportunity.
12 teams advance to the conference tourney in Omaha starting May 20 at Charles Schwab Field. The Hoosiers are in seventh place with a 14-13 record and will wrap up the regular season with this week's three-game series at Michigan (15-12). Six teams are within two games of them.
Add Friday night's 8-0 victory over Purdue and IU (29-22 overall) wins two of three in the series, making it eight victories in the last 10 meetings against the Boilers. The Hoosiers have won six of their last seven games overall in a late bid to earn a third-straight NCAA tourney appearance.
On Sunday, redshirt sophomore outfielder Korbyn Dickerson hits his 19th home run of the season and becomes just the sixth Hoosier to reach 75 runs batted in and the first since Alex Dickerson totaled 75 in 2010.
Veteran pitchers Ryan Kraft and Cole Gilley lead a staff that delivers a 1.80 earned run average in the three games against Purdue with 23 strikeouts against four walks. Gilley's Sunday victory gives him an 8-3 record.
No Hoosier has won that many games since Andrew Saalfrank did it in 2019.
With so much at stake in these next few weeks, Mercer and his staff want the Hoosiers so in tune with the nuances of each game that they can adjust to any change, whether it's home-run robbing winds or Purdue switching from a power throwing right-hand starter to a left-hand off-speed reliever.
"Sometimes you have to adjust and execute with guys on base," Mercer says.
IU did that in Friday night's victory and did not in the Saturday loss.
"My frustration is our ability to execute to a different game plan," Mercer says. "(Purdue brings) in a lefty in, like the lefty from Michigan State, they move the entire infield over and (right-handed hitters) have to shoot the ball the other way. Hit the ball on a line to right field. We were unable to do that, unable to string those quality at-bats together."
With hitters such as Dickerson (.342 average), outfielder Devin Taylor (.366, 14 homers, 55 runs batted in), first baseman Jake Hanley (.343, 13 homers, 50 RBI), infielder Cooper Malamazian (.342, 17 doubles, 40 RBI) and infielder Will Moore (.319), quality at bats are usually the norm.
"We were so dutiful (Friday night) and did such a great job in situations and hitting situationally," Mercer says. Typically, we're fine in that regard."
On Saturday, that means don't try to pull reliever Michael Vallone, who ruthlessly works the outside part of the plate against right-hand hitters.
"You know (the ball is) going that way," Mercer says. "You have to trust the scouting report knowing what it's going to do. That's what the metrics say. That's what the scouting report says. That's what 50 innings of Division I baseball says. We weren't able to make the adjustment quickly enough. When you do that, you get your butts beat."
Mercer makes that point and the Hoosiers listen and learn. They win the series against Purdue for the third-straight time to set up a big weekend opportunity against Michigan (32-19 overall).
IU's 433 runs scored rank second in the Big Ten to Maryland's 436. Its .301 team average is second to conference leader Iowa's .303. Its 83 homers are third behind Oregon's 96 and Maryland's 86.
However, the Hoosiers rank 11th in team earned run average at 5.77 as injuries (closer Drew Buhr has pitched only 22.2 innings on nine appearances with a 1.99 ERA and two saves) and other factors -- including last summer's loss of pitching standouts Connor Foley (Arizona Diamondbacks) and Brayden Risedorph (Chicago Cubs) in the Major League Draft -- limit their ability to have consistent weekend starters.
"I'd love to have defined starting roles," Mercer says, "but when you lose two sophomore arms to the draft in Foley and Risedorph, it's hard to replace underclassmen as far as starter profiles who can do those things.
"Then you have injuries here and there, and you have to problem solve. You can't run it out there because this is what you'd like to do. You have to play the cards your dealt. This is what you've got and you have to find the best way to be successful."
So Mercer and pitching coach Dustin Glant have mixed and matched weekend starters this season, with Kraft (3-1, team-leading 3.48 earned run average), Gilley (4.13 ERA, team-leading 70 strikeouts) and Ben Grable (4-3, 4.83 ERA) emerging.
"We've been in positions, once Drew Buhr got hurt, we didn't have the closer," Mercer says. "You have to finish games when you have a chance to win them."
More and more, the Hoosiers are doing that. It might make all the difference this weekend at Michigan, and then at the Big Ten tourney, and perhaps beyond that.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Late afternoon sunshine washes over Bart Kaufman Field. Indiana Hoosiers visit with family and friends just outside the baseball facility while inside coach Jeff Mercer analyzes rivalry defeat.
"We were stagnant and stationary," he says after Saturday's (May 10) 5-1 loss to Purdue. "We just didn't execute very well."
