Indiana baseball will face another test in its relentless early-season schedule this weekend, as it travels to Lincoln for a three-game series against No. 24 Nebraska. The matchup will be the fifth ranked opponent Indiana has faced this season, according to the latest NCAA rankings.
The Hoosiers, who are 10-14 overall and 3-6 in Big Ten play, enter the weekend looking to reset. The Cream and Crimson dropped their last two games, including a 14-2 series finale loss to Minnesota on Sunday and a 5-4 defeat to Indiana State University on Tuesday. Indiana had won three of its previous five, highlighted by a 5-1 victory over Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 17 and a series win over Minnesota in Bloomington from March 20-22.
However, inconsistency has defined Indiana’s start to the season and followed the Hoosiers since their opening series against the No. 13 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Now, Indiana faces a Nebraska team that has quickly emerged as one of the Big Ten’s top contenders.
The Cornhuskers enter the weekend 19-6 overall and 5-1 in conference play, riding a three-game winning streak. Nebraska has been dominant at home with a perfect 9-0 record in Lincoln. The Cornhuskers have already been tested against high-level competition like Stanford University, the University of Louisville, Kansas State University and Florida State University.
Junior center fielder Mac Moyer has helped power Nebraska’s offense, hitting .426, the third-highest average in the Big Ten. His production has contributed to a team batting average of .315, which ranks fourth in the conference.
Indiana will counter with one of its own strengths: its young offensive core.
Sophomore outfielder Hogan Denny and sophomore first baseman Jake Hanley have established themselves as Indiana’s most consistent hitters, each posting an OPS above 1.000 this season. Indiana is one of only two Big Ten teams, alongside Oregon, with multiple underclassmen producing at that level.
Hanley enters the weekend in strong form, hitting over .400 across his last 10 games while driving in runs at a high rate. His presence in the middle of the lineup has helped stabilize Indiana’s offense during a stretch of uneven results.
The challenge for Indiana will be translating that production against a disciplined Nebraska pitching staff in a difficult road environment, as the Cornhuskers have allowed just 32 runs across its nine home games.
Nebraska senior right-hand pitcher Cooper Katskee, a former Indiana baseball recruit, has been one of the conference’s best pitchers this season. His 2.10 ERA is fifth lowest in the Big Ten, and he leads a Nebraska pitching staff that itself has the fifth-lowest ERA in the conference.
For Indiana, the series presents both a challenge and an opportunity.
The Hoosiers have shown they can compete against top-tier teams but closing out games and capitalizing in key situations remain areas of focus; they remain 0-8 on the season against ranked competition. Against a Nebraska team that has consistently executed on both sides of the ball, those details will be critical.
The three-game series begins Friday at 7 p.m. EST in Lincoln. Graduate student right-handed pitcher Regan Rivera will get the ball to start the series Friday night. Graduate student left-handed pitcher Tony Neubeck is projected to make the start at 3 p.m. and sophomore left-hand pitcher Brayton Thomas is set to close the finale 1 p.m. Sunday.
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.
