Indiana baseball leaned on a dominant outing from graduate left-handed pitcher Tony Neubeck and shutdown relief from graduate right-hander Gavin Seebold and junior right-hand reliever Jackson Yarberry to secure a 4–2 win over Washington on Friday at Bart Kaufman Field.
Indiana struck first in the opening frame thanks to a leadoff base hit and aggressive baserunning from redshirt junior Ayden Crouse. Crouse recorded Indiana’s first hit of the night in his first at-bat, swiping second base shortly after reaching.
Two batters later, sophomore outfielder Hogan Denny drove a double into the gap, bringing Crouse home and giving the Hoosiers an early 1–0 lead.
Washington answered in the second inning. The Huskies opened the frame with a sharp ball to left field, but sophomore outfielder Caleb Koskie cut it off quickly to hold the batter to a single.
The next batter capitalized. After falling behind 0–2 in the count, Washington sophomore outfielder Jackson Hotchkiss connected on a fastball left over the plate and drove it the opposite way for an RBI double, tying the game at 1–1 with no outs.
Neubeck quickly regained control on the mound. After fielding a bunt cleanly to record the first out but moving the runner to third, the left-hander leaned heavily on his changeup to escape the inning. He generated back-to-back strikeouts, pulling the string with his changeup and stranding the go-ahead run to keep the game tied.
Both starting pitchers settled into a rhythm over the next several innings.
The score remained tied at 1 until Hotchkiss stepped back in and crushed a solo home run to center for the Huskies. Neubeck looked dominant throughout the at-bat, fooling the hitter with a changeup earlier in the count. But ahead 0–2 on Hotchkiss again, the left-hander placed a fastball over the middle of the plate. The mistake didn’t go unpunished, giving Washington a 2-1 lead.
Indiana continued to pressure junior right hand pitcher Noah Kenney through the middle innings and broke through to even the score.
With two outs and a runner in scoring position in the 5th inning, redshirt freshman designated hitter Brayden Ricketts delivered the big swing Indiana needed. Ricketts stayed on an outside pitch and lined it the opposite way into right field, bringing home the runner from third and tying the game at 2–2.
In the sixth inning, the Hoosiers added on again — this time taking the lead for good.
After drawing a four-pitch walk, sophomore first baseman Jake Hanley reached base to begin the rally. Freshman second baseman Landen Fry stepped to the plate and took advantage of a rare mistake. Kenney, who had dominated Indiana’s hitter all game with his offspeed, left a slider hanging over the middle of the plate. Fry roped it into the gap for an RBI double, bringing home the go ahead run and electrifying the Bart Kaufman Field crowd.
Moments later, Koskie flared the first pitch just past the first baseman and into shallow right field, bringing home another run and giving the Hoosiers a 4–2 lead.
The two-run frame proved to be the difference.
Neubeck continued to work efficiently on the mound, keeping Washington hitters off balance deep into the game before turning it over to the bullpen with Indiana holding the lead. The graduate left-hander tossed six innings, allowing two runs while striking out a career-high nine batters. His outing also marked the first time an Indiana starting pitcher had worked more than five innings this season.
Seebold took over in relief and delivered another dominant performance. The right-hander attacked the strike zone immediately, striking out four batters across two scoreless innings to keep Washington from mounting a comeback.
Seebold added to his scoreless streak to begin the season, now pitching 13.1 innings without allowing a run.
Yarberry took the ball in the ninth and, despite Washington putting two runners in scoring position, the freshman right-hander held his ground. Yarberry induced a ground ball to Fry at second base for the final out, sealing Indiana’s 4–2 victory.
Both teams take the field again at 4 p.m. Saturday pending inclement weather. The three-game series ends at noon Sunday.
UPDATE: This story was updated to reflect a time change in Saturday's game.
