Indiana Baseball Preview: 2025 Season Starts With Plenty Of Promise

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana baseball has long since passed the point where people wonder what they’re going to get from the Hoosiers. Winning has become regular enough to expect NCAA Tournament appearances.

The 2025 season, which starts on Friday when Indiana takes on UNLV in Surprise, Ariz., is no exception. Indiana was picked third in the Big Ten preseason poll, and the Hoosiers are ranked No. 25 in both the Baseball America and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason polls.

Indiana boasts individual talent, too. Outfielder Devin Taylor is one of the most decorated players in the country. He was named a preseason All-American by all of the major college baseball publications and preseason Big Ten Player of the Year by Baseball America.

Does it all add up to a special season? It could, though the Hoosiers have question marks.

Will the pitching be good enough? What about the defense? Indiana was inconsistent in those areas in its 2024 season, though the 33-26-1 Hoosiers still made the NCAA Tournament.

Offense

It starts with Taylor (.357, 20 HR, 54 RBI), who is expected to be a first-round MLB draft pick in the summer. Taylor is just the second Indiana player to hit 30 home runs in his first two seasons, and he is disciplined at the plate. He walked 37 times and struck out 38 times in 285 plate appearances, a good rate for a power bat.

So long as he’s in the lineup, Indiana is dangerous.

Taylor has protection as well. Andrew Wiggins (1.011 OPS in limited duty), Tyler Cerny (.904 OPS, 10 HR, 60 RBI), and Jasen Oliver (.891 OPS, 10 HR, 37 RBI) all return for the Hoosiers.

There’s also potential pop from Louisville transfer Korbyn Dickerson. Though he only played sparingly for the Cardinals in 2024, he did hit nine home runs in 53 games for Madison in the Northwoods League.

Then there’s the awesome potential of true freshman left fielder Hogan Denny. The Mooresville, Ind., native was the Gatorade Indiana Player of the Year in 2024 and hit 19 home runs during his upperclassmen seasons at Mooresville High School.

Indiana’s power is undeniable, but Mercer wants the Hoosiers to be able to score runs via other means as well.

“I think our offense will eventually be good. I think we'll be productive. We tried to spend more time being well rounded, the ability to bump for a hit if we need to or maybe (get) some stolen bases, a bit more than we have,” Mercer said Wednesday before Indiana left for Arizona.

Josh Pyne had seven steals in 2024, the most of any returning Hoosier. Cerny (six) and Taylor (five) had the next-most, but none were prolific on the bases.

Past the power bats, returners Joey Brenczewski (.333), Cerny (.315) and Pyne (.291) were reliable hitters for the Hoosiers in 2024.

Pitching

Indiana had a 6.21 ERA, ranked ninth in Big Ten. Injuries played a role in that, but that’s not really relevant to 2025 as none of Indiana’s regular starters from 2024 are back.

Mercer feels the staff has more depth, but there are unknowns – such as how effective the starters will be after going through a lineup once.

“(Gavin) Seebold can go out and give us five or six innings. Can you go 5-6-7-8 innings? We may have to break games up,” Mercer said. “So I'll be interested to see how the second time through the lineup comes.”

Seebold, a Southern Indiana transfer, will be counted on to bolster the starting staff. He had a 3.93 ERA with Southern Indiana in 2024. Seebold started 10 of his 16 games in 2024, but this will be the first season he will be a starter right from the start of the season.

“I wasn't necessarily thinking about trying to go deeper in games, but (Indiana baseball coach Dustin) Glant would be like, ‘Maybe we can start working on this pitch second, third time through the order. We can start using that a little bit more,” said Seebold on his offseason adjustment.

After Seebold, Indiana could try Indiana State transfer Cole Gilley (6.61 ERA), left-hander Ryan Kraft (7.27 ERA in 2024, though he was 2.48 in 2023) or some mix of Saint Louis transfer Jackson Yarberry (6.33), Aydan Decker-Petty (6.32) and others.

The bullpen is more stable and the pitchers were more proven in 2024. Jacob Vogel (2.31) and Drew Buhr (3.31) are both back. Mercer said he’d prefer to keep Yarberry in the pen. Also expected to contribute is Northwestern transfer Ben Grable, who sat out the 2024 season with an injury. Decker also named Indiana Wesleyan transfer Will Eldridge and freshman Seth Benes as potential contributors.

Decker just wants to make sure those power bullpen arms stay in the pen and don’t have to be called upon for starting duty.

“Can you keep Grable, Yarberry, Eldridge, Benes, ADP (Decker-Petty) – those mid 90s, upper 90s guys in the pen, or do you have to pull those guys out?” Decker said as far as questions he had about Indiana’s pitching.

Defense

Indiana was not strong defensively in 2024 as they ranked 218th out of 296 Division I programs. The Hoosiers’ .966 fielding percentage was third-worst among schools that will compete in the Big Ten this season, with only UCLA and Minnesota being more mistake-prone. Indiana had 71 errors in 40 games.

