Indiana
Indiana baseball kicks off season with three-game weekend at Myrtle Beach
Following a 2023 campaign that defied expectations and saw Indiana baseball advance to an NCAA Regional, head coach Jeff Mercer and the Hoosiers feel they can be among the nation’s best this season.
To do that, they need to compete with the upper echelon of teams. This weekend’s “Baseball at the Beach” tournament in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, will offer a chance for the Hoosiers to do so.
They’ll square off with three teams who made last year’s NCAA Tournament, two of which are nationally ranked. Here’s everything to know about Indiana’s opponents:
Game 1: Friday vs. No. 12 Duke University (11 a.m.)
Mercer confirmed Wednesday sophomore righty Brayden Risedorph will get the start on the mound in the season opener. Duke advanced to a Super Regional last year and nearly punched its ticket to the College World Series, but its lineup is heavily altered going into this season.
The Blue Devils lost four highly productive starters, with corner infielders Luke Storm and Andrew Fischer transferring and middle infielders Jay Beshears and Alex Mooney moving on to the majors.
Indiana eyes a return to the top of the Big Ten this season.
Duke’s projected lineup could feature a whopping six newcomers, but it does return a pair of potent hitters in sophomore outfielder Tyler Albright and senior catcher Alex Stone. Albright and Stone batted .312 and .315 respectively last season, and Stone hit a team-high 17 bombs and 62 RBIs.
While the Blue Devils’ bats are a relative question mark, their arms are proven.
Junior lefty and Baseball America Preseason All-American Jonathan Santucci will start against Indiana. The ace of the Blue Devils’ staff, Santucci went 2-2 with a 4.30 ERA in 2023 before suffering a season-ending elbow injury in late March.
Still, Santucci is regarded as a surefire MLB prospect with first-round upside. With a heavy dose of left-handed bats in the Hoosiers’ lineup — featuring sluggers like sophomore Devin Taylor and junior Carter Mathison — Indiana will be seriously challenged in its first game of the season.
Game 2: Saturday vs. No. 18 Coastal Carolina University (3 p.m.)
The Hoosiers won’t get a break from stiff competition in game two. Coastal Carolina hosted an NCAA Regional last year after an impressive campaign marked by an overwhelming offensive attack.
As a team, Coastal Carolina batted .311, the 15th best mark in the nation. Led by a pair of catchers in sophomore Caden Bodine and junior Derek Bender, the Chanticleers return the bulk of their offensive production.
Bodine and Bender hit .367 and .341, respectively, combining for 30 homers and 130 RBIs. With the tandem back in the top half of the lineup, Indiana’s pitchers will be tasked with taming two extremely powerful bats.
Indiana returns many key players as its young core continues to mature.
While Coastal Carolina will be without stalwarts Payton Eeles — the team’s leading hitter last year — and Nick Lucky, it still is capable of scoring runs in bunches and wearing out bullpens. But unlike Duke, the Chanticleers are more of an unknown on the mound.
Junior righty Alexander Meckley, a junior college transfer, is Coastal Carolina’s confirmed starter for Saturday. Much of the Chanticleers’ pitching will be reliant on newcomers and players taking a significant step forward, making their level of talent difficult to project.
Last season, Coastal Carolina ranked 118th in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings with 9.55. Granted, the Chanticleers placed 16th in strikeouts per nine innings with 10.4, but their combined ERA of 6.25 checked in at 176th.
If Indiana can limit the explosion of Bodine and Bender and the rest of Coastal Carolina’s lineup, its own bats could get the best of Meckley and the Chanticleers’ bullpen.
Game 3: Sunday vs. George Mason University (11 a.m.)
Indiana’s final game of the tournament comes against a George Mason squad that won the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship and advanced to an NCAA Regional in 2023. The Patriots’ 36 wins were their most since 2009.
Last season’s Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year Chad Gartland headlines the swath of returning contributors for George Mason. Across 98 1/3 innings, Gartland boasted a 3.39 ERA and notched seven wins to just two losses.
The Patriots return seven of their nine regular members of the lineup, including leader hitters in senior South Trimble and junior Reece Woody. Trimble and Woody hit .335 and .313, respectively, combining for 84 RBIs.
While not the most powerful array of bats, the Patriots stole 164 bases in 2023, good for third best in all of Division 1 baseball. It remains to be seen who will start on the mound for both sides, but the Hoosiers’ dynamic lineup could prove a tough challenge against the Patriots’ arms.
Follow reporters Matt Press (@MattPress23) and Nick Rodecap (@nickrodecap) for updates throughout the Indiana baseball season.
For many Hoosiers living in rural Indiana, accessing health care can mean driving 30 minutes or even an hour to see a doctor or reach the nearest hospital. As workforce shortages and financial pressures challenge rural hospitals across the country, ensuring access to care close to home has become one of the most important health-care issues facing our state.
