Following Tuesday’s loss to No. 18 University of Louisville, Indiana baseball looks to bounce back as it prepares to face Michigan State in a weekend series at Bart Kaufman Field.
The weather was chilly and so were the bats for the Hoosiers in their midweek defeat to the Cardinals, as they lost 6-4 and could not manage a single run after the fourth inning for the second consecutive game.
Indiana will kick off the weekend Saturday against the Spartans. Michigan State currently holds a 17-10 overall record and a 4-5 record in Big Ten play. The Spartans are coming off a 1-0 win Tuesday over the Lansing Lugnuts, a MiLB franchise, in the 2025 Crosstown Showdown.
Michigan State was originally slated to play Bowling Green on Wednesday, but that game was canceled, which leads into their weekend showdown with the Hoosiers in Bloomington.
Michigan State certainly knows how to put runs on the board, as it has showed its offensive talent throughout the season. The Spartans have put up 233 total hits and 185 total runs so far in 2025. Prior to its win over the Lugnuts, Michigan State was coming off a 14-4 win in the final game of its series against Illinois.
Redshirt senior Sam Busch has been one of the focal points offensively for the Spartans, hitting .321 with eight home runs and an impressive 32 RBIs in 2025, along with a .690 slugging percentage. Busch leads the Spartans in RBIs by a fairly significant margin. However, junior infielder Randy Seymour is second with 24 RBI, and he is hitting .247 on the year so far with three home runs and a .452 slugging percentage.
Junior left-hander Joseph Dzierwa anchors the pitching rotation for Michigan State, as he has accumulated an impressive 1.27 ERA, the best in the conference. While starters have not officially been announced yet, Dzierwa will most likely be on the mound for this series. The Haskins, Ohio, native also leads the Big Ten in strikeouts with 54, and Indiana will face a stiff test whenever he is on the mound.
Michigan State has played 11 games against Big Ten opponents so far this year, and while they are hovering around .500 both at home and on the road, the Spartans are 11-3 in neutral site games. Earlier this season, the Spartans picked up wins over Harvard University, the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Winthrop University, Washington State University, and Western Michigan University. They have notched a win over UCLA and a series win over Penn State but have lost to Illinois and Iowa.
Indiana currently stands at 15-14 and holds a 6-6 record in conference play. One of the concerns for the Hoosiers is the inconsistency of their bats, particularly during the latter half of games. They were held without a run after the fourth inning in their game against Louisville and the final game of last weekend’s series against USC.
Redshirt sophomore outfielder Korbyn Dickerson and junior outfielder Devin Taylor are the stars of the show offensively for Indiana this season. Dickerson, a Louisville transfer, leads the team with 13 home runs and has knocked in 46 RBIs. Taylor has added 10 home runs and racked up 33 RBIs.
Freshman infielder Jake Hanley has had a great start to his collegiate career as he has hit six home runs and 28 RBIs, while leading the Hoosiers with a batting average of .385.
It will come down to the Hoosiers creating opportunities against the Big Ten’s best pitcher in Dzierwa and the rest of the Michigan State rotation. Another key factor is how the Indiana defense will look against a solid Spartans offense that is capable of consistently putting up runs.
Indiana will get its weekend started Saturday as the series is slated to run through Monday. The times of the contests have yet to be determined, but will be announced Friday, according to Indiana baseball's X post Thursday.
