Baseball Central: Minnesota

Friday, March 20

Bloomington, Ind.

6 p.m.

Indiana University

Minnesota

3/19/2026 3:30:00 PM | Baseball

Game Notes Media Center

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana Baseball team (8-12, 1-5 B1G) will look to get on track in conference play as Minnesota (15-6, 1-2 B1G) visits Bart Kaufman Field for the first time since 2022. The Hoosiers have won all four weekends against Minnesota under head coach Jeff Mercer (since 2019) and are 11-3 under the current skipper against the Golden Gophers.

The Hoosiers picked up a massive road win on Tuesday (March 17) to end their spring break trip. They went down to Nashville and dispatched of Vanderbilt in a 5-1 victory. Following a hitless weekend in Oregon, sophomore outfielder Hogan Denny recorded a four-hit day that featured two home runs in the win over the Commodores. He is one of four members of the current sophomore class (Malamazian, Hanley, Moore) with a four-hit day in their IU career.

Even without the services of senior right-handed pitcher Jackson Bergman last weekend, IU's pitching staff continues to toss the ball at a high level. Graduate student left-handed pitcher Conner Linn racked up five strikeouts in 3.2 innings of scoreless baseball against Vanderbilt. Redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Jacob Vogel, freshman right-handed pitcher Ivan Mastalski and graduate student right-handed pitcher Gavin Seebold all helped in the dominant pitching effort as well.

After the long road trip out west, IU will leave the eastern time zone on the weekend just twice more (Nebraska, Northwestern) the rest of the regular season. Four of IU's next six series will come inside the friendly confines of Bart Kaufman Field, beginning with a visit from Minnesota this weekend. A four-game homestand wraps up next Tuesday (March 24) with a contest against Indiana State.

This weekend will follow a traditional series setup with first pitch times of 6 p.m. (Friday), 2 p.m. (Saturday) and 1 p.m. (Sunday). Fantastic weather is expected all weekend as IU tries to make up ground in the Big Ten standings. Graduate student right-handed pitcher Reagan Rivera will get the ball to begin the series on Friday night.

Gameday Info
vs. Minnesota (Friday, March 20th – 6 p.m. ET)
Live Video: bit.ly/4dAOJT4
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/46VZA6j

vs. Minnesota (Saturday, March 21st – 2 p.m. ET)
Live Video: bit.ly/3NBx434
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/46VZA6j

vs. Minnesota (Sunday, March 22nd – 1 p.m. ET)
Live Video: bit.ly/4bxy8NE
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/46VZA6j

Probable Starters
Indiana vs. Minnesota
• Friday: RHP Reagan Rivera, Gr. (0-2, 9.98 ERA)
• Saturday: LHP Tony Neubeck, Gr. (1-2, 3.63 ERA)
• Sunday: LHP Brayton Thomas, So. (1-1, 2.95 ERA)

(subject to change with any weather changes)

Leading Off
HANLEY HISTORY: Freshman first baseman Jake Hanley has 99 career hits after a pair of base knocks on Sunday at Oregon. He is closing in on his 100th all-time college hit in under 80 games at this level. Hanley has started all 76 possible games of his time in Bloomington entering Tuesday.

KOSKIE HITS: Sophomore outfielder Caleb Koskie has been a pleasant surprise this season in the lineup. Over the last 10 games, Koskie is hitting .333 with 12 hits, four doubles, one home run and 10 RBIs. He leads the Hoosiers with a .340 batting average this year.

UNDERCLASSMEN GALORE: On IU's Sunday lineup card in Oregon, eight of the nine position players were freshmen or sophomores. The only upperclassmen was junior catcher T.J. Schuyler. All nine of those players were recruited out of high school to Bloomington by head coach Jeff Mercer.

HOGAN'S BIG DAY: Sophomore outfielder Hogan Denny produced a career day to help beat Vanderbilt on Tuesday. He recorded his four-hit day and hit two home runs for the second time this year in a game. Denny had a hand in all five of IU's runs in a massive road victory.

BIG TIME BT: Sophomore left-handed pitcher Brayton Thomas has been outstanding for the Hoosiers this year. Opposing offenses are hitting just .184 against him in 21.1 innings. He's allowed just seven earned runs this year and leads IU starters with a 2.95 ERA.

SEE IT TO SEEBOLD: If IU has a chance to win the game, it will go to graduate student Gavin Seebold. The sixth-year pitcher has a 1.02 ERA and has given up just two earned runs over 17.2 innings. Six of his seven outings this year have been scoreless.

GETTING ON BASE: Sophomore third baseman Will Moore is the ideal leadoff man for the Hoosiers. On the season, he has more combined walks (14) and hit-by-pitches (6) than strikeouts (17). He is leading the team with a .447 on-base percentage.

PITCHING IT WELL: Entering the weekend, IU has allowed just 20 earned runs in the past five games. Although IU is only 2-3 in that stretch, its pitching staff has given the team a chance to win. On three occasions this year, IU has allowed just one run in a game.

Scouting the Opponent
Minnesota
• Minnesota is off to a fantastic 15-6 start this year. That includes splitting a series against Kansas at U.S. Bank Field at the end of February. The Golden Gophers opened Big Ten play with a tight weekend loss against Illinois in Champaign.

• The Golden Gophers have pitched it extremely well in the first month of the year. A 3.19 ERA is among the top 15 teams in the country. Right-handed pitcher Isaac Morton has a 2.05 ERA over 26.1 innings of work. Fellow junior Cole Sevlig is 3-0 with a 3.08 ERA to open the year.

• Outfielder Easton Richter has been a big part of Minnesota's offense. He has the team lead in hits (27), home runs (8), RBIs (24) and stolen bases (10). Catcher Weber Neels is hitting .310 with five home runs and 19 RBIs. The Golden Gophers have 52 RBIs on the season.

Inside the Series
Minnesota
• A long time Big Ten power, Minnesota has struggled in recent memory but is one of the best programs in conference history. In 2018, Minnesota hosted and won a regional before being bounced from the NCAA Tournament in the Corvallis Super Regional.

• Minnesota leads the all-time series 113-58 but head coach Jeff Mercer has dominated the meetings during his time in Bloomington. The Hoosiers won series in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024 under Mercer. Matt Lloyd famously hit a walk-off home run at Bart Kaufman Field to help beat the Gophers in 2019.