Indiana baseball celebrates NCAA tournament bid after 48 hours on the bubble

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana baseball coach Jeff Mercer went through a range of emotions during the 48 hours leading up to the NCAA’s tournament selection show on Monday afternoon. 

The roller coaster ended with overwhelming relief when the Hoosiers found out at the top of the hour-long broadcast they earned an at-large bid and a No. 3 seed in the Knoxville Regional alongside Tennessee, Southern Miss and Northern Kentucky. 

Indiana (32-24-1) will open the tourney with a game against Southern Miss at 1 p.m. on Friday. 

“You feel a sense of joy,” Mercer said, with a smile. 

More: Indiana baseball earns NCAA tournament bid, will play in Knoxville Regional

Indiana baseball puts exit interviews on hold  

That joy was in stark contrast to the mood in Indiana’s visiting clubhouse after dropping a pair of games to Nebraska in the Big Ten tournament semifinals on Saturday. 

After the night cap, Mercer delivered what he thought was a season-ending speech to his players that included shoutouts to the team’s upperclassmen. 

“I felt over the last several weeks if we won a (regular season) series at Nebraska, swept Michigan or if we got to the championship of the Big Ten tournament, that would nail it down,” Mercer said, during a Zoom press conference on Monday. “We kept coming up one game short of getting where we could be 100% confident.”

It wasn’t until Mercer dug a little deeper into the numbers — IU finished the season with a No. 56 ranked RPI and No. 39 strength of schedule — that he started to feel a bit better about the team’s chances. 

The results from the various conference championship games on Sunday fueled IU’s postseason hopes as well. 

“I think there were only two stolen bids and there could have been four or five really easily,” Mercer said. “Once those things broke our way, I thought we had a real chance to be in.”

Mercer still ended up preparing for both scenarios. He was ready to hold exit interviews with his players on Monday if they didn’t earn a tournament bid, but he had a practice plan ready to go as well. 

Those exit interviews will have to wait for another day. 

Knoxville Regional is a tough assignment for Indiana baseball

Indiana baseball’s first test will be a red hot Southern Miss team. The Golden Eagles have won six straight and 14 of their last 15 games. The win streak includes Sunday’s 14-11 comeback victory over Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt conference championship game. 

It was the team’s second consecutive tournament title. The latest came in dramatic fashion with Southern Miss erasing an 11-9 deficit in the ninth inning.

While Mercer’s assistants handle much of the prep work for the regional, he watched Southern Miss on Sunday since Georgia Southern was a team that could have stolen an at-large bid. 

“They don’t strike out, they don’t walk a ton, probably a lot like Rutgers,” Mercer said. “High batting average, singles and doubles, a lot of early contact and swings.” 

Designated hitter Slade Wilks does give Southern Miss some pop in the middle of the order. Wilks led the team with 14 home runs this season and has the fifth most in program history for his career (46). 

He hit .329 this season, had 35 extra-base hits and 65 RBIs. He enters the NCAA tournament riding a 32-game hit streak. 

The other early topic of conversation amongst the staff was Southern Miss pitcher Billy Oldham, who could be the team’s starter on Friday. Oldham earned first team All-Sun Belt honors this season with a 7-2 record with a 3.97 ERA and 96 strikeouts. He only gave up more than three earned runs in three of his 15 starts. 

“Throws 88-92 with a good changeup and breaking ball,” Mercer said. 

Indiana will also start scouting Tennessee, the tourney’s No. 1 overall seed, and Northern Kentucky as well. 

Northern Kentucky will be the easier scout since the team’s played earlier this season — IU won the 11-5 on March 6 — and Mercer is close friends with many members of the team’s coaching staff. 

Tennessee is hosting the regional after winning the SEC tournament. The Volunteers beat defending national champion LSU for its second title in three seasons.