Mercer is confident that the Hoosiers will be better, though he thinks they will struggle early in the season having had little outside practice time due to snow.

“I think once we get our feet under us, I think we'll actually be a very, very good team defensively,” Mercer said.

Catcher Jake Stadler is considered to be a rock at his position and an overall team leader. First base will be manned by freshman Jake Hanley. The rest of the infield – Pyne at third base, Cerny at shortstop, Oliver at second base – all return from 2024.

“Jake Hanley is a good defender. Josh Pyne is a good defender. Those are premium positions for us. And then the middle guys are back,” Mercer said.

Pyne noted that Indiana’s defense will improve if Cerny, Oliver and himself can get their double play defense mastered.

“I really look forward to seeing how we improve this year, at how we are better at turning the double plays. Keeping that (runner) on the backside to keep the double play in order is a big part of it,” Pyne said.

Denny is a likely candidate to take over in left field. Dickerson is expected to play in center and Taylor in right. Wiggins will likely get time in the outfield as well. Mercer said he was open to some rotation in the outfield to keep bats fresh and in the lineup.

Schedule

The schedule is well-balanced. Nonconference games will be played against perennial NCAA Tournament teams Oregon State, Indiana State and Louisville.

Indiana does not play the two teams ahead of them in the Big Ten preseason poll – No. 1 Oregon and No. 2 Nebraska – but the Hoosiers do face No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Michigan and No. 6 USC. The Trojans are the only one of that trio to come to Bart Kaufman Field.

Illinois, Iowa, Maryland and Ohio State – four solid Big Ten programs that have made the NCAA Tournament recently – are also on the 2025 slate. Indiana’s other Big Ten series are against Michigan State, Penn State and Purdue in what is now a 30-game conference schedule. (Indiana also plays Northwestern in a single game that won’t count in the Big Ten standings.)

Weather permitting, Indiana's home opener is against Purdue Fort Wayne on Feb. 19.

2025 schedule

• Feb. 14: UNLV at Surprise, Ariz., 7 p.m.
• Feb. 15: Xavier at Surprise, Ariz., 7 p.m.
• Feb. 16: Oregon State at Surprise, Ariz., 2 p.m.
• Feb. 17: UNLV at Surprise, Ariz., Noon
• Feb. 19: Purdue Fort Wayne, 4 p.m.
• Feb. 21: Northwestern at Cary, N.C., 4 p.m.
• Feb. 22: Fordham at Cary, N.C., 4 p.m.
• Feb. 23: Harvard at Cary, N.C., 10 a.m.
• Feb. 25: Xavier, 4 p.m.
• Feb. 28: Mount St. Mary’s at DeLand, Fla., 2 p.m.
• Feb. 28: at Stetson, 6:30 p.m.
• March 1: at Stetson, 1 p.m.
• March 2: Mount St. Mary’s at DeLand, Fla., 11 a.m.
• March 4: Northern Kentucky, 4 p.m.
• March 7-9: at Penn State, 5:30 p.m. (Friday), 1 p.m. (Saturday & Sunday)*
• March 11: at Indiana State, 4 p.m.
• March 14-16: Ohio State at Bart Kaufman Field, 6 p.m. (Friday), 2 p.m. (Saturday), 1 p.m. (Sunday)*
• March 18: Evansville, 6 p.m.
• March 21-23: at UCLA, 9 p.m. (Friday), 5 p.m. (Saturday), 4 p.m. (Sunday)*
• March 25: Bellarmine, 5 p.m.
• March 28-30: Southern California, 6 p.m. (Friday), 2 p.m. (Saturday), Noon (Sunday)*
• April 1: Louisville, 6 p.m.
• April 4-6: Michigan State, 6 p.m. (Friday), 2 p.m. (Saturday), 1 p.m. (Sunday)*
• April 8: Ball State, 6 p.m.
• April 11-13: at Illinois, 7 p.m. (Friday), 4 p.m. (Saturday), 2 p.m. (Sunday)*
• April 15: Indiana State, 6 p.m.
• April 18-20: Maryland, 6 p.m. (Friday), 2 p.m. (Saturday), 1 p.m. (Sunday)*
• April 23: Ball State at Victory Field, Indianapolis, 6 p.m.
• April 25-27: at Iowa, 7:05 p.m. (Friday), 3:05 p.m. (Saturday), 2:05 p.m. (Sunday)*
• April 29: at Evansville, 6 p.m.
• May 2-4: at Abilene Christian, 7:05 p.m. (Friday), 4:05 p.m. (Saturday), 2:05 p.m. (Sunday)
• May 9-11: Purdue, 6 p.m. (Friday), 2 p.m. (Saturday), 4 p.m. (Sunday)*
• May 13: at Cincinnati, 6 p.m.
• May 15-17: at Michigan, 6 p.m. (Friday), 6 p.m. (Saturday), 1 p.m. (Sunday)*
• May 20-25: Big Ten Tournament at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb.
• All home games played at Bart Kaufman Field
* Big Ten series