Victory can follow if lessons are learned and mistakes are corrected. 24 hours later, they are. IU follows that loss with a 14-4 seven-inning Sunday dominating win over the Boilers that sets up, but doesn't guarantee, a Big Ten tourney opportunity.
12 teams advance to the conference tourney in Omaha starting May 20 at Charles Schwab Field. The Hoosiers are in seventh place with a 14-13 record and will wrap up the regular season with this week's three-game series at Michigan (15-12). Six teams are within two games of them.
Add Friday night's 8-0 victory over Purdue and IU (29-22 overall) wins two of three in the series, making it eight victories in the last 10 meetings against the Boilers. The Hoosiers have won six of their last seven games overall in a late bid to earn a third-straight NCAA tourney appearance.
On Sunday, redshirt sophomore outfielder Korbyn Dickerson hits his 19th home run of the season and becomes just the sixth Hoosier to reach 75 runs batted in and the first since Alex Dickerson totaled 75 in 2010.
Veteran pitchers Ryan Kraft and Cole Gilley lead a staff that delivers a 1.80 earned run average in the three games against Purdue with 23 strikeouts against four walks. Gilley's Sunday victory gives him an 8-3 record.
No Hoosier has won that many games since Andrew Saalfrank did it in 2019.
With so much at stake in these next few weeks, Mercer and his staff want the Hoosiers so in tune with the nuances of each game that they can adjust to any change, whether it's home-run robbing winds or Purdue switching from a power throwing right-hand starter to a left-hand off-speed reliever.
"Sometimes you have to adjust and execute with guys on base," Mercer says.
IU did that in Friday night's victory and did not in the Saturday loss.
"My frustration is our ability to execute to a different game plan," Mercer says. "(Purdue brings) in a lefty in, like the lefty from Michigan State, they move the entire infield over and (right-handed hitters) have to shoot the ball the other way. Hit the ball on a line to right field. We were unable to do that, unable to string those quality at-bats together."
With hitters such as Dickerson (.342 average), outfielder Devin Taylor (.366, 14 homers, 55 runs batted in), first baseman Jake Hanley (.343, 13 homers, 50 RBI), infielder Cooper Malamazian (.342, 17 doubles, 40 RBI) and infielder Will Moore (.319), quality at bats are usually the norm.
"We were so dutiful (Friday night) and did such a great job in situations and hitting situationally," Mercer says. Typically, we're fine in that regard."
On Saturday, that means don't try to pull reliever Michael Vallone, who ruthlessly works the outside part of the plate against right-hand hitters.
"You know (the ball is) going that way," Mercer says. "You have to trust the scouting report knowing what it's going to do. That's what the metrics say. That's what the scouting report says. That's what 50 innings of Division I baseball says. We weren't able to make the adjustment quickly enough. When you do that, you get your butts beat."
Mercer makes that point and the Hoosiers listen and learn. They win the series against Purdue for the third-straight time to set up a big weekend opportunity against Michigan (32-19 overall).
IU's 433 runs scored rank second in the Big Ten to Maryland's 436. Its .301 team average is second to conference leader Iowa's .303. Its 83 homers are third behind Oregon's 96 and Maryland's 86.
However, the Hoosiers rank 11th in team earned run average at 5.77 as injuries (closer Drew Buhr has pitched only 22.2 innings on nine appearances with a 1.99 ERA and two saves) and other factors -- including last summer's loss of pitching standouts Connor Foley (Arizona Diamondbacks) and Brayden Risedorph (Chicago Cubs) in the Major League Draft -- limit their ability to have consistent weekend starters.
"I'd love to have defined starting roles," Mercer says, "but when you lose two sophomore arms to the draft in Foley and Risedorph, it's hard to replace underclassmen as far as starter profiles who can do those things.
"Then you have injuries here and there, and you have to problem solve. You can't run it out there because this is what you'd like to do. You have to play the cards your dealt. This is what you've got and you have to find the best way to be successful."
So Mercer and pitching coach Dustin Glant have mixed and matched weekend starters this season, with Kraft (3-1, team-leading 3.48 earned run average), Gilley (4.13 ERA, team-leading 70 strikeouts) and Ben Grable (4-3, 4.83 ERA) emerging.
"We've been in positions, once Drew Buhr got hurt, we didn't have the closer," Mercer says. "You have to finish games when you have a chance to win them."
More and more, the Hoosiers are doing that. It might make all the difference this weekend at Michigan, and then at the Big Ten tourney, and perhaps beyond that.
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