Key 2024 arm for the Hoosiers will provide a veteran presence on a pitching staff with a lot of new faces
By Carl James @jovian34 July 23rd, 2024
A source within the Indiana Baseball program has confirmed with iubase.com that right-handed pitcher Drew Buhr, who was outstanding down the stretch for Indiana as a long reliever, has been granted an additional year of eligibility. He will return to the Hoosiers as a graduate student-athlete for one more season.
Buhr led the Hoosiers in 2024 with 21 appearances and was third in innings pitched with 49. He struck out 48 batters, just shy of one per inning, while only walking 17. Buhr earned the save in Indiana’s win over higher seeded Southern Miss in the opening game of the Knoxville Regional. He allowed one run, surrendering no hits in 3.1 innings of work to seal arguably the Hoosiers biggest win of the season.
Buhr will be entering his sixth year as a college baseball player. As a two-way player at Saint Louis in 2020 he went 2 for 7 at the plate and logged two innings on the mound before COVID-19 ended the season. After transferring, he was infielder at Bellarmine in 2021 but only saw action in 10 games. Most likely this is the season he was just granted a waiver for. As a full-time pitcher in 2023 he became a leading arm for Bellarmine and graduated with recognition from the ASUN conference for both his academic and athletic achievements.
This news really can’t be overstated. With Ty Bothwell out of eligibility and Connor Foley signing after being drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Hoosiers have 147 innings to replace with just those two. Between Buhr, Aydan Decker-Petty, Ryan Kraft, Jacob Vogel, Ryan Rushing, Grant Holderfield, and Seth Benes, Indiana will now bring back 170 innings from the 2024 pitching staff. The Hoosiers are looking forward to seeing significant innings from 2023 transfers Matt Bohnert and Ben Grable who both missed 2024 with injuries. Between a deep recruiting class of freshmen and transfers, pitching coach Dustin Glant is charged with developing a pitching staff that can keep every game in reach of what will be another incredibly potent Indiana offense.
As of the time of this article, this brings the projected fall players up to 40 players, a total that matches the spring roster limit for 2025. That roster is likely to drop below 36 for 2026 per news being reported nationally as part of an effort to massively increase scholarship allocations in the diamond sports of baseball and softball. The projected players list could still see some slight expansion by either a drafted player not signing to go pro or additional players committing from the transfer portal.