Indiana baseball (18-22, 6-12 Big Ten) had to battle on Sunday afternoon against a resilient Abilene Christian team in order to clinch the weekend series. The Hoosiers, thanks to a go-ahead eighth inning hit from Caleb Koskie, defeated the Wildcats in a 5-4 nail-biter at Bart Kaufman Field.
The MVP on Sunday was Hoosier right-hander Jackson Yarberry, who was outstanding as Jeff Mercer’s long reliever. Entering in the bottom of the first, the Indiana junior tossed five scoreless innings, only giving up three hits while striking out eight.
“I’ve been trusting the work I put in at the start of the year and trusting myself,” Yarberry said after the game. “After the first we just had to reset and get in the game.”
The Hoosiers played small ball early on, reminiscent of their Friday night victory. They took advantage of a number of Wildcat free passes and defensive miscues to build an early lead. Their first three runs were scored on a pair of errors and a wild pitch.
Brayden Ricketts added on another run with an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth inning. The redshirt freshman from Canada had a tremendous series, hitting a pair of home runs while driving in four runs across the weekend.
Headed into the latter innings with a 4-1 lead, Mercer turned to his most reliable bullpen arm, Gavin Seebold. After recording back-to-back retirements to end the sixth inning, Seebold ran into trouble in the seventh inning.
The first five Wildcats all reached, and a two-run home run from Kanon Sundgren cut the lead to 4-3. After picking up the first out of the inning, Seebold proceeded to walk the very next batter with the bases loaded, evening up the rubber match at four.
Despite his seventh inning troubles, Mercer trusted his gut and left Seebold out there in an attempt to preserve the tie. Seebold answered the call by striking out back-to-back batters to keep the score even.
Returning for the eighth, Seebold once again ran into trouble. The Wildcats loaded the bases for the second straight inning. The Indiana right-hander once again stranded traffic, picking up his fifth strikeout to close out the inning.
In the eighth inning, Indiana put together a two-out rally, something they’ve struggled to find all season. With two outs and runners on first and second, Koskie found a hole on the left side of the infield, and brought in Landen Fry to put the Hoosiers in front, 5-4.
“My heart rate is a lot lower when he walks up there,” Mercer said about Koskie postgame. “When he comes up in those moments, whatever happens you know it’s going to be the best at bat he can give you.”
Koskie’s current 21-game hit streak is tied for a program record. He has matched former major leaguer Alex Dickerson’s record from the 2010 season.
Headed into the ninth with a one-run lead, Mercer called on right-hander Reagan Rivera to get the final three outs. Rivera’s outing was reminiscent of his up-and-down season. He retired the first two Wildcats, before giving up back-to-back hits, allowing Abilene Christian to get the tying run in scoring position.
Rivera dug deep, and induced a fly ball to left field, where Koskie was there to make the catch and end the game. By the skin of their teeth, Indiana pulled out a much-needed series victory. Indiana is now 2-2 in rubber matches this season and has now won four of its past five games.
“He was able to stay composed and have another growth moment,” Mercer said of Rivera. “If we’re going to make a run, he’s going to be a huge part of it.”
The Hoosiers will head a few hours northeast to Muncie on Tuesday, as they face the Ball State Cardinals for the second time in 2026. Indiana defeated Ball State 6-4 on April 7 in Bloomington. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern.
