Indiana University Athletics
‘Cohesive’ – Hoosiers ‘Hungry’ for Elite Baseball Success
2/9/2026 3:00:00 PM | Baseball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Cohesion. Chemistry. Camaraderie. It's all there, it all matters, sophomore first baseman Jake Hanley says, as the Indiana Hoosiers seek to return to the Big Ten baseball forefront.
With a young and talented offensive core, combined with veteran pitchers, prospects are promising.
"This is one of the most cohesive teams I've ever been on, team chemistry-wise," Hanley says. "A lot of us are back from last year who have a bad taste in our mouths about how that season ended and got going, especially in the Big Ten tournament and early in the season.
"We have guys who know what it feels like and we have freshmen who are hungry. We want to win. I think everybody is on the same page."
Last season, IU finished 32-24 after a 0-4 start and a 1-1 Big Ten tourney finish.
This group, Hanley says, is poised for better. Cohesion is a catalyst.
"We made more of an effort to hang out with each other outside of the field," he says, "whether that's going to get breakfast or lunch, or hanging out to watch IU football. Just being around each other helped a lot.
"We have a lot of young guys, a lot of freshmen and sophomores, and a couple of transfers. Everyone is new, but from day one, everyone in the locker room got along well."
Sophomore shortstop Cooper Malamazian vouches for that.
"This is a special group. We have a lot of older guys who have embraced the leadership role on this team. Everyone wants to be a leader. I love that.
"We have a lot of winners on this team. Everyone comes to work every day and works their butts off. That's what you want.
"We're hungry. It's a good team with a lot of guys who want it. It will be exciting."
Excitement must come from multiple areas. All are designed, coach Jeff Mercer says, to deliver consistent elite success.
"We'll have to have production from guys who haven't done it before. We have three or four guys who are capable of doing it. They'll have to learn quickly how the game is played at a high level.
"We'll have to finish at the bottom of the lineup. Our first four to five guys will be fine. Then, how do we finish innings? How do we get to that six-seven-eight spot in the lineup with guys on base and finish with guys who haven't done it before?"
As far as pitching, Mercer hit the transfer portal to boost quality and depth.
"We need some of those guys to take a step forward so that we have not just depth of capability, but also the high-end stuff to get outs when it's tough to get outs. We have to manage through those things against a very difficult schedule.
"You need fifth and sixth and seventh-inning guys. We need a bunch of those. We need guys who can start games, guys who can finish games. I like the way guys are trending."
Defensively, Mercer adds, IU is better.
"I feel strongly about that. We're in a good position there."
*****
Merciless outside cold turns baseball into an indoor sport, which is fine in the climate-controlled Mellencamp Pavillion, where the Hoosiers deliver a practice that meets 80 percent of Mercer's expectations.
Getting that final 20 percent could return the Hoosiers to NCAA tourney participation and add to the Big Ten championship they last won in 2019, Mercer's first season as IU coach.
"The first 80 percent of practice was outstanding," Mercer says. "Then, we didn't do a very good job of transitioning into that two-inning scrimmage. We didn't do a good job of finishing practice.
"I have to remind them every day -- we have a plan; we're going to execute that plan. That's the way we'll go about it.
"This group has a really good feel for it. It's a younger position player group. You don't have as many moving pieces going on with them.
"We have a predominately older pitching staff -- graduate transfers and freshmen-sophomore position players. That helps to land that message better."
The offense starts with Hanley, a Perfect Game preseason All-American who played in the prestigious Cape Cod League last summer after winning Big Ten freshman of the Year honors while hitting .333 with 14 home runs and 52 runs batted in. He also was a national Gold Glove finalist.
Malamazian broke into the starting for the final 32 games last season and finished with a .320 average and 17 doubles.
Also returning are catcher Hogan Denny (.292) and third baseman Will Moore. Reserves such as Caleb Koskie are in line for significantly more playing time.
Returning pitchers are highlighted by Gavin Seebold (3-5. 7.28 ERA), Jacob Vogel (0-0, 4.35 ERA), Brayton Thomas (0-0, 6.75 ERA) and Jackson Yarberry (2-0, 7.36 ERA).
