Outfield transfer Korbyn Dickerson achieves a natural cycle against his former team
By Carl James @jovian34 September 23rd, 2024
Indiana traveled to Jim Patterson Stadium in Louisville Sunday. The two teams played 16 innings of exhibition baseball, with Louisville scoring more runs while Indiana had more hits.
Indiana Hoosiers 7, Louisville Cardinals 10
Inning by inning details in the Live Game Blog
There is a lot to unwrap in so much baseball played with so many new players to the program. Where to start is not difficult.
Homecoming
Redshirt Sophomore Korbyn Dickerson made his Hoosier debut Sunday in the most dramatic fashion. Dickerson committed to Indiana this year via the transfer portal from the University of Louisville. Dickerson had quite a return to Jim Patterson Stadium, where he was on the roster this spring.
In the fifth inning, Dickerson got on base via a 1-out single. In the 7th inning he hit an RBI double. Dickerson led off the 10th with triple. In the 11th, Dickerson clobbered a 3-0 pitch over the center field fence to complete the extremely rare feat of a natural cycle. Not only was this cycle natural in order, but it was also done in four straight plate appearances.
Dickerson added a walk and another single, going 5-for-6 on the day, getting on-base 6 out 7 times, and stole a base. He also tracked down several well hit balls in centerfield during the late innings of the contest. “He did it all. He played great defense. Offensively he was really special,” was the way head coach Jeff Mercer described Dickerson’s day in the postgame interview. “You’ve got to give a lot of kudos to him for coming in and being really coachable, making some adjustments to his load and just going for it.”
Transfer Pitching
In our preview we said we would have a keen eye on the transfer pitchers. At this point it is safe to assume the Indiana offense will be potent. The Hoosiers need to get to end of the season with the ability to cover four plus games in a week. The past two seasons saw regionals start strong and then falter on the mound. What the transfer portal can provide are proven strike throwers who pitch to contact, take advantage of the talented defense behind them and cover multiple innings.
Gavin Seebold was first up, and the Southern Indiana transfer did not disappoint. He got through two innings facing the minimum. More impressive than that, it only took 17 pitches. He was sitting 91-92 miles per hour on his fastball, touched 93 to induce a flyout, and mixed in effecting mid-80s off-speed.
Seebold’s former teammate at Southern Indiana, Clayton Weisheit, also had a strong inning of work, allowing just a walk in the sixth inning. Indiana Wesleyan transfer Will Eldridge gave up a lead-off homer, but the retired the next three he faced to end the 8th inning on three straight flyouts. Eldridge was 93-94 mph gas all inning. Mercer wants to see Weisheit develop “better off-speed stuff”, but he was really pleased with what both of those guys put together in their innings.
Coach Mercer was especially happy with the stuff Stonehill transfer Pete Haas had on display in a 1-2-3 12th inning. “I thought Pete Haas did exactly what he does. Just going to be 88 to 90 with a great kind of that Craig Yoho change-up and a good slider.”
Freshmen Spotlight
You know what you are going to get when you face Louisville. That program loves small ball, aggressive baseball and bunting. It was a statement of confidence that three weeks into the fall, coach Mercer put a pair of true freshmen in the corner infield spots. Cooper Malamazian was coming off a summer where the Milwaukee Brewers drafted him. He got the start at third in place of senior Josh Pyne, who Mercer told us is injured and expected to miss the majority of the fall. “He was defensive player of the year in Illinois and a draft pick. And we’re really fortunate and glad that he decided to come to college.” With only a week of work in he made multiple great plays including a major league caliber bare hand pick up and throw on a soft bunt.
Jake Hanley started both games. Hanley attended the MLB Draft Combine this summer and looked the part of a Hoosier big bat. He produced offensively with two extra base hits and walk, including a home run. Louisville did take advantage of some confusion between the pitcher and first base with soft contact to the right side for hits, but that is teachable.
Another freshman that made an impact offensively was outfielder/designated hitter Hogan Denny who managed two hits and walk on the day. Mercer has made a point of playing freshmen early and often and this year he got the freshmen going right away against a top-notch opponent.
Indiana also had three freshmen on the mound led by draft pick Henry Brummel who was dominant in a 1-2-3 inning where he touched 94mph and struck out three Cardinals.
Returners
It was a mixed bag for the key returning players. In general, Mercer was not happy with the offense on the day. “You have a different team and different stuff. And they’re throwing, you know 15-16 different arms. And we just didn’t do a good job overall offensively of sticking to the plan often for a fastball and adjust from there. Overall Indiana actually outhit Louisville 18-14, but were outscored by three runs, as the Hoosiers hit into three double plays and stranded a lot of runners.
A real bright spot on the day was sophomore catcher TJ Schuyler. He caught the latter 8-innings when the Hoosiers outscored the Cardinals 5-4. His first at bat picked up Dickerson on third whose triple led off the inning but was still there two strikeouts later. Schuyler drove him home with a two out single. Schuyler threw out a would-be base stealer and executed a perfect back pick to first after looking at a base stealer go to third to get into a rundown which was executed well by Hanley and Tyler Cerny. Cerny also added a two-run blast to his day.
Indiana will face Cincinnati at Bart Kaufman Field on Saturday, October 5th, at 1pm to conclude the outside competition portion of fall workouts.