IU Baseball Wins NCAA Opener For Second Straight Season In A Completely Different Way From 2023

Hoosiers Dominated From Start To Finish With Solid Hitting And Pitching

IU Celebrates Postgame At Lindsey Nelson Stadium Following Their 10-4 NCAA Opening Win Over Southern Mississippi

Knoxville TN-IU baseball found themselves back in a place they have made a habit of getting to in the last decade. After just three postseason appearances in school history through 2012, the Hoosiers have achieved an NCAA Tournament berth eight times in the last 11 years starting with their breakthrough run to the College World Series in 2013.

However, the opening contests have been decidedly mixed in this time at just 4-3 heading into today’s game. Interestingly as a one or three seed, Indiana was a perfect 4-0. When obtaining a two seed they are 0-3.

Fortunately, for IU they were a three-seed for the second straight season and won by six runs just like they did in 2023. In the Lexington Regional last spring, the Hoosiers came out on top over West Virginia 12-6. On Friday, it was a 10-4 score against Southern Mississippi in the Knoxville Regional that once again favored the Cream and Crimson.

However, the similarities between the two contests end there as the victories were achieved in a completely different fashion. Against the Mountaineers, Indiana took advantage of a couple of wild pitches and bunted balls that were thrown away for errors to stay ahead in a back-and-forth affair before pulling away late.

This time with the Golden Eagles being the opposition, the Hoosiers were in charge from start to finish and had a banner day both at the plate and on the mound. The bats got going early and often with five runs in the first two innings and eight in the first five, before anyone from Southern Mississippi crossed the plate. For IU, this included a home run in the first inning by Brock Tibbitts and a couple of RBI doubles and singles thereafter to take complete command.

Indiana coach Jeff Mercer said it is important to try to win in any way possible once late-season baseball comes around.

“When you’re in this environment you have to use all the tools in your tool chest,” Mercer said. “You have to be able to use all of your tools and use all the different avenues for success.”

Finally, the Hoosiers’ pitching situation is in a far more advantageous position this time around. In Lexington, IU’s one long-length-starter and ace Luke Sinnard lasted just two innings. He left with an elbow injury that required surgery and is still being recovered from to this day. The closer for that game was Ty Bothwell who was rounding into form late after a rough year and threw the final 3.1 innings.

Now, Bothwell has turned into the reliable ace who leads the staff and he dazzled once again on Friday afternoon. Bothwell went the first 5.2 innings giving up just two earned runs while striking out nine batters in a fantastic showing. After this, Indiana only needed top bullpen arm Drew Buhr to finish the final 3.1 frames.

Mercer said this sets his team up well for the rest of the weekend.

“Anytime that you get your first game with two pitchers it’s a big help,” he said. “It gives you a lot better path and the guys executed really well.”

The team can now turn to Connor Foley in game two on Saturday at 6 pm. Foley is also a very reliable opener who provides length with a fastball that approaches 100 mph. Reliable relievers Aydan Decker-Petty, Brayden Risedorph, Julian Tonghini, and Jacob Vogel also remain available as well as several other arms out of the pen.

Indiana has their work cut out for them likely needing to get through host and top-ranked Tennessee to continue their season beyond this weekend. While it will be their biggest challenge of 2024, the Hoosiers have put themselves in a position to take their best shot at it.