IU Baseball's Season Ends To Cap Off An Incredible Sports Spring For The Hoosier State

Indiana Comes On Late For Successful Season But Pitching Depth And Control Issues End 2024 In NCAA Regional In Knoxville

A View of Lindsay Nelson Stadium From High Above The Tennessee River Where Indiana Baseball Concluded Its NCAA Regional This Weekend

Knoxville TN-Six weeks ago the spring sports season in the state of Indiana looked extremely bleak. However, once Memorial Day hit, everything had completely turned around in April and May for some of the better sports months the Hoosier state had seen in many years.

IU was faced with the prospect of their primary spring sports in baseball and softball missing the postseason, and finishing out the year through mid-May with little to play for. Then everything suddenly changed.

Coming off postseason appearances for both and almost everyone back, expectations were high. However, serious issues on the mound nearly torpedoed what should have been strong 2024s. Instead, both caught fire down the stretch and made the NCAA Tournament playing meaningful games throughout April and May. Led by powerful offenses that hit their stride, each squad squeaked into the postseason with strong runs in the conference tournament. This allowed both of them to be among the last four in the field of 64.

The pitching issues were never fully solved, and ultimately led to the demise in their regionals with just one combined victory. However, the future continues to be bright for both with some slight tweaks to the pitching approach.

Also, a team that does not reside in Bloomington but in the same state made a ton of noise. The NBA’s Indiana Pacers are generally the most paid attention to squad at this time of year by many residents. For the first time in a decade, they made a serious run in the playoffs to the Eastern Conference Finals. They got there by knocking off former Hoosier OG Anunoby and the New York Knicks in a thrilling series.

Turning back to sports on campus, several lower-profile ones were as hot as the warming weather. Men’s and women’s golf both made NCAA appearances. The women also won the conference as part of five Big Ten championships combined across 24 sports in 2023-2024. Also, rowing and track and field made postseason appearances while men’s tennis was much improved. Finally, the one sport the Hoosiers play outside their primary league is water polo. It was the most competitive they have ever been since moving to the elite Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

Turning back to the primary focus of this column, baseball (and to a lesser extent softball), their season ended with a blowout 15-3 loss to Southern Mississippi on Sunday. While the day closed 2024 with a whimper, overall it ended successfully with a 33-26-1 record with their eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 11 seasons.

IU coach Jeff Mercer said he is pleased with the team rallying to make it a solid season in the end.

“I am really proud of the way we battled back this year,” Mercer said. “Had some tough times and really responded well down the stretch and had a good run.”

Some tweaks around the edges will be needed with more pitching depth and control on the mound to take another step. However, the staff deserves major kudos for figuring it out eventually in each of the last three seasons. It will be up to Mercer to evaluate how to solve the problems on the bump. However, with three NCAA tournament appearances in five seasons, and a fourth that barely missed, the program is in good hands it would appear.

Mercer said having gone through the trials of 2024 as well as a couple of other things can address the issues that need improvement for 2025.

“Experience does help a ton and stay healthy,” he said. “We had to go through a mid-year player development process. We’ll have a really talented team again next year. You have to continue to push them to understand how difficult this truly is. We have to stay behind them and we have to encourage them and they have to know that we believe in them. Nothing replicates in-game experience. From that standpoint of success, we have to start at a higher point to begin with and go and get better and those things will take care of themselves.”

In the end, what looked like an ugly spring for Indiana sports teams, turned into the best in at least a decade with a huge close for all involved. With no MLB squad in the state, it now goes into the summer swoon for most fans.

The Indiana Fever, Indy Eleven, and Indianapolis Indians will play throughout the hot months. With phenom Caitlin Clark now leading the Fever, this could well get more attention than usual for them. However, most of June, July, and August tend to be the quietest months for competition in the Hoosier state as a whole.

Some will also follow their favorite MLB team with the Cubs and Reds being the most popular. Also, the Cardinals and White Sox command some support. However, with all of these squads struggling at the moment, there may be little to look forward to here. That is unless one or all of them has a similar turnaround to the Hoosier squad on the diamond.

Also, this is the final story of my sixth season covering Indiana athletics for Assembly Call outside of 6-Banner which will continue weekly. I would like to thank everyone for following along once again and look forward to being back in the fall with more coverage for the site.

Finally, it appears it will be another very strong season in 2024-2025 across the athletic department for nearly all sports. This should make every IU fan excited about what is coming across the board.