3 Takeaways From IU Baseball's 13-12 Loss To USC In Series Rubber Match

Hoosiers Blow Nine Run Lead As Yearly Early Pitching Woes Still Not Fixed

Bart Kaufman Field In Bloomington Where Indiana And USC Played Saturday

Pitching Woes Will Likely Be Solved But Yearly Issue Continues

Bloomington-The last four seasons have been a yearly ritual it seems for Indiana baseball. Take half or more of the season to figure the pitching situation out and then go on a big run.

Since IU brought in Dustin Glant to be the pitching coach, the same thing has happened each spring. In 2022, 2023, and 2024, the pitching was atrocious at the start of the year. Each time it was figured out and in 2023 and 2024 it was enough to still make the NCAA Tournament. In 2022, the squad came up short of the postseason despite the late rally.

Now in 2025, the same problem has happened again. Despite multiple high draft picks and an offense that is raking, the arms and depth here have kept things from being anywhere near the predicted ceiling. It remains likely the Hoosiers will solve this and make a run at June baseball. However, continually falling into a hole seems to be a tradition for these boys on the diamond.

The latest example was Saturday’s 13-12 loss to USC where the Hoosiers built a 12-3 lead only to have the performance on the mound fall apart for the rest of the afternoon. The offense did go quiet and a couple of injuries to key pitchers played a role in this.

The bottom line though is that a dozen runs and a large lead through the first few frames should be more than enough for a victory. However, the continued problems of finding enough depth to cover 27 innings over a weekend series for the first part of a season reared its ugly head yet again.

What Does USC And West Coast Additions Bring To Big Ten

IU women’s basketball coach Teri Moren talked about how the addition of the four West Coast schools made her realize that her squad and the rest of the Big Ten need to get bigger and more athletic. These comments came after her side’s season-ending loss to South Carolina in the second round of March Madness.

Turning back to baseball, the addition of the four former Pac-12 teams in a traditional power conference means the rest of the league will have to step up their game. While the Hoosiers’ have been a leader in their current conference’s massive improvement from essentially a one-bid low-major to a 2-4 bid high-end mid-major similar to the Mountain West, the addition of the newcomers from an even more prestigious league will require another step-up.

The additions are likely to finally make the Big Ten on the level with the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 as they are in other sports. Which programs are able to the step up their games and resources now to an elite level with the west coast schools will be the ones who continue to win.

IU coach Jeff Mercer said he understands what the newest additions bring.

“The West Coast is a different brand of baseball,” Mercer said. “They’re incredibly talented. They’re deeper on the mound. They’re really physical through the lineup. They play great defense. The Big Ten is a different animal than it was a year ago. Everyone is going to have to learn to adjust and manage their way through it. You don’t get to get away with mistakes. They’re great teams. We’re gonna have to learn to play at a higher level. They’re gonna change the way the game is played for sure.”

Where Indiana Stands Currently

Despite being one of the favorites to win the league and coast into another NCAA Regional, IU is off to another slow start due to the issues on the mound (see above). They sit at just 15-13 overall and 6-6 in the league after losing three of the first four conference series they have competed in. The only exception was sweeping lowly Ohio State at home two weeks ago.

With an RPI hovering around 100 the Hoosiers have lots of work to do. However, the schedule lightens up considerably over the next few weeks and Indiana will need to be near perfect to get back into contention for an at-large birth to postseason as they did in 2023 and 2024.

The team has been in this position each spring recently of needing to be nearly flawless down the stretch and have met the challenge after slow starts. Whether they can do it again in 2025 remains to be seen.

It should be noted winning the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha has gotten somewhat easier should IU require this auto bid to reach June baseball. The competition will increase to 12 schools and with four pods of pool play now, it will only take four victories to win the event. However, with double elimination gone, any slip-ups are likely to be fatal.

Going 2-0 in your round-robin pod is a virtual must to reach the semi-finals, as only the winner of each pool advances. However, once there, just two more victories would be needed to be the champion.

The Hoosiers would be better off if it didn’t come to this. However, given their current position, another nearly perfect finish will be needed to not require this life line.

Also, whether boxing themselves into this position each year is acceptable will need to be evaluated once the season concludes. This is the case whether the team makes their annual big-time rally down the stretch to make the postseason or not.

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