Baseball Central: Washington

Friday, March 6

Bloomington, Ind.

5 p.m.

Indiana University

Washington

3/5/2026 10:00:00 AM | Baseball

Game Notes Media Center

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The 30-game sprint through the Big Ten begins this weekend as the Indiana Baseball team (5-7, 0-0 B1G) starts its conference slate against Washington at Bart Kaufman Field. IU is looking to open league play with a series victory for the first time since 2023. Since head coach Jeff Mercer took over the program in 2019, he has won 22 of 26 traditional (three/four games) conference series played in Bloomington.

IU wrapped up a busy five-game stretch last week with a trio of road wins against Xavier and Western Kentucky (2). Redshirt freshman designated hitter Brayden Ricketts, the Big Ten Freshman of the Week, and sophomore first baseman Jake Hanley did the heavy lifting as IU's offense continues to heat up. Each player hit at least .500 with 10-or-more base knocks. Ricketts slugged two home runs on Sunday against Western Kentucky to finish off a productive weekend.

Despite Saturday's doubleheader finale getting away from the staff, IU has pitched the ball at a high level. The Hoosiers have allowed four-or-fewer runs in five of the last seven ballgames. That includes two one-run efforts in each of the last pair of starts by sophomore southpaw Brayton Thomas. IU is 2-1 in games this year that are started by the Fort Wayne native.

10 of the next 11 weekends will feature series against Big Ten opponents as IU chases an at-large bid and a return to the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers will begin with their first ever weekends against Washington (March 6-8) and Oregon (March 13-15) before returning to face the legacy conference programs. The only non-conference weekend left on the schedule is against Abilene Christian in Bloomington.

First pitch this weekend is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Friday against the Huskies. All three games in the series will be streamed on B1G+. With potential weather in the area, stay tuned to iuhoosiers.com for any updates to the schedule against Washington.

Gameday Info
vs. Washington (Friday, March 6th – 5 p.m. ET)
Live Video: bit.ly/46HavAt
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/46VZA6j

vs. Washington (Saturday, March 7th – 1 p.m. ET)
Live Video: bit.ly/3MT2T7n
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/46VZA6j

vs. Washington (Sunday, March 8th – Noon ET)
Live Video: bit.ly/3MWKUNq
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/46VZA6j

Probable Starters
Indiana vs. Washington
• Friday: LHP Tony Neubeck, Gr. (0-1, 1.46 ERA)
• Saturday: LHP Brayton Thomas, So. (1-0, 2.13 ERA)
• Sunday: RHP Jackson Bergman, Sr. (1-1, 4.50 ERA)

(subject to change with any weather changes)

Leading Off
BIG HIT RICK: Redshirt freshman designated hitter Brayden Ricketts was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week after a massive week in Bowling Green. He hit .600 (9-15) on the weekend with two home runs and seven RBIs. That includes a three-hit, five-RBI effort in a win on Sunday afternoon.

START 'EM YOUNG: With the weekly honor for Ricketts on Monday, IU has now had 14 different players win a Big Ten Freshman of the Week award since Jeff Mercer became coach in 2019. Five of those 14 players are currently in the starting lineup for the Hoosiers.

HANLEY IS HOT: Sophomore first baseman Jake Hanley returned to his typical form last week with an 11-20 (.550) offensive stretch in five games. He hit a home run and collected six RBIs. The Mason, Ohio native is starting to see the ball well and has his batting average back over .320.

SEEBOLD DEALING: Graduate student right-handed pitcher Gavin Seebold has thrown 11.2 innings of scoreless baseball across four appearances to begin the year. He's the first IU pitcher with four-straight, multi-inning scoreless outings since Ryan Kraft three years ago (2023).

B1G HOME SUCCESS: Under head coach Jeff Mercer, IU has won 22 of 26 traditional Big Ten home series. In fact, IU has never lost more than one conference home series in a year with Mercer as the skipper. Only Maryland in 2023 has swept the Hoosiers at Bart Kaufman Field.

BIG THREE: Sophomore first baseman Jake Hanley, sophomore outfielder Hogan Denny and sophomore shortstop Cooper Malamazian are the only players to start all 12 games for IU this season. All three players are hitting at least .325 and have combined for 33 of IU's 71 RBIs this year.

FINDING DEPTH: Despite the second game on Saturday getting away, IU actually pitched it very well last week. The Hoosiers allowed four-or-fewer runs in four of the five games. That included a one-run, four hit effort against Western Kentucky on Saturday morning.

OL' RELIABLE: Redshirt junior pitcher Jacob Vogel has been the main option to help IU get out of long innings. In his career, 27 of his 36 appearances have been scoreless outings. He went 3.2 innings without allowing a run last week against Notre Dame.

TOUGH BT: Offenses are having a hard time attacking sophomore southpaw Brayton Thomas. The big lefty is allowing opposing batters to hit just .130 against him this year. In 12.2 innings of action, the Fort Wayne native has conceded just three earned runs.

BASE KNOCKS: Even without picking up a ton of extra bases, IU has hit the ball at a high clip this year. Six different IU players have at least 10 hits this season. Four of them, all from the same recruiting class, have at least 15 for Mercer and the Hoosiers.

Scouting the Opponent
Washington
• After a great start to its tenure in the Big Ten, Washington has gotten off to a slow start in 2026. The Huskies won a pair of games against San Diego State last weekend but are just 3-9 on the year. Washington is 1-2 in true road games this year after losing a series at Loyola Marymount.

• Outfielder Braeden Terry has done the heavy lifting on the offensive side of things. He is hitting .415 with 17 base knocks, a home run and six RBIs. Outfielder Mic Paul is the only other Washington player hitting above .300 on the year. The Huskies are averaging 4.5 runs per game this year and are hitting .246.

• Washington has worked a 6.26 ERA in the opening weeks of the season. Gunnar Nichols is the only pitcher to start all three weekends this year. He has a 3.86 ERA over 14 innings of action. Bryce Johnson, Noah Kenney and Hayden Lewis have each made a pair of starts and thrown over 10 innings this year.

Inside the Series
Washington
• This will be the first time these two teams play as members of the Big Ten. The only other two meetings came when Washington was in the Pac-12. It will be the second matchup during the Jeff Mercer era.

• IU defeated Washington 1-0 in 2019 (Seattle, Wash.) and 8-2 in 2014 (Surprise, Ariz.). Both of those seasons resulted in a Big Ten regular season championship for the Hoosiers. After dropping weekends to UCLA and USC last year, IU is still looking for its first series victory over a west coast program.

• Only Oregon, who IU plays next weekend, has appeared fewer times on IU's schedule than Washington. The Huskies are making their maiden journey to Bloomington and Bart Kaufman Field.