GameDay Preview: Indiana Baseball Hopes to Bounce Back After Disappointing Weekend

The Hoosiers need to get back to what worked early in the season to get out of their recent lull.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana baseball enters the week with a unique schedule, playing back-to-back midweek games on Tuesday and Wednesday. First up, the Hoosiers will take on Evansville at 7 p.m. in Evansville, Ind.

The Hoosiers are determined to bounce back after a disappointing weekend against San Diego, dropping the series 2-1 in the team’s first home weekend series of the season. Indiana started the series strong with an impressive 9-2 win in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, but struggled to execute at a high level in the final two contests.

The Hoosiers are looking to put their disappointing weekend behind them as they take on the Aces, who were swept in a three-game series by the College of Charleston.

Evansville’s offense is led by junior Craig Tanner, who was a second-team All-Mountain Valley Conference selection in 2019. Tanner has gotten off to a fast start, hitting .352 with seven home runs and 18 RBIs in 15 games to open the season.

The Aces will hand the ball off to junior Niko Klebosits, who will be taking the mound for the first time this season.

Here are the particulars on this weekend’s matchup:

• Who: University of Evansville (4-11)
• When: Tuesday, March 10, 7 p.m. ET
• Where: German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium
• Probable Starters: RHP – John Modugno v. LHP – Niko Klebosits
• Television: ESPN+
• Radio: Indiana Radio Network
• Announcer: Austin Render

Here are three things I’m looking to see from Indiana:

1. Bullpen Rounds Into Form

Indiana’s first midweek matchup of the season against Purdue was supposed to be the team’s first test for the bullpen. Midweek games are often considered “bullpen games” that allow underutilized relievers to experience high-leverage situations. However, once the Hoosiers busted the game open with a seven-run first inning, the opportunity for the bullpen to experience stress passed by.

Indiana coach Jeff Mercer used more relievers than he wanted to against San Diego in the second two games of the series, as neither juniors Tommy Sommer and Braydon Tucker pitched five innings, but none stood out in relief.

If the Hoosiers are going to get back to their winning ways, they will need the bullpen to step up and be the shutdown relievers they were earlier in the season.

2. Early Hits

It sounds simple but wasn’t in the last two games against San Diego. The Hoosiers have to get their bats going earlier in games.

Indiana has shown that it has a dangerous offense headlined by junior Elijah Dunham and sophomore Grant Richardson. The Hoosiers have four players batting over .280 while three of them have over 10 RBIs already in the season, but what doomed the team was their inability to get into the hit column early against the Toreros.

The longer a zero hung under hits on the scoreboard, the more pressure Indiana’s pitchers seemed to feel while they tried to keep the game close. If the Hoosiers can get hits early and put pressure on the opposing pitchers, everybody eases into the game faster and allows the team to execute at a high level.

3. Finish Innings

An unfortunate theme for Indiana baseball early in the season has been the inability to finish innings at the plate. While the Hoosiers have gotten plenty of offense in most of their games to start the season, they have still left a lot of runs on the basepaths.

Indiana has stranded an average of 8.9 runners per game, with many of those being coming with players in scoring position. The Hoosiers are getting great opportunities to bring runners in to score but can’t capitalize.

One of the biggest reasons of late has been the reliance on late-inning hitting. You need hits with two outs to score runs but they are not a reliable source of offense. Stringing together hits with two outs is a difficult task and becomes even more challenging against top-tier competition with elite arms.

Related Indiana Baseball Stories:

• Indiana Drops Series Finale: The Hoosiers lose 13-5 in their final game against San Diego. Click Here
• Indiana Splits Doubleheader: Tale of two games as the Hoosiers split Saturday's doubleheader against San Diego. Click Here
• Indiana 2020 Schedule: Complete list of games for the Hoosiers. Click Here
• Indiana 2020 Roster: Complete 2020 roster for the Hoosiers. Click Here