Slugger Devin Taylor Is Indiana All-Time Home Run Leader

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana baseball has had an uneven season, but outfielder Devin Taylor keeps on slugging.

On Saturday, in a Big Ten game at Bart Kaufman Field against Maryland, Taylor became Indiana’s all-time home run leader.

In the bottom of the third inning, Taylor hit a 1-0 pitch from Maryland hurler Joey McMannis to straightaway center field. The solo blast gave Taylor his 47th career home run – helping Taylor reach the top of the Hoosier home run mountain.

The record had previously been shared by three different Hoosiers. Mike Sabo (1985-89), Mike Smith (1989-92) and Alex Dickerson (2009-11) were the previous record holders.

Taylor has played 153 career games for Indiana and will leave as one of the Hoosiers greatest hitters.

Entering Saturday’s game, Taylor had a career .344 batting average, .450 on-base percentage and a .654 slugging average. That gives Taylor a career OPS of 1.104, a prodigious rate.

Taylor is closing in on being in Indiana’s top 20 all-time in base hits. His current slugging percentage would rank Taylor fifth all-time.

Taylor is considered to be one of the top hitting prospects in college baseball. The Cincinnati native is expected to be a first round pick in this summer’s MLB Draft, perhaps even a top 10 pick.

In the game, Taylor’s home run was just the highlight in an otherwise miserable day. The Terrapins had a six-run second inning and an eight-run third inning as they earned a 17-4 victory to even the series in a game shortened to seven innings due to the 10-run rule. Previously stout Cole Gilley had his first bad outing of the season as he allowed five earned runs in two innings of work.

Taylor went 2-for-4 in the game. He was the only Hoosier to have a multi-hit game. Indiana only had seven hits against the Terrapins who countered with 15 hits in their attack.

The teams will play the series-decided at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Bart Kaufman Field.

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