Indiana Beats Michigan 8-4, Wins Series Behind 5 Home Runs and Season-High 17 Strikeouts

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana finished the regular season Friday against Michigan with a well-rounded performance.

In an 8-4 win, the Hoosiers hit five home runs and struck out a season-high 17 Michigan batters. Indiana lost the series opener, 3-2, but responded with an 11-2 win on Thursday and slugged their way to a series victory on Friday.

“College baseball is built on strikeouts and multi-run home runs,” Indiana coach Jeff Mercer said. “It’s how you win at a high level.”

With this win, Mercer and the Hoosiers enter postseason play with a 30-22-1 overall record and a 15-9 mark in Big Ten play. Indiana clinched the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, which begins Tuesday in Omaha, Neb. The Hoosiers are squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble, as they entered the Michigan series ranked No. 63 in the 64-team field, per Baseball America.

Mercer hopes Indiana can carry the momentum from Friday’s win into the Big Ten Tournament.

“Moale is a real thing,” Mercer said. “Going into it with a little confidence, you feel good. I think that’s the third or fourth time we lost [the first game of the series] and came back and won the series, so you’re really proud of them for that. And seeding really matters.”

Indiana second baseman Jasen Oliver started the home run parade in the second inning with a three-run blast over the left field bullpen, giving the Hoosiers an early 3-0 lead. The inning began with Brock Tibbitts being hit by pitch and Carter Mathison reaching with a single. Michigan starting pitcher Dylan Vigue’s day was done after just 1.1 innings pitched and three earned runs.

Michigan responded with a run in the third, and it was one the Hoosiers wish they could have back. Starting pitcher Brayden Risedorph allowed a leadoff double, and Michigan catcher Brock Leitgeb came around to score after Indiana third baseman Josh Pyne committed two throwing errors on back-to-back at-bats. Neither play was easy as Pyne had to charge the ball and throw off balance, but these mistakes helped Michigan stay within striking distance.

That would be it for Risedorph, who gave the Hoosiers three solid innings. He allowed just one hit, one unearned run, zero earned runs, zero walks and struck out four.

The Hoosiers responded with home runs from shortstop Tyler Cerny and Mathison. Cerny’s was perhaps the deepest of the evening, a high drive over a deep part of the ballpark in left center field. Mathison’s blast brought his total to 13 on the year, good for second most among Hoosiers. Oliver hit his second home run of the game in the fifth, a line drive that just got over a low leftfield fence and gave Indiana a 6-1 lead.

“They both felt great, but the first one felt really nice,” Oliver said. "I try to keep it simple, try not to think too much. It’s more like you read and react, start on time, and I kept the barrel head out in front. I mean, it’s working so far."

Lefty Ryan Kraft was the first Hoosier out of the bullpen, and he retired Michigan in order in the fourth. But the Wolverines got to Kraft in the fifth, thanks to a two-run home run from Kyle Dernedde to left field, which cut Indiana’s lead to 6-3. Kraft finished with two runs allowed in 1.2 innings of work.

Michigan threatening a comeback didn’t cool off the Indiana bats, though. Against Taylor, no pitcher has been able to do that this season. Taylor put the Hoosiers ahead, 8-3, with an opposite field home run in the fifth. That raised the sophomore’s home run total to a Big Ten-high 17, passing Illinois’ Ryan Moerman.

Aydan Decker-Petty provided crucial relief innings out of the bullpen. He struck out the first four batters he faced to complete the fifth and sixth innings but ran into trouble in the seventh.

Decker-Petty walked two batters, and Jonathan Kim reached on a throwing error from Oliver to load the bases with two outs. Michigan’s Mitch Voit drove the ball deep to left field, but Taylor caught the third out with his back just inches from the wall. A grand slam would have made it a one-run game, but instead the Hoosiers exhaled as they escaped a jam with an 8-3 lead.

Collin Priest hit a deep home run off Decker-Petty in the eighth, but Michigan hitters often looked confused against Indiana's sophomore righty. Decker-Petty finished with 3.1 innings pitched, one hit, one run, three walks and eight strikeouts.

“I was just going in with sinker, slider,” Decker-Petty said. “They were chasing at almost everything I threw.”

Indiana’s 6-foot-7 redshirt freshman righty Jacob Vogel shut the door in the ninth, striking out two batters. Indiana pitchers totaled a season-high 17 strikeouts. A rare feat, Michigan had more runs, four, than hits, just three.

Indiana’s NCAA Tournament chances remain iffy heading into its first Big Ten Tournament game Tuesday, but for the Hoosiers, it’s always good to end the regular season with a series win.

“It’s huge,” Decker-Petty said. “Rolling off a couple W’s here, hopefully get that win on Tuesday and go from there.”