BY STEVE KRAH
As winter has turned to spring, the hottest college baseball programs in the state — based on current win streaks — are at Taylor, Indiana University Southeast, Marian, Indianapolis and Indiana Wesleyan.
Among NAIA squads, there’s the Taylor Trojans (21-6) with 14 straight wins, IU Southeast Grenadiers (17-11) and Marian Knights (15-8) with eight each and Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats (21-8) with five. NCAA D-II’s UIndy Greyhounds (7-7) have six straight triumphs (including a 4-0 weekend series vs. Truman).
Among regulars, Conner Crawford (.357 with three home runs) paces the Taylor offense. Anderson High School graduate Joe Moran (5-2, 2.45 earned run average) is the Trojans’ top moundsman.
Brody Tanksley (.392 with seven homers) leads IU Southeast batters. Drew Hensley (4-2) is tops in pitching wins. Both are Bedford North Lawrence alums.
Hitter Matteo Porcellato (.329) and pitcher Kole Aping (4-0) have contributed to Marian’s success. Aping is a Beech Grove graduate.
M.J. Stavoia (.411) and Jon Young (4-0) are IWU stalwarts.
By the way, Crossroads League frontrunners Indiana Wesleyan (12-0) and Taylor (10-0) are slated to meet April 9 and 10 in doubleheaders at IWU.
Brandon DeWitt (.475) and Greenwood Community grad Reid Werner (2-1) have been key performers for Indianapolis.
Taylor (4-0 vs. Mount Vernon Nazarene), IU Southeast (3-0 at Ohio Christian), Marian (2-0 vs. Spring Arbor), UIndy (4-0 vs. Truman) and Indiana Wesleyan (4-0 at Goshen) are all coming off weekend series wins as are NAIA members Oakland City (11-11) 3-0 vs. Rio Grande and NCAA D-II’s Purdue Northwest (6-3) 3-0 vs. Wisconsin Parkside.
NCAA D-I series victors included Indiana State (11-6) 3-1 at Alabama-Birmingham, Indiana (9-2) 2-1 vs. Purdue, Notre Dame (9-3) 2-1 vs. Duke, Ball State (9-8) 3-1 vs. Western Michigan, Evansville (9-10) 2-1 at Butler and Purdue Fort Wayne (7-8) 3-1 vs. Oakland.
Max Wright is hitting .339 with four homers for Indiana State. Geremy Guerrero (4-0, 1.14) has been the Sycamores’ top pitcher.
Evansville Memorial graduate Drew Ashley (.395) and Carmel alum Tommy Sommer (2-0, 1.40) are among those who have shined for Indiana.
Ball State has been sparked by Adam Tellier (.429) and John Baker (2-1, 1.11).
Kenton Crews (Heritage Hills alum) became the first Evansville player during the NCAA D-I era to hit for the cycle when he produced a single, double, triple and home run in Sunday’s win at Butler.
Notre Dame played its first home games since 2019. Irish hitters led so far in 2021 by Jared Miller (.380 with three homers). Niko Kavadas (Penn graduate) is hitting .302 with seven homers. Starter John Michael Bertrand and reliever Liam Simon are both 3-0.
Purdue Fort Wayne regular and Hamilton Southeastern product Jack Lang (.354) is among the Mastodons’ leaders as is Jacob Myer (3-0, 1.61).
At the NCAA D-III level, Hanover (6-2) went 2-0 vs. Mount St. Joseph, Wabash (7-5) 4-0 vs. Trine, Anderson (6-4) 3-1 for the weekend — 1-1 at Earhlam Saturday and 2-0 vs. Bluffton Sunday.
INDIANA COLLEGE BASEBALL
Records Through March 21
NCAA Division I
Indiana State 11-6 (0-0 MVC)
Indiana 9-2 (9-2 Big Ten)
Notre Dame 9-3 (9-3 ACC)
Ball State 9-8 (3-1 MAC)
Evansville 9-10 (1-3 MVC)
Purdue Fort Wayne 7-8 (4-4 HL)
Valparaiso 4-9 (0-0 MVC)
Butler 3-4 (0-0 Big East)
Purdue 2-9 (2-9 Big Ten)
NCAA Division II
Indianapolis 7-7 (6-2 GLVC)
Purdue Northwest 6-3 (0-0 GLIAC)
Southern Indiana 4-10 (2-6 GLVC)
NCAA Division III
Earlham 7-3 (7-3 HCAC)
DePauw 7-6 (0-0 NCAC)
Hanover 6-2 (6-2 HCAC)
Franklin 5-3 (5-3 HCAC)
Wabash 7-5 (0-0 NCAC)
Rose-Hulman 4-3 (4-3 HCAC)
Anderson 6-4 (6-4 HCAC)
Manchester 3-7 (3-7 HCAC)
Trine 0-9 (0-0 MIAA)
NAIA
Indiana Wesleyan 21-8 (12-0 CL)
Taylor 21-6 (10-0 CL)
Indiana University Southeast 17-11 (8-0 RSC)
Huntington 15-5 (8-4 CL)
Marian 15-8 (8-2 CL)
Saint Francis 14-11 (6-6 CL)
Oakland City 11-11 (4-5 RSC)
Indiana University-Kokomo 9-12 (3-6 RSC)
Indiana Tech 8-13 (0-1 WHAC)
Grace 8-13 (5-7 CL)
Indiana University South Bend 6-12 (2-2 CCAC)
Bethel 5-20 (2-10 CL)
Calumet of Saint Joseph 1-11 (1-1 CCAC)
Goshen 0-17 (0-12 CL)
Junior College
Vincennes 12-6 (2-2 MWAC)
Ivy Tech Northeast 10-12
Ancilla 4-11 (0-0 MCCAA)
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