Indiana utilized four left-handed pitchers to close out long homestand with a win
By Zach Horwitz @HorwitzZach April 8th, 2025
photos by Carl James
“Swanson settled in and attacked. He did a tremendous job. It really is the reason that we won the game.”
— Head Coach Jeff Mercer
Indiana Hoosiers 7, Ball State Cardinals 5
Inning by inning details in the Live Game Blog | Box Score
For the fourth time in three days, Bart Kaufman Field played host to a winning home side as Indiana concluded its nine-game homestand. While it began on March 25th, the Hoosiers sport a 6-3 record in the stretch, coming out on top in four of six Big Ten contests while winning two of three midweek matchups. In a dominant pitching performance for nearly the entirety of the evening, Indiana snagged a 7-5 victory before they head north to face Illinois.
Ball State took advantage of early defensive breakdowns from the left side of the Indiana infield, taxing right-hander Jackson Yarberry. The Saint Louis transfer took to the mound for the first time since March 2nd, coming off of an injury. Despite going down two runs early, head coach Jeff Mercer opted to go to a quartet of left-handed pitchers out of the bullpen.
Withstanding a bulk of innings eaten up over the weekend series with Michigan State, Deron Swanson stood tall for the Indiana pitching group. The Fort Wayne, IN native had only three appearances before entering the midweek. Running his way out of a jam in the third, the southpaw completed 4.1 innings, allowing just four hits and zero runs. Mercer spoke on Swanson getting out of the traffic unscathed along with pitching coach Dustin Glant’s gameplan.
“We were just so committed to being in the strike zone and attacking.” He mentioned that Coach Glant thought Swanson had a chance to “just run with it,” after taking Yarberry out after finishing just three outs. He added, “Swanson settled in and attacked. He did a tremendous job. It really is the reason that we won the game.”
Dickerson Homers to tie it up B3 #IUBase pic.twitter.com/UBKfgOp1MW
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Behind Swanson was a patient offense that did the majority of its work in the third inning, scratching across five runs thanks to a troubling top half of the order. Behind Devin Taylor’s leadoff single, which happened to be the upstart of another multi-hit, multi-RBI outing for the junior, Korbyn Dickerson extended his Big Ten conference lead in RBIs, mashing a home run that left the yard at 108 mph off the bat. The ‘379 foot blast brought a different energy to the third base dugout, seemingly continuing with Cooper Malamazian’s 2-RBI single and Will Moore crossing the plate on a wild pitch.
#IUBase https://t.co/1oQg7lUKF9 pic.twitter.com/MN91XA7l5J
— iubase.com (@iubase17) April 8, 2025
After Taylor plated two more Indiana runs at the dish in the fifth, the Hoosier lefties had a cushion behind them.
Sophomore Ryan Rushing had an ideal 1.2 innings for Glant’s staff, allowing just one hit and punching out three, before handing the baton to Brayton Thomas.
The highly-touted freshman, who committed to Indiana as the top ranked pitcher in the state, previewed his stuff in his first inning of work. Thomas struck out the side, pumping low-to-mid 90s with his fastball in the eighth. Looking to close out the game, he ran into a bit of control issues which made Mercer opt for “the sheriff” to close it out.
Ryan Kraft, who has claimed the nickname, allowed three runs, all charged to Thomas, but finished off the Cardinals in the end.
“He’s always been a competitor. You feel like the game’s over when he comes in,” Mercer mentioned postgame.
Jeff Mercer’s ball club has now taken four games in the span of three days. They look to keep the streak going with a weekend set in Champaign, IL against the Illinois Fighting Illini. The Hoosiers sit at 9-6 in the Big Ten, while Illinois is in the middle of the pack at 7-5.
First pitch of the series is set for 7:00 pm on Friday, April 11.