BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – After coming just one win short of a Big Ten Tournament final, the Indiana Baseball team (32-24-1) earned an at-large bid to the 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament. It is the 11th all-time appearance in the national tournament, the third under head coach Jeff Mercer and the second-consecutive trip for the Hoosiers.
The Hoosiers were selected to the Knoxville Regional, hosted by No. 1 overall seed Tennessee. The region also features No. 2 Southern Miss and No. 4 Northern Kentucky. IU will be the No. 3 seed in the regional and meet the Golden Eagles in the first round on Friday (May 31).
IU battled through a number of injuries this season including the loss of three potential weekend arms (Luke Sinnard, Ben Grable and Matthew Bohnert) and one of the most talented position players on the roster (A.J. Shepard). Even without the services of those players, the Hoosiers won 32 games, 15 in the Big Ten regular season slate and advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
As of the RPI rankings on Sunday (May 26) morning, IU had played 26 quad one or two games, winning 12 of those. The Hoosiers won non-conference contests against Indiana State, Dallas Baptist and Coastal Carolina. It also played games away from home against regional opponents in Duke, Alabama and Arizona. IU had a top-40 strength of schedule.
Since the beginning of April, the Hoosiers went on a tear, producing both on the mound and at the plate. IU won 17 of its final 28 games. Of the 10 losses in that timeframe, seven of them came by three runs or fewer. Its offense scored 10+ runs on 12 occasions over the final two months and won six of the final seven Big Ten series.
Led by First Team All-Big Ten selection in sophomore outfielder Devin Taylor, the IU offense was as balanced and potent as any in the country. The Hoosiers finished top-10 in the nation with 134 doubles and smashed 78 home runs along the way, led by a career-best 18 from Taylor. Sophomore shortstop Tyler Cerny (23) and junior third baseman Josh Pyne (22) each finished in the top-25 in the nation in doubles.
On the mound, IU found a balanced group of talented arms that helped IU turn around its season over the past two months. In 16 of the final 17 games of the season, IU held opponents to seven or fewer runs. Its staff also recorded 557 strikeouts on the season. Graduate student reliever Drew Buhr held a 3.35 earned run average across 20 appearances and 45.2 innings pitched. The Hoosier starting duo of sophomore Connor Foley (80) and graduate student Ty Bothwell (82) combined for 162 punchouts.
Ticket information, for those looking to travel to the NCAA Regional, will be available this week. The NCAA Baseball Regionals will run from Friday, May 31st to Monday, June 3rd.