Indiana baseball’s record stands at 6-9.
After a series loss last weekend against Washington — a Huskies team that held a 3-9 record before heading to Bloomington — the Hoosiers turn their attention to a midweek battle against Wright State University on Tuesday at Bart Kaufman Field in Bloomington.
Despite its struggles at the plate with runners on base, Indiana sophomore infielder Will Moore and sophomore left-handed pitcher and outfielder Caleb Koskie were bright spots over the weekend.
Moore batted a team-best .400 in 10 at-bats against Washington while Koskie hit .333 in nine at-bats throughout the three-game series.
Sophomore infielder Jake Hanley also recorded three hits, one homerun, on Sunday. He moved his career hit total up to 93 in only his second season. The 6-foot-6 Mason, Ohio, native has also tallied 17 homeruns so far in his collegiate career.
Wright State enters Tuesday’s contest with a 5-8 record. However, the Raiders shutout No. 19 University of Tennessee, Knoxville 6-0 on the road Sunday, despite losing the first two games of the series. Both of their losses against Tennessee were only by one run.
The Raiders also beat then-No. 6 University of Georgia 6-3 on Feb. 14 in the second game of a doubleheader in Athens, Georgia. However, Wright State also lost the prior two games of its series against Georgia.
Senior infielder and catcher Patrick Fultz, junior infielder JP Peltier and redshirt sophomore infielder Hunter Warren lead the offense for Wright State. The Raiders are averaging 3.78 runs scored per game in 13 contests.
Fultz is hitting only .128 in 47-bats with 24 strikeouts in 13 games started and played. But last year, the Springfield, Ohio, native hit .332 with a .914 on-base plus slugging percentage in 59 games.
Peltier is batting .234 in 47 at-bats, also recording three homeruns and 11 RBIs this year. The 6-foot-3 infielder had a .303 with a 1.019 OPS and .628 slugging percentage last season in 60 games played.
Warren is batting .340 in 47 at-bats this year. He redshirted the 2024 season before starting and appearing in all 61 games for the Raiders last year where he batted .328, the second highest on the team, with a .831 OPS, recording 45 RBIs.
Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer acknowledged Wright State’s win against Tennessee, one of the top-ranked teams historically in college baseball, but remained focused on trying to get his hitters going.
“I don’t know what happened this weekend, but an upset... good for them [Wright State],” Mercer said Sunday. “They’ll be ready to go, but we’re going to have to attack it. And, offensively, we’re going to have to play baseball.”
The starting pitchers for both teams are to be determined. Mercer said after the 13-4 loss Sunday he will continue to have his younger players pitch during midweek games for the time being.
“Those young guys are going to have to go for us and give us some length,” Mercer said Sunday. “The Saturday group will have to come back, and a guy or two will need to step up.”
First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday at Bart Kaufman Stadium in Bloomington. The game will be streamed on Big Ten+.
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.