IU's 15-player freshman class was ranked No. 14 nationally and No. 1 in the Big Ten. It's led by pitchers Blane Metz and Xavier Carrera, outfielder Cal Gates and infielder Mateo Noto.
A strong transfer group includes pitchers Jackson Bergman (3-3 with a 5.65 ERA last year at Toledo), Kaden Jacobi (51 strikeouts in 46.2 innings last season at Missouri) and Tony Neubeck (15 strikeouts in 17.1 innings, also at Missouri) and Reagan Rivera (set a Coppin State single-season record with 97 strikeouts, plus a 4.91 ERA).
Matt Myers has replaced Dustin Glant as pitching coach. Myers was the pitching coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates' High-A Greensboro last season. His significant college coaching experience includes four years as the head coach at UNC-Asheville and four more as the head coach at Western Kentucky (Mercer was an assistant coach on his staff).
IU begins a grueling non-conference schedule with a three-game series at nationally ranked North Carolina starting Feb. 13. A week later, the Hoosiers travel to Florida to face defending national champion LSU, plus UCF and Notre Dame.
"It's exciting for us," Malamazian says, "especially for a team from the Midwest to go there and see that good talent. It's not common that you find that.
"It will be a good test, especially early in the year. We want to be tested early. It's great for the RPI and to see what we can do. There will be great hitting and pitching all around."
Mercer says he wants strong early tests to boost the Hoosiers' RPI as well as steel them for the rest of the season.
"We scheduled intentionally -- if you want to be the program you want to be at a high level, you have to play those teams. You learn to beat them in those environments, and that eventually becomes you.
"Those are things we have to manage in that environment. It's unforgiving, but at the same time, you need that. It sets you up to make your run once you learn to play at a high level."
Then there's the human element, Mercer adds.
"It's doing hard things together, competing together, learning together. Having that feedback is really important.
"Playing difficult teams early on gives you the best feedback. It was important for us to do more of that. You're not saving them by not exposing them early on. By doing it, they've seen it, come through it."
That doesn't mean losing, Mercer adds.
"We're talented enough to win. I expect us to compete and play well and win. We'll leave there a better team for it. I expect our freshmen to play well and be successful. We want them to be really confident when they get to conference play."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Cohesion. Chemistry. Camaraderie. It's all there, it all matters, sophomore first baseman Jake Hanley says, as the Indiana Hoosiers seek to return to the Big Ten baseball forefront.
With a young and talented offensive core, combined with veteran pitchers, prospects are promising.
"This is one of the most cohesive teams I've ever been on, team chemistry-wise," Hanley says. "A lot of us are back from last year who have a bad taste in our mouths about how that season ended and got going, especially in the Big Ten tournament and early in the season.
"We have guys who know what it feels like and we have freshmen who are hungry. We want to win. I think everybody is on the same page."
Last season, IU finished 32-24 after a 0-4 start and a 1-1 Big Ten tourney finish.
This group, Hanley says, is poised for better. Cohesion is a catalyst.
"We made more of an effort to hang out with each other outside of the field," he says, "whether that's going to get breakfast or lunch, or hanging out to watch IU football. Just being around each other helped a lot.
"We have a lot of young guys, a lot of freshmen and sophomores, and a couple of transfers. Everyone is new, but from day one, everyone in the locker room got along well."
Sophomore shortstop Cooper Malamazian vouches for that.
"This is a special group. We have a lot of older guys who have embraced the leadership role on this team. Everyone wants to be a leader. I love that.
"We have a lot of winners on this team. Everyone comes to work every day and works their butts off. That's what you want.
"We're hungry. It's a good team with a lot of guys who want it. It will be exciting."
Excitement must come from multiple areas. All are designed, coach Jeff Mercer says, to deliver consistent elite success.
"We'll have to have production from guys who haven't done it before. We have three or four guys who are capable of doing it. They'll have to learn quickly how the game is played at a high level.
"We'll have to finish at the bottom of the lineup. Our first four to five guys will be fine. Then, how do we finish innings? How do we get to that six-seven-eight spot in the lineup with guys on base and finish with guys who haven't done it before?"
As far as pitching, Mercer hit the transfer portal to boost quality and depth.
