Indiana baseball coach Tracy Smith is leaving to become the head coach at Arizona State.

Smith will be introduced on Thursday at Arizona State.

The Indiana baseball team's best two-year run in program history came to an end this spring.

West Coast power Stanford beat the Hoosiers 5-4 in a regional elimination game.

The Hoosiers ended the season 44-15.

Indiana made the NCAA Tournament for consecutive seasons for the first time in 2013 and 2014, and this year earned the program's first national seed. The Hoosiers reached the College World Series for the first time in program history last season.

Last year, the Hoosiers were the first Big Ten team to reach the College World Series since Michigan in 1984.

IU athletic director Fred Glass said Indiana's recent success and investment into the baseball program makes the IU job "on of the most attractive openings in the country."

"Tracy's vision for baseball at Indiana came to fruition with the completion of Bart Kaufman Field, standing room only attendance, three Big Ten Championships, three NCAA berths and a trip to the College World Series," Glass said. "His leadership and dedication to building a program the right way was obviously not lost on the college baseball community. We will all miss his immense talent and knack for leadership. As his friend, I will also greatly miss just having him around.

"We will begin a diligent and thorough search for the next leader of the IU baseball program and believe that with the program's recent success and the substantial investments we have - and will continue - to make in it, including new facilities, this is one of the most attractive openings in the country."

Smith led Indiana to Big Ten titles in 2013 and 2014, the only consecutive baseball titles in school history. He was national coach of the year in 2013.

A native of Kentland, Ind., Smith has had 54 of his players drafted by Major League Baseball. Smith took over an IU program that had finished 10th in the Big Ten in six of the eight years prior to his arrival.

"This was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever faced," Smith, 48, said. "The truth of the matter is, at this stage of my life, I am ready for a new challenge. Indiana is a part of who I am and always will be. I want to thank President McRobbie and Fred Glass for helping build this program into what it has become.

I also would like to thank Rick Greenspan for giving me the opportunity to be at Indiana in the first place. Most importantly, I would like to thank the players - past and present - for being the heart and soul of Indiana Baseball now and in the future. I have loved my time at Indiana University, and I am proud of what we have achieved. I look forward to IU's continued success."

Smith was well-liked among his fellow coaches at Indiana.

"Tracy Smith is one of the finest coaches I have ever met," IU basketball coach Tom Crean said on his twitter account. "It was an absolute Honor and Privilege to work side by side with him."