Jake Hanley goes 4-for-4, Gavin Seebold slams the door as the Hoosiers bounce back from a 4-run first inning deficit on Friday
By Carl James @jovian34 March 21st, 2026
Indiana Hoosiers: 8, Minnesota Golden Gophers: 6
Inning by inning details in the Live Game Blog | Box Score
“Eventually you just have kind of a calm, reserved nature. You just go out and execute pitches and execute pitches and don’t look at the scoreboard, and keep competing and firing it in there”
- head coach Jeff Mercer
Reagan Rivera has some of the best stuff on the Indiana pitching staff when his fastball lands where it is supposed to. When it doesn’t, he tends to give up huge innings. It happened in the middle innings on opening day and in his start at Western Kentucky. It happened a third time this year as Minnesota needed only two hits to take a 4-run lead in the first inning.
In the postgame media session, I asked sophomore shortstop Cooper Malamazian about what the hitters talked about when batting behind so early. He cited IU assistant coach Zach Weatherford, “Ignore the scoreboard. Just go play the game.”
“Play the game” they did.
The Hoosiers clawed their way back with two runs in the first, and three runs each in the third and fifth innings to take a lead. Jake Hanley had four hits, including a double and a game-tying home run. Malamazian contributed three hits including a two-RBI triple to get the scoring going in the first inning.
The Hoosier bullpen was outstanding. Freshman Ivan Mastalski allowed two runs in the second but came back in the third with a scoreless frame. No other Gopher runs would score. Michael Sarhatt and Kaden Jacobi each put up a zero in one-inning outings and the Hoosiers turned the ball to bullpen ace Gavin Seebold with a lead to get the 12-out save. Jacobi earned the win.
After Hanley tied the game, Mercer elected to pinch hit for Landen Fry with Freshman Davian Carrera. Carrera took a wild pitch that allowed the go-ahead run to score and then hit into a ground out that provided an insurance run. Mercer said “it wasn’t pretty” but given how many of those scenarios this season (and earlier in this game) have produced inning-ending double plays, Mercer was pleased with what the freshman produced.
Seebold was a man on a mission. He struck out six. He struck out Minnesota’s two best hitters. He struck out the side in a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the deal.
The Hoosiers improved to 2-5, 10th place in the B1G Standings, and 70th in the RPI overnight, thanks in large part to Minnesota’s very good record. The Hoosiers still have a lot of work to do this weekend. They will attempt to clinch the series with ace starter Tony Neubeck on the bump today (Saturday) at 2pm.