The 2-2 Indiana Hoosiers head to the Lone Star State to take on the University of Texas Longhorns this weekend. Indiana is coming off a victory against Miami University of Ohio in their home opener, a game where they scored 13 runs on 14 hits.
Outfielder Hunter Jessee will be looking to continue his strong run of form. In the Hoosiers’ win over the Redhawks, the senior hit two home runs and accounted for four RBIs, the most of any Indiana batter.
One Hoosier hitter who will be looking to find his stride this weekend is sophomore outfielder Carter Mathison. A .273 hitter in his freshman season, the Fort Wayne product has struggled at the plate in February. He is just 2-of-17 with eight strikeouts through four games.
There is no doubt as to what Mathison can do with the bat in his hands – he hit a grand slam to help Indiana defeat Auburn just a few days ago — and it is not a matter of whether Mathison will break out of his early-season slump, it is a question of when he starts sending baseballs flying all over baseball fields across the country. It may be as soon as this weekend, but fortunately for Mathison, Indiana has found ways to put runs on the board amidst his struggles.
The Hoosiers have scored 24 runs over their last two games, but as the saying goes, momentum is only as good as your next day’s pitcher. Indiana has done a lot of pitching by committee. In Tuesday’s win, they used nine different hurlers, an indication that head coach Jeff Mercer has depth on his pitching staff and there are multiple weapons he can use to attack a Longhorn squad that has struggled in the early going.
Texas took part in the College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington to begin the season and it dropped all three games. It lost a pair of one-run contests to the University of Arkansas and the University of Missouri, both on walk-off base hits, before being run out of town by the Vanderbilt University Commodores. Texas dropped the weekend finale by 10 runs.
The Longhorns rebounded versus Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, finding themselves on the other side of a 10-run disparity in the final score.
Baseball in Texas is always a big draw for spectators — the Longhorns had over 6,000 fans attend their season opener on Tuesday afternoon. Indiana can make a statement for their postseason aspirations if they take the series at UFCU DischFalk Field, and Mercer’s squad will be looking to continue its winning ways this weekend.
The game begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday, followed by afternoon games at 2 p.m. Saturday and a 1 p.m. series finale on Sunday. All three games will be televised on Longhorn Network.
Follow reporters Matthew Byrne (@MatthewByrne1) and Nick Rodecap (@nickrodecap) for updates throughout the Indiana baseball season.