About one in four Indiana residents live in a rural community, yet access to health-care services in many of these communities continues to shrink. Across the nation, rural hospitals and clinics report extremely thin operating margins and often say workforce shortages and rising costs make it difficult to sustain services such as primary care, maternity care and behavioral health.
When rural communities struggle to maintain health-care access, the impact doesn’t stay confined to small towns. It ripples across the entire health-care system, contributing to increases in chronic conditions, reduced preventative care for children, and worsening outcomes for the sickest patients.
Communities such as Greater Lafayette serve as a regional hub for care, with hospitals like IU Health Arnett caring for patients from surrounding counties across north-central and west-central Indiana. That role is something we are proud to fulfill. But when rural residents must travel long distances for care that should be available closer to home, it places increasing pressure on emergency departments, specialty clinics and inpatient services at larger regional hospitals.
In many cases, what might have been a routine appointment, preventive screening or early diagnosis in a local clinic becomes far more serious by the time a patient reaches a larger hospital. A missed screening can escalate into a medical emergency.
That reality makes strengthening rural health care more important than ever — not just for rural communities, but for the health of the entire state.
One of the most important steps we can take is investing in the next generation of health-care professionals who will care for these communities.
At IU Health, we are working directly with local schools and community partners to help build that workforce pipeline. Across the region, IU Health has partnered with the Greater Lafayette Career Academy and area school districts to introduce students to health-care careers earlier and provide hands-on learning opportunities that bring those careers to life.
Through these programs, students explore health-care pathways and earn certifications such as certified nursing assistant, medical assistant or emergency medical technician while still in high school. Many participate in job shadowing opportunities, clinical experiences and mentorship programs, giving them valuable exposure to the field before they graduate. In fact, since the first cohort in 2023, IU Health has extended job offers to more than 70 students.
The goal is simple but powerful: help students see that meaningful careers in health care exist in their own communities and create pathways that allow them to stay and serve those communities.
For rural health care, this approach is critical. Students who train and develop personal mentorship connections locally are far more likely to remain in the region after completing their education. By helping young people build skills and connections early, we can create a sustainable workforce that strengthens health-care access in both rural communities and regional centers, including Greater Lafayette.
Since launching the $200 million Community Impact Investment Fund in 2018, IU Health has invested more than $40 million in community grants supporting workforce development, education and school-based programs that build Indiana’s health-care talent pipeline. This includes funding for the Indiana Latino Institute, which placed Latino students in health-care internships, supported career pathways, and provided medical interpreter training and college coaching to communities across the state.
Our goal is to make Indiana one of the healthiest states in the nation, and this is one way we work toward that in partnership with our communities.
But workforce development is only part of the solution.
Strengthening rural health care will also require continued collaboration between health-care providers, educators, community leaders and policymakers. Expanding telehealth access, supporting rural hospitals and investing in primary care and behavioral health services are all critical steps toward ensuring patients can receive care close to home.
Greater Lafayette will always play an important role as a regional health-care center, providing specialized care and advanced services for patients across a broad region. But the long-term health of Indiana’s health-care system depends on maintaining strong local access points for care in rural communities.
When rural clinics and hospitals can provide preventive care, manage chronic conditions and connect patients with the services they need early, the entire system works better.
Patients receive care sooner, communities stay healthier and larger hospitals can focus on the complex cases they are designed to treat.
Healthy rural communities do not just benefit the towns where they are. They strengthen Indiana’s entire health-care system by ensuring that every Hoosier — no matter where they live — has access to the care and resources they need to live healthier lives.
When rural health care succeeds, all of Indiana benefits.
Gary Henriott is a lifelong resident of Lafayette and the retired CEO and Chairman of Henriott Group. He is the chair of the IU Health West Region board of directors and the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network, and president of Lafayette’s Board of Public Works and Safety.
INDIANAPOLIS (WKRC) — An Indianapolis mother is now facing criminal charges after her 2-month-old baby died in an apparent improper co-sleeping environment, according to investigators.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by FOX 59/CBS 4, police were called to an area hospital on Sept. 19, 2024, following the death of 27-year-old Brooklyn Davis’ son. The boy had been found unresponsive in his family’s home early that morning, and Davis attempted CPR before he was rushed to the hospital.
The affidavit says the boy had been sleeping on Davis’ bed with his 6-year-old brother. Davis later showed investigators a video showing the baby sleeping chest down on the 6-year-old’s chest.
An autopsy concluded the baby’s cause of death was “sudden explained death of an infant” with an intrinsic factor, which included being “placed to sleep in a queen-sized mattress being shared with a 6-year-old sibling, along with numerous blankets and other miscellaneous items; discovered unresponsive in a prone position with his face turned to the side and partially covered with a blanket.”
A report from the Department of Child Services (DCS) indicated the boy had no known health issues and that Davis ran an FSSA-licensed day care and has “extensive training on child care and safe sleeping environments.”
