Series Preview
Indiana Hoosiers (10-14, 3-6 B1G) at #24 Nebraska Cornhuskers (19-6, 5-1 B1G)
Location: Hawks Field at Haymarket Park, Lincoln, NE
Dates: March 27-29th
Times (all CDT): Friday @ 6pm, Saturday @ 2pm, Sunday @ 12pm
Head Coaches: Jeff Mercer (8th season, 217-163-1) & Will Bolt (7th season, 189-132-1)
TV/Stream: B1G+
Radio: All Nebraska games on Huskers Radio Network, Huskers.com, Huskers App
Fresh off a 4-1 week on the road where they stifled a red
hot Wichita State offense and took a weekend series from a good Michigan team, Nebraska plays its first series as a ranked team since the first two weeks of last season. Solid starts from all of the rotation combined with an offense that really woke up (Other than the Kurt Barr experience on Friday, but he’s been confounding B1G bats for 3.5 years.) and some opportunistic bullpen experiences has really pushed Nebraska into the national conversation.
Indiana had the unfortunate timing last offseason of the best HS recruiting class in program history graduating, and maybe the 2nd best player in the conference, Devin Taylor getting drafted at the same time. They are in a full rebuild for the first time under coach Jeff Mercer. They are not taking it easy on the scheduling though. 8 of their losses are to teams that either are or were ranked at the time of playing. They were upset by Washington in the first conference series, then swept by Oregon the week after.
They have shown they aren’t dead yet. They beat Vanderbilt in a midweek game on St. Patrick’s Day. Then they won the first two games against a Minnesota team that had been off to a surprising start to the year, albeit against a VERY easy schedule. They stumbled again since, as Minnesota rebounded and won on a 10 run rule game on Sunday, and then lost to in state rival Indiana State Tuesday 5-4. That was on a late inning implosion by one of their, let’s say, less reliable relievers. We are about to see if that 3 game streak was a hiccup in their mediocrity or if they really are resurrecting their season.
Pitching Probables
Game 1: RHP Ty Horn (0-1, 3.26 ERA) vs. RHP Reagan Rivera (0-2, 10.90 ERA)
Game 2: RHP Carson Jasa (4-1, 3.99 ERA) vs. LHP Tony Neubeck (2-2, 3.49 ERA)
Game 3: RHP Cooper Katskee (3-0, 2.10 ERA) vs. LHP Brayton Thomas (1-2, 5.09 ERA)
Ty Horn found himself in the middle of just an old fashioned Big Ten Friday night pitcher’s duel for the first time. It took him a minute to find his stuff, made all the more problematic by the tight zone, rare for a game that ends 2-1. Something clicked in the 3rd, and Horn rattled off 6 straight strikeouts before walking a Wolverine. At that point, he had just used too many pitches to survive the first few innings and had to exit after 102 pitches in 4.2 innings.
Everything for Nebraska was firing on all cylinders Saturday, and that included Carson Jasa. He shutout the Wolverines in his 6 innings of work, striking out 8 and only walking 1. It was evident from the start that the cutter/change and slider were in dominant fashion for Jasa, and if those are going, tying to time up a 97 mph fastball is nearly impossible. He just keeps improving with each start.
It was hard to place what was going on with Gavin Blachowicz on Sunday, his velocity was down and just wasn’t commanding the mound like we’ve grown accustomed to as he battled his way through 4 innings. With only 1 midweek game, the Huskers were able to maneuver Cooper Katskee to make the Sunday slot he was originally brought in to occupy. The former Indiana Hoosier is 4th in the Big Ten in ERA at 2.10 and will be given his first weekend start against his former team.
After losing one of their top starters for the season, the Hoosiers are struggling to figure out a rotation for the weekend. Reagan Rivera, a Copin State grad transfer is getting the Friday nod. He doesn’t get far in games, so we are going to see the bullpen early on a Friday night, more than likely. Rivera is the definition of hot or cold. He either throws a shutout, or gives up 4 or more runs. There is no in-between.
The most consistent pitcher for Indiana is the lefty Missouri grad transfer Tony Neubeck. He had a rough go at Oregon, but most do. Other than that he has been coming on strong lately, striking out 9 Washington batter and 8 Minnesota batters, while walking only 2. Their top recruit a season ago, Bryaton Thomas is still figuring things out. He shows promise, with 20 strikeouts in 23 innings, but leads the team in walks. Minnesota burned him for 6 runs in 1.2 innings last Sunday.
Scouting Report
The Hoosiers offense is led by reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jake Hanley. Hanley has started every game since arriving on campus, something easy to do because not only does he bring a good bat, but he also won an All-Region Gold Glove last season. Hanley is batting a team leading .354 with 5 home runs and 24 RBIs. He had a home run in each of the victories over Minnesota last week, and has 2 doubles in the last week, to go along with batting .416 in Big Ten play, so he is a big part of this team coming back from the dead recently.
The other most dangerous bat in the Hoosiers’ lineup is sophomore Hogan Denny. While splitting time at catcher and in the outfield, Denny is hitting .326 and leads the team with 9 doubles and is tied for the team lead with 5 home runs. He also leads the team with a 1.016 OPS.
Leadoff batter Will Moore was also a Freshman All-Big Ten Team member last season. He is a menace in the batters box, but not just because of his bat. He is only batting .250 with 20 hits, way down from last year. But he has 15 walks, and 6 HBP on the year. He is constantly working the pitchers deep into counts, contributing to his 21 strikeouts. Pitchers will need to attack him quickly.
Indiana does not run a lot, but if you see part time player Ayden Crouse in the outfield, get ready to watch him run on the bases. He has more than half of the teams stolen bases and attempts on the season, going 9 for 11.
The Indiana bullpen is not a strength of the team. They don’t use a single pitcher as a closer. Three different pitcher have combined for their 4 total saves on the season. The Hoosiers have 2 pitchers that have been consistently good for them this season.
Long reliever Gavin Seebold is leading the team in most categories. He is sporting a team low 0.83 ERA, having given up only 2 runs on the season, both in his appearance against Oregon. He has struck out 23 and walked 8 in 21.1 innings of work. He only pitches 1 game a series, usually going for 2-3 innings. 6’7 260 lb Jacob Vogel is another go to arm. He has struck out 12 and walked 7 in 15 innings this season. He has a 3.00 ERA but generally doesn’t go for more than an inning.
The defense is average, with a fielding percentage at .972. Short stop Cooper Malamazian makes some spectacular plays, but has 7 errors on the season, for only a .924%.
Series History
Nebraska owns a 20-15-1 record against the Hoosiers. They last met in 2024 in the Big Ten Tournament with Nebraska needing to beat them twice to advance to the title game. The Huskers won 4-2 and 10-4 on their way to their first Big Ten Tournament Championship. The teams met earlier in the season with Indiana winning the opener in extra innings, but Nebraska winning the last 2 games to claiming the series.
On Deck
- Dylan Carey hit career double number 56 at Kansas State on Tuesday, tying Will Bolt for the Husker career record.
- Dylan Carey and Mac Moyer are tied for 2nd in the Big Ten and 17th in the country with 40 hits on the year.
- Nebraska is 9-0 at home this season. The record to start a season is 11-0 in 2015.
- Happy Opening Day for the MLB, for those that celebrate! Especially to the Husker Baseball alums! Get well soon, Schwellenbach!
