No. 23 Indiana wins the home opener and improves to 3-1 on the season
By Zach Horwitz @HorwitzZach February 20th, 2024 – photos by Carl James
On a February evening in Bloomington, Indiana, the Hoosiers took to the diamond in what is the earliest played home contest since 2002. Coming off of a successful 2-1 weekend, plucking wins over No.18 Coastal Carolina and George Mason, the Indiana bats came alive in a midweek matchup against the visiting Miami (OH) RedHawks.
Josh Pyne led the IU offense with a 2-4 day at the dish, including a home run and four RBIs. His big fly came in the bottom of the third inning which gave Indiana their first lead of the ballgame. From there, the Hoosier approach didn’t change. As a team, the Hoosiers were 5-8 when leading off an inning, with three of those baserunners crossing home plate. Jeff Mercer’s top third of the lineup all had multi-hit days, starting with Carter Mathison. Mathison had two doubles and a walk, which eventually scored him on all three. Josh Pyne had his best day in the box while Devin Taylor sprayed balls all over the field, increasing his batting average to .577 on the young season.
“We just want to get a bunch of guys in there,” said head coach Jeff Mercer. He plugged three freshmen into the midweek lineup to try and figure out his designated hitter situation.
Joey Brenczewski saw the first start of his collegiate career, one where he cleared the bases with a double to left field. He had a productive out his first time up, hitting behind the runner and moving him over to third base which allowed Andrew Wiggins an RBI opportunity.
As Nick Mitchell is sidelined with an injury, Mercer wanted the highly touted Wiggins to get opportunities in right field. He came through in his first at-bat, lofting a fly ball to left field which became a sacrifice fly, plating Tyler Cerny. “It’s a tough matchup and they stayed with a lefty” which was the reason for his substitution in the fifth inning. Mercer also mentioned how Wiggins was “cruising,” making good reads off the bat in right field.
Cal Sefcik, who had just recovered from injury, saw action in the 8-hole of the batting order. He walked once but still has not earned his first hit.
Mercer reported that AJ Shepard would be out significant time after suffering an injury during Sunday’s tilt against George Mason. Shepard was in the lineup all three games prior, which continuously proves the notion for competition at the DH spot.
Similar to the plan of the starting lineup, the Indiana coaching staff wanted multiple pitchers to “get their feet wet” after not toeing the rubber in the “Baseball at the Beach” weekend. Mercer sent out eight different pitchers throughout the night, starting with Seth Benes.
Benes, a freshman right-hander, was ranked the eighth overall best high school player in the state of Missouri. Seth followed suit of his uncle, Andy Benes, a 2000 strikeout pitcher in the MLB, hurling 21 pitches and striking out two batters in the first inning. Cooper Katskee followed up Benes, also sitting down two Miami (OH) batters in his inning of work. Grant Holderfield made his first appearance in two seasons, earning the win in a clean third inning frame. From there, Mercer went to Gonzaga transfer Jack Moffitt. The 6 ‘7 right-hander tossed a team-high two innings on the afternoon, allowing only one earned run.
“Solo homers don’t win those games, but multi-run home runs do.” Jeff Mercer preaches this to his pitching staff, and it came true today. With the lone Hoosier homer coming off of Josh Pyne’s bat, the RedHawks belted three deep shots, but all of those were with the bases empty.
With nearly 1700 fans in attendance, the Hoosiers found their stride after being in a close battle through the first seven innings. An ensuing four runs aided Indiana to cruise into a 12-6 victory and push their season record to 3-1.
Jeff Mercer’s squad will be back at home on Feb. 27 as Purdue Fort Wayne comes into town for yet another free admission game for the general public.
IU travels to Waco, TX to face off against the Baylor Bears this upcoming weekend. Friday night will play host to game one of the three-game set, beginning at 7:30 pm.