Indiana baseball leaned on elite pitching Saturday afternoon, defeating the University of Central Florida 6-1nAfter surrendering 14 runs to No. 2 Louisiana State University on Friday, the Hoosiers tallied its first win of the Live Like Lou Jacksonville Baseball Classic.
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Brayton Thomas set the tone on the mound from the first inning. He worked 5.0 strong innings, allowing just one hit and one earned run while striking out four. Despite issuing four walks and hitting two batters, Thomas consistently escaped trouble and prevented UCF from generating any sustained offense.
Indiana struck first in the bottom of the first inning. Redshirt junior outfielder Ayden Crouse led off with a single and stole second before sophomore right fielder Hogan Denny drove him in with a single up the middle. Denny later swiped second himself and came around to score on a two-out RBI single from freshman second baseman Landen Fry to give the Hoosiers a 2-0 lead.
Indiana added another run in the third inning. Redshirt freshman catcher Brayden Ricketts was hit by a pitch and moved into scoring position before sophomore shortstop Cooper Malamazian lined a single up the middle to plate him, extending the advantage to 3-0.
The Hoosiers created separation in the fifth. Crouse and Denny opened the inning with back-to-back singles before a sacrifice bunt from Ricketts moved both runners up. Sophomore first baseman Jake Hanley reached first on a fielder’s choice that resulted in an unearned run following a UCF fielding error. Malamazian followed with his second RBI single of the game to push Indiana’s lead to 5-0.
The Knights’ lone run came in the sixth inning. After freshman infielder Jordan Lodise reached base and advanced into scoring position, redshirt senior infielder Javier Crespo singled up the middle to drive in Lodise, trimming Indiana’s lead to 5-1. Thomas exited earlier in the inning, and graduate right-handed pitcher Reagan Rivera took over.
Malamazian finished 2 for 2 with three RBIs and a walk, while Crouse and Denny each recorded two hits and three hits respectively and each scored twice. As a team, Indiana totaled nine hits.
The pitching, though, was the highlight, as Thomas and Rivera combined to allow just one run and three hits over nine innings, while striking out six batters.
The Classic concludes Sunday with a matchup against in-state rival University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish enter the weekend 2–1 after taking a road series from Florida Atlantic University on Feb. 13-15.
Follow reporters Elakai Anela (@elakai_anela and eanela@iu.edu) and Will Kwiatkowski (@WKwiatkowski_15 and wdkwiatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana baseball season.
