Indiana baseball did not reach the heights it expected this season and fell short of the Big Ten tournament.
After winning 30 or more games in each of the previous three seasons and finishing above .500 in Big Ten play for three straight years, the Hoosiers spent much of 2026 fighting uphill battles before ultimately missing the Big Ten Tournament.
Still, Indiana found a way to close the season on a positive note.
The Hoosiers won their final series of the year against Illinois at Bart Kaufman Field, taking the opening and closing games of the three-game set to finish a difficult season with momentum and one final celebration at home.
The weekend reflected much of Indiana’s season as a whole.
At times, the Hoosiers flashed the offense and energy that made them dangerous throughout the year. At others, pitching depth issues and bullpen struggles resurfaced and prevented Indiana from sustaining consistency.
Those issues plagued them from the beginning of the season.
Graduate student Jackson Bergman, expected to be one of Indiana’s three primary starting pitchers entering the year, was injured early in the spring. The loss immediately placed additional strain on the pitching staff and often forced heavy workloads onto bullpen arms throughout conference play.
As the season progressed, those late innings frequently became a problem.
The previous weekend against Purdue served as one of the clearest examples. Indiana held late leads in all three losses to its in-state rival before bullpen collapses turned the games into defeats, further damaging the Hoosiers’ postseason hopes.
By the time Illinois arrived in Bloomington for the final weekend, Indiana had already been eliminated from Big Ten Tournament contention.
Even so, the Hoosiers responded with some of their better baseball of the season.
Indiana opened the series Thursday night by snapping a five-game losing streak with a 10-4 victory.
The Hoosiers struck early and controlled the game throughout, building a five-run lead in the opening two innings before freshman catcher Owen ten Oever’s three-run home run in the sixth helped put the game away. Graduate left-hander Tony Neubeck delivered another strong outing on the mound, working 6.1 innings while striking out five batters.
Friday’s game followed a different pattern.
Indiana battled back late to erase a deficit and force extra innings after sophomore outfielder Hogan Denny and sophomore infielder Jake Hanley each homered in the ninth inning. But Illinois answered with two runs in the 10th inning to secure a 9-7 victory and even the series.
That left Sunday’s series finale as the final game of Indiana’s season.
The Hoosiers responded with an all-around complete offensive showcase scoring 11 runs en route to an 11-2 win.
Indiana broke the game open with a six-run fourth inning, highlighted by a grand slam from redshirt freshman outfielder Cal Gates. The inning also included RBI hits from ten Oever and freshman infielder Landen Fry, putting Indiana in control early.
Illinois attempted to respond with back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning, but Indiana’s pitching staff stabilized after the early damage. Redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Pete Haas provided key innings out of the bullpen before the Hoosiers added insurance later in the game.
Hanley added a two-run home run in the sixth inning, and Denny later delivered a two-RBI single as Indiana continued to pressure Illinois offensively, bolstering its lead to 8-2 in the sixth.
The final weekend highlighted what Indiana looked like at its best.
The Hoosiers consistently pressured defenses with aggressive baserunning, bunts and situational hitting while also generating timely power throughout the lineup.
For a team already eliminated from postseason play, the series still carried meaning, and Indiana’s performance in the finale showed the disappointing results of the season were never due to a lack of fight.
The Hoosiers added three more runs in the seventh inning to pull away for good, closing the season with one final strong offensive push in front of the home crowd at Bart Kaufman Field before the offseason begins.
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.
