University of Washington
Indiana
Huskies Open Conference Play At Indiana
March 05, 2026 | Baseball
All three games will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus with live stats available at HuskyStats.com.
- The Huskies earned wins on Sunday and Monday to take a series split with San Diego State over the weekend
- Three of Washington's starting pitchers threw quality starts against the Aztecs (Jackson Thomas - 2/29; Gunnar Nichols - 3/1; Hayden Lewis - 3/2)
- In each of the three quality starts, the starting pitcher struck out at least nine batters. Each strikeout total was a career-high for that pitcher (Thomas 9, Nichols 10, Lewis 9)
- Hayden Lewis threw 7.0 innings in his start on Monday, the most of any starting pitcher this season
- Braeden Terry leads the team in batting average (.415), slugging (.634), hits (17), triples (2), total bases (26), is second in on base percentage (.457), and RBIs (6)
- Terry also leads the team in multi-hit games (5). Four of his multi-hit games have at least three hits
- Colton Bower has the most multi-RBI games with three
- Freshman Daniel Porras is Washington's joint-leader in home runs (2) and has the most RBIs on the team with seven
- Gunnar Nichols paces the pitching staff with a .191 opposing batting average, 18 strikeouts and three games started
- Washington welcomed four new staff members to Montlake ahead of the 2026 season. Kade Kryzsko joins as an assistant coach, Justin Jacobs is the new recruiting coordinator, Scott Junck serves as the director of baseball operations, and Jake Rook is the director of baseball analytics.
- The Huskies were picked to finish eighth in the Big Ten conference by D1Baseball
SECOND SEASON UNDER SMITH
On July 9, 2024, Eddie Smith was named the 25th head coach of University of Washington baseball, announced by UW Director of Athletics Pat Chun. Smith, a native of Olympia, Washington, comes to Montlake after three seasons at Utah Valley. Smith begins his second season at the helm of the Huskies in 2026.
UP NEXT
Washington begins the Big Ten slate this weekend, facing Indiana in Bloomington for a three-game set. Friday will be just the third all-time meeting between the two programs. Indiana has claimed wins in both of the previous meetings.
The Huskies will throw Noah Kenney on Friday, Jackson Thomas on Saturday, and Gunnar Nichols on Sunday.
SERIES SPLIT WITH SDSU
The Huskies battled back from an 0-2 start in the series against San Diego State to earn a 2-2 split on Monday. Washington took down SDSU 4-1 in the finale to secure the split. Hayden Lewis turned in the third straight quality start by a Husky starter on Monday. He went 7.0 innings with nine strikeouts and only three hits, one walk, and one run allowed. The Husky offense provided four runs of support, led by Sam DeCarlo with two runs driven in on a two-run home run. It was DeCarlo's first long ball of the season. Braeden Terry also chipped in two hits in his four at bats. Over the last eight games, Terry has batted .533 (16-30).
The Huskies also took Sunday's game 11-2 over the Aztecs. Gunnar Nichols turned in a dominant performance in his third Husky start. The senior threw 6.0 innings, allowing just two hits and one run while striking out a career-high 10 batters. He moves to 1-2 on the year with the victory. Among Husky starters this year, he leads the team in hits allowed (9), runs allowed (6), strikeouts (18), and batting average allowed (.191).
On the offensive end, Washington scored early and often to take the win. The Huskies were led by Ian Draper in RBIs with five, including a three-RBI double in the second inning. The freshman went 3-5 on the day as the designated hitter and raised his season batting average to .389. Braeden Terry continued his hot hand in the batter's box as well. The left fielder went 4-5 on the day, his third game of three hits or more in the last week.
QUALITY PITCHING
Washington turned in three straight quality starts from Saturday to Monday. Jackson Thomas, Gunnar Nichols, and Hayden Lewis each threw 6.0 innings or more with less than three runs allowed. Each pitcher struck out at least nine batters as well.
Lewis became the first Husky this season to toss at least 7.0 innings in a game while Nichols struck out a career-best 10 batters on Sunday afternoon.
BRAEDEN TERRY BOOMING
Braeden has been on a tear for the Dawgs, currently pacing the offense with a .415 average and a 1.091 OPS. In the last eight games, Terry is batting 16-30 with a .533 average. He has seven more hits than the next best player during that stretch, including two doubles, two triples, one home run, and six RBIs.
Terry has been terrorizing right handed pitchers this season. He's batting 17-34 against righties this year, hitting at a .500 clip. He's also hitting .350 with runners on base.
FRESHMAN FIREPOWER
Ian Draper has burst onto the scene, making the most of his moments on the field. He's made eight appearances, including four starts and is batting .333 with two doubles and five RBIs. All five of his runs batted in came on Sunday against San Diego State as he was responsible for plating nearly half of Washington's 11 runs that day. Draper has played as a third baseman, second baseman, and designated hitter this season.
