Examining The Series:
The Indiana Hoosiers needed to take at least one game during their travels to Lincoln this past weekend, but, unfortunately, were swept by the #24 Cornhuskers. The Hoosiers now take their talents to Evansville, Indiana, to take on the Purple Aces. Game info is as follows:
Indiana @ Evansville
Tuesday, March 31st at 7:00 PM ET
Live Video: bit.ly/4uXKxDi
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/46VZA6j
Looking into both teams as things stand today, we see the following:
Indiana: The Hoosiers fell 3 spots in their RPI rankings over the weekend after getting swept in Lincoln and now sit at 86th in the country. By way of ELO ranking – a more analytical way to measure team performance – the Hoosiers dropped 16 spots, now ranking 98th in the country with a record of 10-17.
Evansville: The Purple Aces are having a tough season thus far, posting an RPI ranking of 188th in the country and an ELO ranking of 221st in the country. Their record is 7-18, but they do boast a great win over a very strong Kentucky team.
Indiana Stats and Figures:
13: The Hoosiers drew 13 walks in Saturday’s 7-12 loss against the Cornhuskers. Normally, that type of gaudy number would mean that the Hoosiers dominated. However, lackluster pitching from the Hoosiers, coupled with a lack of power at the plate (just one XBH, a homerun from Owen ten Oever), led to a loss in a game the Hoosiers would probably want back.
16th and 14th: Indiana ranks 16th in the Big Ten (out of 17 teams) in team OPS with an OPS of .745. Additionally, Indiana ranks 14th in the Big Ten in team ERA with an ERA of 6.51. This tells an unfortunate story for the Hoosiers thus far during the 2026 season. They are struggling at the plate and on the mound, which creates a difficult recipe to win games consistently.
Prediction and Next Series:
I’ll be honest here – every time I predict optimistically, the Hoosiers seem to lose. So for Tuesday’s game against Evansville, I will predict that the Purple Aces rekindle what they found when they beat Kentucky earlier this year. The Purple Aces defend their home field and win 3-2.
Next up, the Hoosiers host Rutgers for a weekend series in Bloomington. Rutgers is middle of the pack in the Big Ten and should bring a good test for the Hoosiers. Be on the lookout for a preview of that series later this week!
Stay locked in with Hoosier Huddle for recaps of IU baseball games and series, along with previews examining each one ahead of time. Go Hoosiers!
All ranking metrics courtesy of warrennolan.com. All other metrics courtesy of baseball-reference.com