Baseball Central: Iowa

Friday, April 24

Bloomington, Ind.

6 p.m.

Indiana University

Iowa

4/23/2026 12:00:00 PM | Baseball

Game Notes Media Center

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The final weekend in April brings an important Big Ten series to Bart Kaufman Field. The Indiana Baseball team (19-22, 6-12 B1G) will meet Iowa (23-16, 7-11 B1G) with a chance to climb above the cut line for next month's Big Ten Tournament. IU has won three-straight home weekends, including series wins over Minnesota and Rutgers.

Since April began, IU has played some of its best baseball this season. The Hoosiers are 9-4 since the calendar turned to April. As a team, they are hitting .337 with 31 home runs in that stretch of 13 games. In five of those nine wins, IU has put up double-digit runs. That includes at least 10 runs scored in all three Friday contests on the year. Head coach Jeff Mercer will look to pick up his fourth series victory over Iowa in Bloomington.

During this month, a quartet of Hoosiers has torn the cover off the ball. Sophomore outfielder Caleb Koskie, who is riding a 21-game hitting streak, is batting .500 with five home runs and 19 RBIs this month. After missing Tuesday's game through illness, IU will hope he's back in the lineup against the Hawkeyes. Sophomores Hogan Denny (.462), Cole Decker (.412) and Cooper Malamazian (.408) are all hitting over .400 in April.

IU will have its pitching lined back up for the weekend after using only five arms in the midweek. Veteran arms Jackson Yarberry, Jacob Vogel and Gavin Seebold all got the night off on Tuesday meaning they will be fresh for high-leverage opportunities against the Hawkeyes. Graduate student southpaw Tony Neubeck will begin the weekend on Friday night.

This weekend's series is set to get underway at 6 p.m. on Friday (April 24) evening. With potential weather in the area this weekend, stay tuned to IU's social media channels for any game updates. Contests on Saturday (April 25) and Sunday (April 26) are set for 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. respectively. All games will be streamed on B1G+.

Gameday Info
vs. Iowa (Friday, April 24th – 6 p.m. ET)
Live Video: bit.ly/4cY633H
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/46VZA6j

vs. Iowa (Saturday, April 25th – 2 p.m. ET)
Live Video: bit.ly/4tutTdt
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/46VZA6j

vs. Iowa (Sunday, April 26th – 1 p.m. ET)
Live Video: bit.ly/4cAaOk9
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/46VZA6j

Probable Starters
Indiana vs. Iowa
• Friday: LHP Tony Neubeck, Gr. (5-3, 3.54 ERA)
• Saturday: LHP Brayton Thomas, So. (1-3, 5.17 ERA)
• Sunday: TBD (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

(subject to change with any weather changes)

Leading Off
KOSKIE'S STREAK: Sophomore outfielder Caleb Koskie hit in all three games of the Abilene Christian series, extending his career long hitting streak to 21-straight contests. Since 2005, it matches the longest single-season hitting streak by any IU player (Alex Dickerson - 2010, Chris Hervey - 2008). Individual game-by-game records prior to 2005 are limited meaning IU can't confirm a program record hitting streak.

MR. APRIL: Koskie's hot month has helped spark a resurgence of IU's offense. He is hitting .500 (22-44) in 12 games in April with five home runs and 19 RBIs. As a team, the Hoosiers have slugged 31 home runs this month. IU is hitting a collective .337 in April.

COOPER CONTINUES: Sophomore shortstop Cooper Malamazian has pushed his hitting streak to 13-straight games, hitting safely in every single game in the month of April. In that stretch, he has more walks (13) than strikeouts (12) and has an OPS north of 1.000.

DO-IT ALL DENNY: Sophomore outfielder Hogan Denny had his fourth multi-home run game of the season in a Tuesday win over Ball State. He leads the Hoosiers in runs (45), doubles (13) and home runs (12). Denny is tied for the team lead in base hits (53).

BIG IMPROVEMENT: Sophomore outfielder Cole Decker entered back into the starting lineup on March 13th at Oregon has been a revelation. He has raised his batting average by nearly 150 points since then. Decker is batting .331 on the season after a three-hit day in the win over Ball State.

TONY TAKEOVER: Graduate student left-handed pitcher Tony Neubeck will make his fourth home start in Big Ten play this weekend. IU will be looking for his best stuff. At Bart Kaufman Field against conference teams, Neubeck has 25 strikeouts to just two walks.

JUST JAKE: Sophomore first baseman Jake Hanley has started 97-straight games since arriving on campus. Only Dustin DeMuth (102 - 2011-12) has begun their career with more consecutive starts since the 2010 season. Hanley has collected 126 hits in that stretch of play as well.

HAWKEYE HISTORY: Head coach Jeff Mercer has been no stranger to playing Iowa during his tenure. Things have gone much better in the series at home. He is 7-2 against Iowa inside the friendly confines of Bart Kaufman Field as the IU skipper. He's just 1-8 outside of Bloomington.

MASTERFUL: Freshman right-handed pitcher Ivan Mastalski has been of IU's best first-year arms in recent memory. He leads IU in appearances (18) and has become a high-leverage bullpen arm. Mastalski has a 32-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio this season.

Scouting the Opponent
Iowa
• The Hawkeyes have won five of their last six games, including a series win over Maryland, heading into the weekend. A double midweek sweep has Iowa set up for an important weekend in Bloomington. The Hawkeyes are just 3-6 on the road in Big Ten play this season.

• Senior infielder Gable Mitchell continues to lead the way offensively for the Hawkeyes. He's hitting .395 on the season with five home runs and 35 RBIs. Senior utility man Caleb Wulf is second on the team with a .385 batting average. Senior infielder Kooper Schulte leads the way with six home runs.

• After losing all three weekend starters from last year, Iowa has had to mix and match its rotation on the mound. Junior right-handed pitcher Maddux Frese has had the most success. He leads the way with 46.2 innings pitched and has provided 31 strikeouts. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Tyler Guerin has been a regular on the weekends.

Inside the Series
Iowa
• Since beginning the series back in the early 20th century, Indiana and Iowa have had some fantastic battles. Under head coach Jeff Mercer, IU is 8-10 against the Hawkeyes. Three of those series have been sweeps. Iowa swept IU in Iowa City in both 2022 and 2025.

• Mercer's first Big Ten series in Bloomington was a sweep against Rick Heller's Hawkeyes back in 2019. Iowa leads the all-time series 89-82 but IU has won all three weekends at Bart Kaufman Field under Mercer.