Indiana baseball’s slow start to Big Ten play continued this weekend, as the Hoosiers were swept at PK Park in Eugene, Oregon. Indiana fell to 1-5 in conference play and 7-12 overall. The Hoosiers are 3-8 in road games this year.
Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer anticipated a challenging start to the year in the preseason given the Hoosiers' early-season schedule that featured four preseason top 25-ranked teams and perennial successful programs.
The Hoosiers are also adjusting to a younger lineup after the departures of outfielders Korbyn Dickerson and Devin Taylor, who were both selected in the 2025 MLB Draft.
Indiana dropped its first conference series earlier this month against Washington in Bloomington, winning the opener before losing the final two games in blowout fashion 9-2 on March 7 and 13-4 on March 8.
The Hoosiers lost the first game of their weekend series 3-2 on Friday night against Oregon.
Graduate-student right-handed pitcher Reagan Rivera pitched four scoreless innings, which gave Indiana a 2-0 lead heading into the fifth inning. However, Indiana gave up one run in three consecutive innings — in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings — to drop the first contest of the series.
Graduate–right-handed pitcher Gavin Seebold gave up his first two earned runs of the season in three innings pitched. Graduate–left-handed pitcher Conner Linn pitched one inning, giving up an earned run in six batters faced.
In the second game of the series, graduate student left-handed pitcher Tony Neubeck started. The southpaw pitched four innings but gave up seven hits, three homeruns and five earned runs. He struck out five Oregon batters and threw 83 pitches.
However, Indiana’s offense never found success against Oregon junior right-handed pitcher Collin Clarke. He held a 2.44 ERA in 24.2 innings pitched heading into Saturday’s contest.
The Hoosiers recorded only two hits, one of them being a solo homerun by sophomore outfielder Cole Decker in the top of the third inning to momentarily even the score. The other hit came off the bat of junior catcher T.J. Schuyler.
Ultimately, the lack of hits caught up to the Cream and Crimson in their 5-1 loss Saturday afternoon.
In its final game of the series, looking to avoid a sweep, Indiana’s bullpen blew a five-run lead Sunday.
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Brayton Thomas pitched four innings as the starter. The Fort Wayne, Indiana, native allowed three hits and one earned run while also striking out five Ducks hitters.
Indiana’s bullpen struggled after the fifth inning. Graduate student right-hander Michael Sarhatt allowed three earned runs in relief, and Oregon eventually tied the game in the eighth inning before Ducks freshman outfielder Angel Laya delivered a walk-off single.
Graduate student right-handed pitcher Kaden Jacobi relieved Sarhatt, but he also struggled. He pitched one inning and allowed one earned run on two hits. Despite the bullpens struggles, Indiana still led 6-5 heading into the eighth inning.
Junior right-handed pitcher Jackson Yarberry pitched the final two innings. However, he allowed four hits, two walks and two earned runs, leading to an Oregon win.
After leading by as many as five runs, Indiana fell short for the third consecutive contest, failing to score again after securing six runs in the first three innings. The Hoosiers only tallied two total hits in the final six innings.
The competition, both in conference and non-conference play, doesn’t get any easier moving forward.
Another road test waits for the Hoosiers in their next game, this time against Vanderbilt University — another powerhouse in the Southeastern Conference — in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday.
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.
