Indiana baseball was starting to get in a groove in the early days of March 2020, but a global pandemic took a team that was hot and shut them down for the rest of the season. Now, nearly a year later, they’re ready to get back out on the diamond again and pick up where they left off a year ago.
In a poll conducted by D1Baseball.com, Indiana is projected to finish second in the Big Ten in 2021. For Indiana, they’re just happy to get back out on the field, regardless of where they are expected to finish.
“They’re ready to go,” Head Coach Jeff Mercer said. “I think if you put us on the surface of the moon, they’d find a way to go play.”
Indiana returns nearly everyone in its lineup from a year ago. They lost Elijah Dunham to the MLB, but everyone else in their everyday lineup from 2020 returns for another go at it in 2021. That includes sophomore Grant Richardson, who hit .424 in the shortened 2020 season. He led the Hoosiers with five home runs. He will likely hit second for the Hoosiers behind leadoff hitter Drew Ashley, who enters the season on a 25-game on-base streak, exactly what you want from a leadoff hitter.
Indiana baseball head coach Jeff Mercer talks about the upcoming season and what he expects from his upperclassmen leaders and his pitching staff.
Mercer has a lot of confidence in his returning players. In a year that has dealt players with so many unique circumstances, you need some veteran players who can help lead the young guys through all of it. Indiana has that, and Mercer mentioned third baseman Cole Barr and starting pitcher Tommy Sommer as two guys who have really stepped up this offseason.
“Those guys can now communicate in your locker room, and you hope that they do and I think our guys have,” Mercer said. “Hopefully we won’t have as many growing pains as you would normally have over the course of a season because those guys have returned.”
As good as the returners are on this team, there are so many talented underclassmen ready to make an immediate impact. Mercer specifically mentioned freshmen Paul Toetz and Sam Murrison as well as the transfer from Jacksonville, Jacob Southern. Mercer said that Toetz reminds him of one of his best bats in his time at Wright State, Matt Morrow.
“He’s gonna have to control his emotions,” Mercer said. “He wants to go now. He’s a fighter. So he’s gonna have to control himself but he’s a really good young one.”
Jeff Mercer discusses some of his newcomers and underclassmen and how they can impact a 44-game Big Ten schedule.
The 2021 season will be a different one than years past. Big Ten teams will play 44 games, all against each other, with no games outside of the conference. Normally teams will play upwards of 50-60 games in a season. In 2019, when Indiana won the Big Ten regular season championship, the Hoosiers played 24 conference games. 44 games in Big Ten play is unheard of, something coaches all around the conference will have to be prepared for.
“You’re going to play really quality opponents every day,” Mercer said. “And if the goal for us to be the best team we can be at the end of the season, we need to play really quality opponents as much as possible.”
Indiana is off to a 2-1 start to the 2021 season with wins over Rutgers and Minnesota after a season opening loss to Rutgers. They have one more game this weekend against Minnesota before heading back home for the home opener against Penn State next Friday.
