Indiana's postseason hopes all but dashed after B1G Tournament exit
OMAHA, Neb. - The Hoosiers entered the Big Ten Tournament opener on Tuesday knowing they likely needed to win the whole thing for a crack at the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Indiana's season-long struggles against Nebraska pitching continued on Saturday in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
"(Nebraska) has a decent amount of really good arms," first baseman Brock Tibbitts said. "They're able to throw two or three pitches for strikes. They were able to keep us off balance. They were able to execute their game plane against us.
After the Hoosiers opened up a weekend series against the Cornhuskers in early May with a win, Indiana managed just 10 runs in the last 37 innings (four games) against Nebraska -- all of which were losses.
After dropping two games on Saturday against to Nebraska, Indiana's run in the Big Ten Tournament came to an end.
Falling short of the title, Indiana is anticipated to be on the outside looking in at the field of 64 come Monday's NCAA Tournament selection show.
"It's an odd position to be in," head coach Jeff Mercer said following IU's exit from the Big Ten Tournament. "We're one of the best 64 teams in the country, we're an NCAA Tournament team. This is a team that could win a regional, it's the most prepared team that I've ever coached to go and do that."
Looking back on the long season, Mercer pointed to a handful of weekends throughout the year the Hoosiers could've helped their NCAA Tournament resume, including that weekend in Lincoln in which Indiana took the opener.
The Hoosiers' skipper knows that nobody around the country is feeling sorry for this Indiana ball club and he's by no means attempting to make excuses for his team at this point in the season.
Mercer knows his team is capable of competing in the NCAA Tournament, but at this point, whether Indiana gets that shot or not is not up to the Hoosiers.
If in fact Indiana's season came to a close on Saturday evening, it will have been the last time a handful of Hoosiers took the field donning the cream and crimson.
The Hoosiers are expected to lose a healthy crop of guys to the upcoming MLB Draft, and a few more due to a lack of eligibility this offseason.
One of the few Hoosiers in their final year of eligibility is "Mr. Indiana" himself, Ty Bothwell.
The LHP spent all six years of his collegiate career in Bloomington with the Hoosiers. Bothwell's first season at Indiana coincided with Mercer's first campaign as the Hoosiers' head coach.
"I met Ty (Bothwell) on my first day on the job," Mercer reminisced. "I walked in a 31 year old kid... and Ty was a 19 year old kid. He's become literally a part of my family. I'm as close to Ty as anyone I've ever been to, I can't appreciate anybody more."
It's been a difficult season for the Hoosiers, one filled with many ups and downs. It's a season that Mercer isn't ready to be over.
"Everything," Mercer responded when asked what it would mean to him to coach this Indiana team onto the NCAA Tournament. "These guys could've quit. To watch them get back up, I'm incredibly proud of that. To spend another week with them would be incredible."
Indiana will find out its fate at 12 p.m. on Monday during the NCAA Tournament selection show.
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