Sophomore infielder Jake Hanley stepped up to the plate. Indiana baseball was ahead 4-2 in the fifth inning, but the Hoosiers could use another hit to break the game open. Sophomore catcher and outfielder Hogan Denny was standing just off the first base bag.
Then the Mason, Ohio, native smoked an RBI double off the right-center field wall, scoring Denny all the way from first base.
Ultimately, Hanley’s three hit, three RBI performance on Wednesday helped lead the Cream and Crimson to a 10-4 win against Xavier University on Wednesday at Hayden Field in Cincinnati.
The 6-foot-6 sophomore recorded an RBI in three consecutive innings — the fourth, fifth and sixth — Wednesday afternoon after only tallying six total RBIs in the seven prior contests.
Although Indiana’s offense averaged 6.43 runs per game in the seven games prior to the contest at Xavier, Hanley hadn’t gotten started yet at the dish. The reigning 2025 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and the first unanimous freshman All-American in Indiana’s program history, recorded only five hits in 29 at-bats (a .172 average) up until this point of the year.
However, the sophomore's defense has been much improved. His fundamentals, footwork and throwing has improved through the first eight games of the season. He made a running catch on a pop-out in the fifth inning and helping turn three double-plays throughout the game on Wednesday.
Hanley didn’t record an error in 56 games played last year but some of his throws were off target by a small margin — something he talked about during Indiana’s media day Jan. 28.
“Last year there were some holes defensively with throwing, and there were definitely areas to work on,” Hanley said. “So, I made a conscious effort this fall to work on that... kind of cleaning up the little things so they don’t come back to bite us in the end.”
During summer ball, Hanley struggled in the Cape Cod Baseball League while playing for the Chatham Anglers. He recorded 108 at-bats but only hit .231 with a .670 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) while striking out 37 times in 35 games played.
He admitted the struggles may have been due to him playing in an unfamiliar place but didn’t want to let it sit with him heading into the season.
“It was tough... I got my tailed kicked in a little bit. I think it was good for me,” Hanley said Jan. 28. “You get to see everything; you come back here and there’s nothing you haven’t seen. Going through this year when we play some more top-25 ranked teams, it’s going to be important to have those experiences.”
When he came back to Bloomington, the expectations coming into the year remained sky-high for Hanley.
Hanley was named to the Perfect Game Preseason All-American third team in January, before the season kicked off.
Despite being only a sophomore, Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer viewed him as one of the hitting leaders in the clubhouse. And after last year, where Hanley hit in the middle of the order on a consistent basis, his growth is integral for Indiana to be successful moving forward.
“Going through those battles as a young player is important; Jake played every day last year,” Mercer said Jan. 28. “Jake could’ve been a draft pick if he wanted to but he’s relatable to his teammates, which is important for younger guys. He’s also going to have to manage himself in the way the game adapts to him moving forward.”
Following his best performance of the season, where he raised his batting average to .235, this game could be the one to get him going offensively.
Indiana’s next game is against Western Kentucky University on Friday in Bowling Green, Kentucky. First pitch will be at 4 p.m. It will be the first game of a four-game series.
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.