Davis had been known to DCS prior to the baby’s death. The boy had been born marijuana-positive and, on July 2, 2024, Davis had reportedly signed a “Safe Sleep Safety Plan,” acknowledging she understood that the safest places for her baby to sleep were in a crib, pack-and-play or bassinet and warned that co-sleeping places the baby at risk of suffocation and sleeping areas should be kept free of blankets, pillows and other items. The plan also included a provision that Davis not use marijuana while caring for her children, but she told investigators during an interview that, the morning of her baby’s death, she had gone downstairs to smoke marijuana and left the children alone upstairs.
Davis’ two other children were removed from the home, and interviews with them revealed that co-sleeping with the infant happened often.
Investigators say they attempted to contact Davis several times after talking to her children.
“She called me on February 18, 2025, and said she didn’t do anything wrong, her baby died of SIDS,” the detective wrote in the affidavit. “Brooklyn never came in for an additional interview.”
Court records indicate the case was filed in March 2026. Davis was booked into jail on April 1 on three counts of neglect of a dependent. An initial hearing was held on April 7, and a bail review hearing is planned for Monday.
The start of training camp officially marks the beginning of the 2026 WNBA season. The Indiana Fever were fairly quiet during free agency after successfully retaining most of their top-tier talent such as Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston, Lexie Hull, and Sophie Cunningham. Though they still managed to add a few solid pieces to further stack their depth.
Last season the Fever made an impressive postseason run despite facing multiple injuries, particularly in the backcourt. The front office clearly prioritized guard depth as a result, as well as looking to upgrade at the power forward position.
The Fever brass aimed to shore up any defensive deficiencies on the perimeter in the draft by adding guard Raven Johnson out of South Carolina, who brings a reputation as a defensive stopper. As for bolstering the frontcourt, to play alongside, and even provide some relief for Aliyah Boston, newly acquired 6-foot-4 Monique Billings and veteran forward Myisha Hines-Allen fit the bill. Indiana also picked up another solid player in Tyasha Harris at the guard position to provide backcourt depth and relieve pressure on Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark.
As for the starting lineup, here’s who the Indiana Fever are projected to run with:
Caitlin Clark, Guard
This comes as no surprise, but Clark will look to lead the way for the Fever in one of the two starting guard roles. Coming off of a season riddled with injuries, her return is highly anticipated. In true Clark fashion, she showed positive signs of production during the FIBA World Cup qualifiers where she led Team USA in assists and points.
Clark is expected to return to form in 2026. She provides speed in transition, is a deep threat from beyond the arc, and is elite at setting up her teammates. The only thing standing in the way of a productive season for Clark is remaining healthy for the duration of the season.
Kelsey Mitchell, Guard
Re-signing Kelsey Mitchell was yet again the main offseason priority for the Fever and they did just that. Coming off of a career year, Mitchell will be a key component in the Fever reaching a championship. She averaged 20.2 points per game last season and carried the team on her back during Clark’s absence.
As a premier scoring guard, she complements Clark’s game well and when the two are on the floor together, they’re easily the most explosive backcourt in the entire WNBA. Mitchell has exceptional speed and is a gifted isolation scorer. Her ability to quickly cut and drive to the rim makes her a nightmare for opposing teams to defend and contributed to her earning a 2025 All-WNBA First Team selection.
Mitchell is one of the most dangerous clutch situation players in the league making her a stellar weapon for the Fever.
Lexie Hull, Forward
Entering her fifth WNBA season, all with the Fever, no other player on the roster has grown as much as Lexie Hull. Her steady development has made her a key piece and earned her a starting role in the rotation as last season progressed. Listed as a guard, her defense and versatility has allowed her to frequently fill the role of small forward. She impacts the game on both ends of the floor and saw career highs in 2025 in points per game (7.2), rebounds per game (4.3), assists per game (1.8) and steals per game (1.2).
Her impactful instincts even contributed to her being near the top of the WNBA in offensive fouls drawn last season. With her high-percentage shooting from beyond the arc, solid perimeter defense, and elite hustle, Hull fills the wing role nicely for the Fever.
Monique Billings, Forward
Heading into the 2026 season, the Fever desperately needed to add talented size up front to complement Aliyah Boston’s skill set. With the departure of veteran Natasha Howard in free agency, the Fever acquired their likely next starting power forward in Monique Billings.
Billings is a strong finisher around the basket, has soft hands, runs the floor well, and is adept at screening for guards. She can also defend multiple positions and is a more than capable rebounder. Billings checks all of the boxes of a needed component for Indiana.
Aliyah Boston, Center
After making WNBA history with a record contract, Aliyah Boston looks to continue to elevate her game. Boston has quickly ascended as one of the league’s biggest threats in the middle of the floor. What makes this season even more promising for Boston is the dominant performances she put on display during Unrivaled.
She’s in peak physical shape, faster and has worked on her three-point shooting – an area she committed herself to improving on in the offseason. The three-time All-Star has already established herself as a force on the block due to her combination of size and footwork. Her step-through moves have increased her efficiency in scoring under the basket.
Boston seems poised to have the best season of her career in 2026.
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