MULTI-HIT HUSKIES
Six Dawgs have recorded at least three multi-hit games this season, led by Braeden Terry with five. Terry is the lone Dawg to record a four-hit game and has had at least three hits in three of the last five games. Mic Paul has four multi-hit games while Ty Cowan, Daniel Porras, Ian Draper , and Ethan Swidler each have three.
SHUTOUT RELIEVERS
Tommy Brandenburg and Bryce Johnson recorded saves over the weekend against San Diego State, helping preserve wins for the Diamond Dawgs on Sunday and Monday. Brandenburg tossed 3.0 innings on Sunday, allowing just three hits and one run while fanning three of the batters he faced.
Bryce Johnson made two relief appearances over the weekend, tossing a total of 5.0 innings without allowing a run. He threw 3.0 scoreless innings on Saturday, giving up just one hit while striking out three. On Monday, he earned his first career save, finishing off the Aztecs in the eighth and ninth innings with two hits allowed against two strikeouts and zero walks.
Brandenburg and Johnson each rank fourth in the Big Ten with one save on the season.
TRIPLE THREAT
The Huskies have knocked three triples this season, the fourth-most in the Big Ten and the 32nd in the NCAA. Braeden Terry, Mic Paul, and Casen Taggart are responsible for the three-baggers and have the Dawgs averaging 0.33 per game, good for 46th in the NCAA.
TOUGH TY COWAN
Ty Cowan has been one of the toughest players to strike out in the Big Ten this season. He ranks 13th in the conference in the metric, averaging one strikeout every 10.5 at bats. He has only four strikeouts on the season in his team-leading 42 at bats.
DAWG DEBUTS
17 Diamond Dawgs made their first career appearance over the first two weekends of the season. Position player debuts included Ian Draper, Ty Cowan, Aidan Dougherty, Drew Johnson, Mic Paul, Daniel Porras, Kevin Spear, Ethan Swidler, and Landon Young. Pitching debuts include Carson Boesel, Bryce Johnson, Noah Kenney, Hayden Lewis, Liam Lierman, Jay Miller, Jack Wade, and Tyler Walker.
FRESH FACES
Washington features a new-look team in 2026, including 23 newcomers, 16 of whom are transfer players. The Huskies return 13 letterwinners from a season ago, including nine position player starters.
FOUR NEW STAFF MEMBERS
The Huskies welcome four new members to the Diamond Dawg staff. Kade Kryzsko has joined as an assistant coach, Justin Jacobs is the team's new recruiting coordinator, Scott Junck is the Director of Baseball Operations, and Jake Rook is the director of baseball analytics.
THREE DAWGS NAMED CONFERENCE PLAYERS TO WATCH
Hayden Lewis, Casen Taggart, and Jackson Thomas have each been named Big Ten Players to Watch, the conference announced on Wednesday.
Hayden Lewis, the newest of the three Huskies, joins Washington after two seasons and 22 appearances with New Mexico State. The senior right-handed pitcher tossed a career-high 28.2 innings last season in seven starts. He struck out 25 batters while allowing a .312 batting average.
Casen Taggart figures to again be a focal part of the Husky offense after leading the the team in batting average (.331), on base percentage (.471), and walks (46). The senior firstbaseman started in 50 games a season ago and had the longest reached-base streak on the team, totaling 31 straight games. His 0.92 walks per game had him ranked No. 33 in the nation, and he also launched six home runs, 11 doubles, and drove in 32 runs.
Jackson Thomas looks to be a key returning pitcher for the Diamond Dawgs after a strong debut on Montlake last season. Thomas threw 71.2 innings last season while making 15 appearances and 13 starts. He became the Huskies' Saturday starter and collected a 5-4 record while holding teams to a .276 average and 48 strikeouts. He tossed a career-best seven frames at Nebraska (March 8), allowing just four hits and two runs. In his 13 starts, Thomas allowed two or less runs on eight occasions.
BIG TEN PRESEASON POLL
Despite Washington's rise from 17th place in last season's poll to a fifth place finish, the Huskies have been left out of this season's Big Ten Preseason Poll. This year, the conference announced the voted top-six finishing programs.
1. UCLA
2. Oregon
3. USC
4. Nebraska
5. Indiana
6. Iowa
PRESEASON PLAYER RANKINGS
Sam DeCarlo, Casen Taggart, and Jackson Thomas were each named in the D1Baseball Preseason Player Rankings.
DeCarlo was named a top-50 shortstop, Taggart was tabbed a top-50 first baseman, and Thomas was named a top-200 starting pitcher.
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