After fumbling away a late lead against No. 2 LSU on Friday, Indiana bounced back to earn a 6-1 victory over UCF for their first win at the Like Like Lou Jacksonville Baseball Classic Saturday evening. It’s the Hoosiers’ second win of the season and their first away from Bloomington, improving their record to 2-4 on the young season.
Jeff Mercer’s squad could’ve easily faded away after a frustrating defeat to the defending national champions, but responded with a strong showing in all phases of the game.
While Indiana’s execution was firing on all cylinders, the arms were the story of the game. After struggling against the Tigers a day ago—surrendering 14 runs on 18 hits—a pair of Hoosier pitchers combined to allow just three hits.
Brayton Thomas, who made the start on the mound for Indiana, continued his hot start to 2026 with five innings of one-hit ball, allowing a single run. It’s the second time in two starts the sophomore has allowed one run or fewer, already cementing himself as a key piece of the Hoosiers’ starting rotation.
Thomas’ stellar outing came to a satisfying end as he ran into some trouble in the top of the fifth inning, allowing back-to-back baserunners to begin the frame with a walk and hit by pitch. Despite early-season bullpen issues with holding onto leads late in games, the Indiana relievers had no problems closing this contest out.
Reagan Rivera, who served as Indiana’s opener in a bullpen game against Bradley, IU’s first win of the season, picked up where Thomas left off, retiring 10 of the 11 UCF hitters he faced.
The duo combined to strike out six, but still struggled with allowing baserunners with a total of five walks and two hit by pitches.
Offensively, Indiana was led by shortstop Cooper Malamazian, who led all hitters with three RBIs. The sophomore was one of three Hoosiers with multi-hit performances as Hogan Denny, making the start in left field, went 3-for-4. It’s his third consecutive game with multiple hits.
Denny also flashed the leather defensively, ending a UCF threat in the sixth inning with a reaching snag to end the frame, stranding two Knights baserunners on first and second base. As a collective unit, Indiana put together by far its best defensive showing of the season, putting a zero in the error column for the first time.
Despite the slow start to the season that featured some of the nation's best opponents, the Hoosiers have pushed through the adversity without wilting away. Mercer, who wants his team to be calloused and prepared for the ups and downs of conference play later in the season, should be pleased with the response from his squad.
Indiana will look to take their momentum into Sunday for its third and final game of the Live Like Lou Classic against Notre Dame, looking to pick up back-to-back wins for the first time in 2026. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. ET.
