Three Takeaways From Indiana Baseball's 9-5 Regional Win Over UIC

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Indiana staved off elimination with a 9-5 win over UIC Saturday afternoon at Jim Patterson Stadium in the loser's bracket of the NCAA tournament's Louisville Regional.

Here are three takeaways from the Hoosiers' performance.

IU's All-American lefty starter Andrew Saalfrank was chased out of the game after 3 1/3 innings. In stepped true freshman right-hander Gabe Bierman, who put on a magnificent performance in relief.

Bierman allowed just two hits and two walks - zero runs - with two strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings across the 16 batters he faced. Of his 60 total pitches, 37 were strikes.

It's another memorable performance in the midst of challenging times for Bierman, whose father Doug died of a heart attack on May 16. Gabe has allowed only eight hits, two earned runs and two walks with eight strikeouts in his three relief appearances since May 18.

"It’s the trust in my teammates behind me," Bierman said. "Just going out and executing pitches is all I need to do. Them making plays for me is wonderful."

“And I would say he’s a tough dude," IU head coach Jeff Mercer said. "Like, he’s a tough dude. I asked Gabe – he wasn’t going to go back out for that last inning, but then just said, ‘Just give us what you got. Just pour it out one last time.’ I mean, he threw two innings yesterday and came back today."

Three separate Hoosiers went deep in Saturday's game, including Matt Lloyd and Cole Barr who share the team lead with 17.

For that duo, it marked the sixth time this season both homered in the same game.

“It’s crazy," Lloyd said. "I guess he just wants to be like the older guy, the older brother, and show him how to do it.

So, what exactly happened after Indiana struck out 18 times in its regional opener? Lloyd collaborated with catcher Ryan Fineman and Friday night starter Pauly Milto to come up with a solution.

“Tried to switch up the vibes a little bit, switch up the juju," Lloyd said. "So Ryan’s got a mustache right now. And I don’t know if you guys saw Pauly’s beard, but it’s pretty interesting."

Lloyd himself is sporting a mustache. With Indiana collecting eight RBI off eight hits overall, there's a strong chance he, Fineman and Milto keep their facial hair unchanged.

Grant Sloan relieved Bierman in the top of the eighth but proceeded to load the bases. Sommer stepped in and struck out the first batter he faced, then walked the next batter he faced to allow an unearned run.

While it ate into IU's lead, overall the damage was mitigated by Sommer's work. He got the third and final batter he faced in the inning to strike out looking.

"They're just tough," Mercer said of UIC. "They're very tough and very disciplined. It was a good win for our club to go out and play a game like that and find a way to come out on top. I have the absolute utmost respect for Coach Dee and his program."

Indiana will face the loser of Louisville-Illinois State tomorrow at noon eastern time in another elimination game.

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