Indiana baseball’s bullpen struggles continued throughout the Live Like Lou Jacksonville Baseball Classic over the weekend. The Hoosiers led against No. 2 Louisiana State University and the University of Notre Dame in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, but were unable to hold on because their relief pitchers gave up a combined 14 runs in those innings.
The Hoosiers went 1-2 in Jacksonville, Florida. Their lone win was a 6-1 victory over the University of Central Florida, in which the pitching staff — both sophomore left-handed pitcher Brayton Thomas, who started the contest, and graduate student right-handed pitcher Reagan Rivera — pulled its weight.
Indiana now turns its attention to a matchup with Xavier University on Wednesday at Hayden Field in Cincinnati.
The game, which is the Musketeers’ home opener, was originally scheduled for Tuesday but was pushed back because of cold weather, according to a release from Indiana Athletics on Monday.
Xavier is a consistent contender in the Big East Conference. The Musketeers notched 39 wins, tying a program record, and won the Big East Tournament in 2023 before advancing to the NCAA Tournament. They've made the NCAA Tournament five times since 2009.
However, Xavier has struggled to open this season. It won its first series of the year against East Carolina University but suffered a loss to the University of Louisville and a sweep against the University of Arkansas. The Musketeers hold a 2-5 record.
Xavier has allowed its opponents an average of 9.14 runs per game through seven games. Its offense is averaging 5.29 runs per contest.
Xavier senior infielder Connor Misch headlines the Musketeers’ roster. He was named the Preseason Big East Player of the Year in December. The Dyer, Indiana, native was also part of the 2025 All-Big East First Team last year after starting in all 59 games while posting a .332 average with a team-best .485 on-base percentage.
However, Misch has yet to appear in a game this year. Xavier Athletics has not said why.
The other two Xavier players that joined Misch on the preseason all-conference team were junior infielder Clay Burdette and junior right-handed pitcher Ryan Piech.
Burdette transferred to Xavier last year after spending his freshman year at Ohio State. He played in 56 games and batted .292 last year while leading the team with 13 home runs and putting up a team best .540 slugging percentage.
The Cincinnati native has also yet to appear in a game this season.
Piech started 14 games last year and struck out 65 batters over 59.2 innings. The 6-foot-3 pitcher has thrown eight total innings in two starts this year. His last start came against Arkansas on Feb. 20. He collected nine strikeouts in four innings but gave up three earned runs in a 5-2 loss.
Indiana freshman infielder Landen Fry and sophomore catcher and outfielder Hogan Denny found success at the plate over the week leading into the series against Xavier.
Fry has provided stability to Indiana’s lineup by hitting .533 (8 of 15) in four games played. He also filled in at second base for senior infielder Aiden Stewart for the three games over the weekend.
Denny collected seven RBIs in the last four games. He had six hits in 15 at-bats over the weekend, notably hitting a one-run single to give Indiana a 5-4 lead in the seventh inning over No. 2 LSU on Feb. 20 before Indiana gave up nine unanswered runs in the eighth inning.
Indiana holds a 14-7 record in all-time meetings between both programs. Xavier has won the last two games against Indiana, both wins coming last season.
The starting pitchers for both teams are yet to be announced. First pitch of the game is scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday. The game will be streamed on Xavier+.
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.
