No. 20 Indiana Baseball to Play Ranked Teams on Friday, Saturday in Frisco Classic
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — For the third straight season, No. 20 Indiana baseball this weekend will play three non-conference opponents in Texas.
In 2022, the Hoosiers went 1-2 at the Karbach Round Rock Classic, giving up 18 runs in two losses to top-10 teams. In 2023, Indiana played at Texas and also went 1-2, but it was only outscored by a total of three runs.
This weekend, the Hoosiers play in the Frisco Classic against No. 16 Alabama, No. 25 Dallas Baptist, and Arizona. Indiana seems capable of competing well against ranked teams, although the Hoosiers lost 9-6 at home Tuesday to Purdue Fort Wayne. It was the first win for the Mastodons over Indiana in the all-time series. They leaped 73 spots in the RPI because of it.
Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer said Tuesday he did not think the Hoosiers (6-2) overlooked the Mastodons.
“It was just one of those days,'' he said. "That’s always the coach's reaction, the coach thought at first … very normal practice day, normal environment. There wasn’t anything that would lead me to believe that whatsoever. I wasn’t displeased.”
The Frisco Classic field was announced in August and created buzz as an exceptional opportunity for Indiana to bolster its resume. It stands as one of the biggest weekends of the season for the Hoosiers, along with Baseball at the Beach two weeks ago. Alabama was of the 16 programs to host regionals in last year’s NCAA Tournament. The Crimson Tide and Dallas Baptist both won 40 games. Arizona also made the postseason.
Early in the 2024 season, Alabama and Dallas Baptist are in the top-20 for RPI. Arizona is further down in the mid-50s, but regardless, any southern wins will help Indiana for May. Like the past two weekends, Indiana sophomores Brayden Risedorph and Connor Foley will start Friday and Saturday, respectively. Sunday’s starter is to be announced. Across 10 innings, Foley hasn’t allowed an earned run, striking out 14 batters.
Alabama is 9-0 to begin the season, though it has been relatively untested by sweeping Manhattan, Middle Tennessee and Valparaiso. The Crimson Tide were taken to extra-innings at UAB. They’re led by first-year head coach Rob Vaughn, who previously was at Maryland for six seasons. In 2023, the Terrapins swept the Hoosiers in Bloomington. Indiana has only played Alabama once all-time, winning 10-7 in 1989.
Dallas Baptist is 8-0, beating Oklahoma State Tuesday. Last weekend, Oklahoma State — No. 20 in the RPI — beat No. 2 Arkansas in 14 innings. Yes, the which-team-beat-which isn’t always an automatic method, but it brings at least some credibility to Dallas Baptist’s No. 25 ranking, which vanishes if the Patriots don’t perform well at Frisco.
Arizona won its three-game series over then-No. 23 Northeastern, though it recently dropped another three-game series at San Diego. The Wildcats also lost at No. 5 TCU Wednesday night, 6-1.
Indiana plays Alabama at 7 p.m. ET Friday, Dallas Baptist at 1 p.m. Saturday and Arizona at 1 p.m. Sunday at Riders Field in Frisco, TX. All three will be streamed online at D1Baseball.
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