After defeating Vanderbilt 5-1 on Tuesday, Indiana was in need of a momentum-building, series-opening win against Minnesota. At the end of the 2nd inning, the Hoosiers trailed Minnesota 6-2. After that point, Indiana scored six unanswered to beat the Golden Gophers 8-6.
Indiana starter Reagan Rivera struggled in his one inning of work. The graduate student allowed two hits, walked three, and gave up four earned runs in just one inning of work.
The Hoosiers got two runs back in the bottom of the first with a two-run triple from sophomore shortstop Cooper Malamazian. They gave those two runs right back when Minnesota’s junior designated hitter, Charlie Sutherland, hit a two-run homer to center off of Indiana’s freshman pitcher, Ivan Mastalski.
Indiana cut back into the lead in the bottom of the third inning. The middle three of the order each drove in runs. Hogan Denny had an RBI double, Jake Hanley drove in one with a single, and Malamazian drove in another on a single.
Then, Hanley hit a solo homer to center field, Cole Decker scored on a wild pitch, and Davian Carrera drove in the first run of his career on an RBI groundout. Indiana led at the end of the fifth inning, 8-6.
They never gave that lead back.
The real story of the game was the performance of graduate student pitcher Gavin Seebold. Seebold has been a high-leverage guy this year. He had his best outing of the season on Friday night.
Seebold tossed four innings of scoreless ball, allowing just one single hit. Seebold struck out six Minnesota batters over his frame of work. Seebold secured a 12-out save, slammed the door on the hopes of any Golden Gopher comeback, and looked dominant throughout the night.
The combination of Seebold, Michael Sarhatt, and Kaden Jacobi allowed just two hits and didn’t allow a run in their six innings of combined work. Indiana picked up a much-needed win and have set themselves up nicely to win their first Big Ten series of the year.
Game two of the three-game series is set for 2 p.m. Eastern on Saturday at Bart Kaufman Field.
