Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer has stated that he doesn’t want his team to have to rely on the home run ball in order to produce offensively. However, the Hoosiers did exactly that and more in a series-opening 11-3 win over Maryland Friday, tallying five home runs while earning their first road win of the season in conference play.
Indiana (14-19, 6-10 Big Ten) scored seven of its 11 runs via home runs, with five of those runs coming in a six-run top of the sixth. It’s a team not necessarily known for its power, but it certainly showed against the Terrapins as the Hoosiers’ hot stretch offensively continued. Following a six-game skid, Indiana has won four of its last five games while scoring 42 runs in that span.
Sophomore Hogan Denny got the Hoosiers going early with a solo home run in the top of the first, the first of five home runs on the day for Indiana. Meanwhile, in the top of the second, freshman Cal Gates singled to left, scoring sophomore Will Moore to put the Hoosiers ahead 2-0.
Maryland (15-19, 2-11) got on the board for the first time in the bottom of the second as sophomore Rylen Stockton homered to center, cutting the Terrapin deficit in half. It was the lone run allowed by Indiana graduate student LHP Tony Neubeck, who spanned six innings and allowed just four hits while striking out five.
In his first season with the Hoosiers after transferring from Mizzou, Neubeck has been a cornerstone piece of Indiana’s weekend rotation, and he carried the success he has had at Bart Kaufman Field with him to College Park for his best road start of the season. The southpaw has brought his season ERA from 4.50 to 3.48, allowing just one run over his last 12 innings pitched.
In the top of the fourth, sophomore Cole Decker homered to left center to put the Hoosiers back up two. Then, in the top of the sixth, Indiana blew things open with six runs, including five runs via the home run ball. Sophomore Cooper Malamazian homered to left and Moore scored on a wild pitch to give the Hoosiers a four-run cushion with the inning still going.
Enter sophomore Caleb Koskie, whose name has been a familiar one for Indiana’s offense over the past several weeks.
The former pitcher-turned-outfielder launched a three-run home run to left, scoring Denny and Decker to blow things open for the Hoosiers. With his home run Friday, Koskie extended his hitting streak to 14 games, and he has cemented himself as a legitimate threat in the top half of the order.
If that wasn’t enough, redshirt freshman Brayden Ricketts added the sixth Indiana run of the inning on a home run of his own, a solo shot to left to put the Hoosiers up 9-1. It was the seventh and final run scored via the home run ball on the day as Indiana was well on its way to a series-opening win.
Maryland plated two runs in the bottom of the seventh against redshirt-junior RHP Jacob Vogel, who struggled in relief of Neubeck, recording just two outs in his outing. However, the Hoosiers added two more runs in the top of the ninth, and graduate student RHP Gavin Seebold closed the game out with 2.1 scoreless innings as Indiana won its sixth Big Ten game of 2026.
Graduate student RHP Reagan Rivera is scheduled to make the start Saturday as the Hoosiers will look to earn their second-straight series victory in Big Ten play. First pitch at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium is scheduled for 2 p.m.
