Denny and Moore hit home runs to tie the game in the 9th, but Hoosier pitching allows too many free passes
By Carl James @jovian34 May 16th, 2026
Indiana Hoosiers 7, Illinois Fighting Illini 9 (10 innings)
Inning by inning details in the Live Game Blog | Box Score | Postgame Media
“We just weren’t competitive enough on the mound. We weren’t competitive enough on the mound from the beginning of the game.”
-Head Coach Jeff Mercer
Indiana’s offense had a tall task today as Illinois, guaranteed a slot in next week’s B1G Tournament, stacked their two best weekend starting pitchers, probably wanting them to be rested for use in the second and third games in Omaha. After the game head coach Jeff Mercer brought that up, “so you’re facing two starters in one day. To put up seven runs is a pretty good job. Did a pretty good job to be able to go out and do that against two starters in one day.”
Illinois Freshman lefty starter Aidan Flinn came into the game with a very impressive statistical line with a 0.86 WHIP over 49 innings in 13 games, 11 starts. And he looked the part too. “He’s funky, he’s tough, he’s cross-fired, competitive, and we chipped away at him.” Indiana still only managed 5 baserunners in 5 innings, but with the help of an error and two wild pitches the Hoosiers were efficient and plated a single run each in three separate innings.
That tied the game at 3 going into the sixth inning, as Hoosier starter Conner Linn was rocked in the first with a walk, a double and a home run. Linn managed to eat two more innings without damage, going 2.2 innings in total for the start. Kaden Jacobi (1 out in the third) and Gavin Seebold (2.0 innings) managed to get the Hoosiers into the sixth with a tied game. “Gavin [Seebold] has been an absolute warrior. He’s pitching on fumes, and we wanted him to be able to go out in his own terms, and he just kind of ran out of gas there, but he did a great job. He’s done a great job all year for us.”
At this point the game diverged as Illinois went to sophomore righty Sam Mommer, who also brought in an impressive WHIP (1.06 in 37 innings) to this outing and even more impressive sub-2 ERA. When discussing Mommer, Mercer said, “the speed differential was so much. From a 66-mile-an-hour curve ball to a 91-mile-an-hour fastball. And so, we were talking in the dugout about establishing your timing.”
While Mommer made short work of the Hoosier offense in the 6th, 7th, and 8th, the next run of senior Hoosier pitching faltered. “we tried to sneak [Anthony Gubitosi] in there to face the guys that we thought we could get on the four seam and then turn it over into the lefties… he didn’t quite execute, but it was a really good lane for him to get in there.” Gubitosi allowed a walk, a hit-by-pitch, a hit and a run in 1.2 innings.
Then Mercer handed the ball to the talented but inconsistent Coppin State grad transfer Reagan Rivera. He struggled with fastball command out of the gate and allowed what felt like a game killing 3-run homer with no outs in the top of the 8th inning. With the bases cleared, Rivera settled in and essentially tossed two scoreless frames to keep the Hoosiers within 4 runs in the bottom of the ninth.
Indiana has shown little ability this season to execute late game comebacks and Mommer was cruising. Will Moore lead off the inning with a tough battle getting into a deep count. Mercer said, “he’s got to throw three pitches on the plate. You only have to hit one of them.” Hit one of them Moore did, for an opposite field solo shot to open the inning. Hoosiers are now down by three.
The air seemed to come out of the Hoosier rally when senior second baseman Aiden Stewart came up with two on and nobody on, worked a deep count, but grounded into a double play. Hoosiers were one out away from the series going to a rubber match. Brayden Ricketts pinch hit for TJ Schuyler and drew a walk, bringing up Hogan Denny as the tying run. Denny continued the incredible tear he’s been on, belting a 3-run homer to tie the game. Jake Hanley got on base, and Caleb Koskie made good contact that was caught in the right center gap to force extra innings.
With Rivera cruising, Mercer elected to stay with him, but it did not go well. Rivera had lost command and two lead off walks would come around to score and give Illinois the edge they needed to force a Saturday rubber match.
Mercer was clearly frustrated at the lack of execution from his pitchers in key moments on Friday. “When you call a pitch and we miss on the other side of the plate or we miss tremendously, or you hit a guy with a breaking ball, there’s no pitch calling to get you through it. That’s just an attitude and some conviction and some gumption to like, I’m going to go fire this thing in there.”
In the end the offense executed while the pitching didn’t. It’s a flip of the script from February and March when Hoosier pitching kept the team in a lot of tight, low scoring games, but the offense couldn’t break out. Mercer reflected, “you look at Gavin Seebold, we’ve run him so hard. He’s been dealing with a lot of different issues, and he’s given everything he’s got. He’s not the same guy that he was in the first half of the season. Well, that’s because every game is a one run game, our offense doesn’t extend games out. And without some of the depth on the mound, those same guys keep going over and over and over again, they wear down. So that’s a big part of why we haven’t been able to secure some of those games.”
Indiana still has a chance to end the season with a series win Saturday at 2pm with sophomore lefty Brayton Thomas on the bump on full regular rest. Hoosiers likely have the pitching advantage as Illinois has must win games in Omaha starting Tuesday, and will likely go to their less reliable arms.