"We need some of those guys to take a step forward so that we have not just depth of capability, but also the high-end stuff to get outs when it's tough to get outs. We have to manage through those things against a very difficult schedule.
"You need fifth and sixth and seventh-inning guys. We need a bunch of those. We need guys who can start games, guys who can finish games. I like the way guys are trending."
Defensively, Mercer adds, IU is better.
"I feel strongly about that. We're in a good position there."
*****
Merciless outside cold turns baseball into an indoor sport, which is fine in the climate-controlled Mellencamp Pavillion, where the Hoosiers deliver a practice that meets 80 percent of Mercer's expectations.
Getting that final 20 percent could return the Hoosiers to NCAA tourney participation and add to the Big Ten championship they last won in 2019, Mercer's first season as IU coach.
"The first 80 percent of practice was outstanding," Mercer says. "Then, we didn't do a very good job of transitioning into that two-inning scrimmage. We didn't do a good job of finishing practice.
"I have to remind them every day -- we have a plan; we're going to execute that plan. That's the way we'll go about it.
"This group has a really good feel for it. It's a younger position player group. You don't have as many moving pieces going on with them.
"We have a predominately older pitching staff -- graduate transfers and freshmen-sophomore position players. That helps to land that message better."
The offense starts with Hanley, a Perfect Game preseason All-American who played in the prestigious Cape Cod League last summer after winning Big Ten freshman of the Year honors while hitting .333 with 14 home runs and 52 runs batted in. He also was a national Gold Glove finalist.
Malamazian broke into the starting for the final 32 games last season and finished with a .320 average and 17 doubles.
Also returning are catcher Hogan Denny (.292) and third baseman Will Moore. Reserves such as Caleb Koskie are in line for significantly more playing time.
Returning pitchers are highlighted by Gavin Seebold (3-5. 7.28 ERA), Jacob Vogel (0-0, 4.35 ERA), Brayton Thomas (0-0, 6.75 ERA) and Jackson Yarberry (2-0, 7.36 ERA).
IU's 15-player freshman class was ranked No. 14 nationally and No. 1 in the Big Ten. It's led by pitchers Blane Metz and Xavier Carrera, outfielder Cal Gates and infielder Mateo Noto.
A strong transfer group includes pitchers Jackson Bergman (3-3 with a 5.65 ERA last year at Toledo), Kaden Jacobi (51 strikeouts in 46.2 innings last season at Missouri) and Tony Neubeck (15 strikeouts in 17.1 innings, also at Missouri) and Reagan Rivera (set a Coppin State single-season record with 97 strikeouts, plus a 4.91 ERA).
Matt Myers has replaced Dustin Glant as pitching coach. Myers was the pitching coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates' High-A Greensboro last season. His significant college coaching experience includes four years as the head coach at UNC-Asheville and four more as the head coach at Western Kentucky (Mercer was an assistant coach on his staff).
IU begins a grueling non-conference schedule with a three-game series at nationally ranked North Carolina starting Feb. 13. A week later, the Hoosiers travel to Florida to face defending national champion LSU, plus UCF and Notre Dame.
"It's exciting for us," Malamazian says, "especially for a team from the Midwest to go there and see that good talent. It's not common that you find that.
"It will be a good test, especially early in the year. We want to be tested early. It's great for the RPI and to see what we can do. There will be great hitting and pitching all around."
Mercer says he wants strong early tests to boost the Hoosiers' RPI as well as steel them for the rest of the season.
"We scheduled intentionally -- if you want to be the program you want to be at a high level, you have to play those teams. You learn to beat them in those environments, and that eventually becomes you.
"Those are things we have to manage in that environment. It's unforgiving, but at the same time, you need that. It sets you up to make your run once you learn to play at a high level."
Then there's the human element, Mercer adds.
"It's doing hard things together, competing together, learning together. Having that feedback is really important.
"Playing difficult teams early on gives you the best feedback. It was important for us to do more of that. You're not saving them by not exposing them early on. By doing it, they've seen it, come through it."
That doesn't mean losing, Mercer adds.
"We're talented enough to win. I expect us to compete and play well and win. We'll leave there a better team for it. I expect our freshmen to play well and be successful. We want them to be really confident when they get to conference play."
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