This is how Indiana Hoosiers (2-4) baseball coach Jeff Mercer drew it up. The Hoosiers bounced back from a deflating loss on Friday with a clean 6-1 win over UCF on Saturday evening in their second game of the Live Like Lou Jacksonville Baseball Classic.
The Hoosiers started quickly scoring two runs in the first inning as Hogan Denny and Landon Fry each knocked in a run. That’s all starting pitcher Brayton Thomas would need. Thomas went a career-high five innings to earn the win. Thomas threw 76 pitches and allowed just one hit and one earned run. He struggled early with control with four walks and a hit batter, but settled in the get the win.
IU turned to Reagan Rivera for the game’s final four innings. Rivera earned the save allowing no runs on two hits. He struck out two and walked one.
The Hoosiers tacked on a run in the bottom of the third when Cooper Malamazian knocked in his first of three runs batted in on the day. IU broke the game up in the fifth scoring two more runs.
UCF finally got on the board in the top of top of the sixth inning with an RBI infield single.
Indiana pushed the lead back to five with a Malamazian sacrifice fly.
The Hoosiers play Notre Dame in the LLLJBC tomorrow morning at 11am.
Indiana Game Notes
• IU allowed just three hits in the entire ballgame. It’s the first time its pitching staff has allowed three-or-fewer hits in a contest since a Friday win at Michigan in 2025. The Hoosiers gave up just one run and committed zero errors, playing one of their cleanest games in recent memory.
• Sophomore left-handed pitcher Brayton Thomas had a career day when IU’s pitching staff needed it most. The southpaw worked a career high in innings pitched (5.0) and total pitches (76). He also matched his collegiate best with four strikeouts. The win on Saturday night was the first of his career.
• Sophomore outfielder Hogan Denny produced the third three-hit game of his young career. Denny has hit safely in five-straight games and has recorded three multi-hit days on the week. He his hitting .450 on the season with seven RBIs, five walks, two stolen bases, two hit-by-pitches and two home runs.