Following a mid-week loss to Xavier University on Wednesday, Indiana baseball heads down to DeLand, Florida, for four games in three days against Mount St. Mary’s University and Stetson University.
Despite the nice temperatures, the Hoosiers had a rough Wednesday afternoon as they fell to Xavier for the second time in less than two weeks. Indiana’s three errors and four unearned runs were too much for it to overcome, falling 8-4.
The Hoosiers will get their weekend started at 1 p.m. Feb. 28 against Mount St. Mary’s, which are 6-1 to start its young season. However, its matchup with Indiana will be the first contest against a power four opponent. Regardless, the Mountaineers have scored 63 runs through seven games, outscoring opponents by 36 runs.
Ty Fredo, a sophomore infielder for Mount St. Mary’s, has been the team leader early on, hitting .379 with an OPS of 1.058. His eight RBIs rank third on the team behind senior outfielders Mateo Zeppieri and Sam Grube.
Zeppieri is not only tied for the team lead in RBIs but also leads the team in OPS and home runs with 1.299 and four, respectively. He hit one of those home runsd Wednesday against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in a 17-5 victory.
While the Mountaineers have not released probables on the mound for the weekend, their starter Friday will more than likely be freshman lefty Serigne Sarre, who last pitched five days ago, or redshirt sophomore Eli DeRossi, who last pitched four days ago.
Sarre has put together solid work in 11 2/3 innings pitched, giving up just one earned run and a walk. However, against Saint Joseph’s University on Feb. 22, Sarre gave up an alarming eight hits in 4 2/3 innings, while collecting six strikeouts.
DeRossi, on the other hand, allowed three earned runs along with three walks in his last start Feb. 23 against Saint Joseph’s. He’s now accumulated six walks across his two starts, along with six batters hit by a pitch.
Indiana will throw redshirt senior Gavin Seebold for game one Friday. The University of Southern Indiana transfer has been impressive, albeit suffering first inning struggles in the first inning of his first two starts. Against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Feb. 14, Seebold gave up four earned runs before recording a single out, followed by one earned run in the first frame against Fordham University on Feb. 22. Outside of the first inning, however, Seebold has been elite in eight innings of work, giving up zero earned runs and just two hits.
Later that night against Stetson, the Hoosiers will throw graduate student Ben Grable, who has only pitched two innings in three games. He most recently pitched against Northwestern on Feb. 24 for just 1/3 inning where he collected his third strikeout of the season.
For game two against Stetson on Saturday, Indiana’s early ace Cole Gilley will get the start. The redshirt senior transfer from Indiana State University has pitched 10 1/3 innings so far, striking out 18 batters with just one walk and seven total hits allowed.
While Mount St. Mary’s has played a weaker schedule out of the gate, Stetson has been the complete opposite. Through eight games, the Hatters have played teams from all four power four conferences as well as Big East regular season champion University of Connecticut. They’ve gone 4-4 in those meetings, losing their last three against Iowa, the University of Notre Dame and the University of Florida.
The Hatters’ offense has been the root of their problems thus far, with just one player hitting above .300 in junior infielder Isaiah Barkett. Not only does he lead the team in batting average, hitting .303 on the season, but he also leads Stetson in hits, runs and at bats.
Junior outfielder Jordan Taylor is the biggest power bat on the Hatter roster but has only hit two home runs, which is tied for the team lead. Both of those home runs came against Penn State on Feb. 15 in Stetson’s second game of the season. Since then, Taylor only has five hits and two RBIs. His seven RBIs, 15 total bases and .536 SLG% are all team- highs as well.
Fellow junior outfielder Landon Russell has been the most consistent bat for the Hatters this season, hitting safely in all eight games. He’s batting .267 with 12 total bases along with one home run and four RBIs. Despite being a consistent bat, Russell has yet to record a multi-hit game this season and has not driven in a run in three games.
It will all come down to the Indiana defense and how many extra chances it will give opposing teams. Sitting at 3-5, it will be important for the Hoosiers to get back to .500 exiting this weekend, with Big Ten play starting next weekend against Penn State on Mar. 7-9. Following the 1 p.m. start against Mount St. Mary’s, the Hoosiers will play at 6:30 p.m. Friday evening, before playing a 1 p.m. game against Stetson on Saturday and an 11 a.m. start on Sunday against the Mountaineers.
