Rarely this season has Indiana played a well-rounded nine innings of baseball. It’s part of the reason for the Hoosiers’ struggles in non-conference play thus far.
But on a warm Friday evening in Bloomington, all the pieces fell into place as Indiana defeated Washington 4-2, improving to 6-7 on the season and picking up their first Big Ten win of the campaign.
“We played really complementary baseball,” head coach Jeff Mercer said after the game.
Mercer was particularly pleased with the pitching and defense, both of which helped the Hoosiers put away a tough conference opponent. Graduate transfer Tony Neubeck got the start on the mound, and carried his momentum from his previous start over into Friday night.
The left-hander tossed a complete six innings, allowing the only two Washington runs of the night while tying his career high in strikeouts with nine as he picked up his first win of the season. But that’s not an achievement that means much to Neubeck.
“I was just out there trying to do my job,” he said.
Neubeck cruised through the first three innings, but gave up a solo home run to Washington’s Jackson Hotchkiss to surrender the lead in the fourth inning. An inning later, the offense picked him up through a RBI double from Brayden Ricketts, tying the game at two.
Ricketts, a redshirt freshman, was one of seven batters to record a hit for Indiana. He said the offense had to stay persistent against a pitcher in Noah Kenney who was going toe-to-toe with Neubeck.
“There’s a good arm on the mound, but just keep going,” Ricketts said of the conversations in the dugout as the game wore on. The Hoosiers kept at it, and reaped the rewards. “I guess we kind of ran away with it.”
After Ricketts tied it up in the fifth, second baseman Landen Fry doubled down the left field line, scoring Jake Hanley from first. Just one pitch later, Fry scored himself as left fielder Caleb Koskie poked an RBI single down the first base line.
Mercer said Fry has been working to catch the bottom half of more breaking balls, an area where he had been struggling. He got one up in the zone, and crushed it to left field to break the tie.
“He was able to execute exactly what we had worked on,” Mercer said. “In real time, in crunch time, in a huge moment…That’s what makes coaching fun.”
After taking their first lead since the opening inning, the Hoosiers turned to the bullpen to close things out. Gavin Seebold shoved two innings of no-nonsense ball, striking out four without allowing a hit, setting the table for Jackson Yarberry.
Yarberry came in for the ninth with an opportunity to earn the save. He worked himself into a bit of trouble, finding himself with the tying run on second base, but survived the jam by inducing three groundouts to kill the threat.
The junior has been in some similar spots this season, but hasn’t always been effective. Against the Huskies, that changed.
“He was able to really stay composed,” Mercer said. “That comes from being in situations where you have to control your emotions, you have to execute pitches and you have to trust your defense.”
The defense was there all night for Indiana. Koskie and Cole Decker, who replaced Koskie in left field late in the game, made impressive catches near the wall. Hanley made some game-saving picks at first base. It was an overall performance which should give Mercer’s crew a much-needed confidence boost before a rematch with Washington on Saturday.
Indiana is back at Bart Kaufman Field Saturday afternoon for a 4 p.m. ET first pitch in the second of their three-game series against the Huskies. Sophomore southpaw Brayton Thomas is in line to get the ball with a chance to take the series.
