Hoosiers Season Ends in Nashville

Sunday, May 31

Nashville, Tenn.

4 PM

Indiana University

35-24

Radford

45-15

Radford

Indiana

5/31/2015 1:00:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Indiana eliminated in NCAA Regional on Sunday

NCAA Regional	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
No. 2 Radford	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	5	6	2
No. 3 Indiana	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	3	6	1

Site: Hawkins Field (Nashville, Tenn.)
Score: Radford 5, Indiana 3
Records: Indiana (35-24), Radford (45-15)

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Statistics | PDF | Postgame | Photos

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Palmer	2.2	1	0	0	1	3
L - Belcher	1.2	0	2	0	0	0
S - Meisinger	2.0	0	0	0	0	2

NASHVILLE -- Indiana was eliminated from the NCAA Nashville Regional and saw its 2015 season end with a 5-3 loss to No. 2 seed Radford on Sunday afternoon at Hawkins Field.

The Hoosiers, who competed in their third straight NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history, finished the season with a 35-24 record, which included 12 wins vs. ranked opponents and 16 vs. RPI Top 50 teams.

Although the season didn't end the way the Hoosiers had hoped, Indiana's fight to get this far was impressive, winning nine of its last 10 regular-season games and 11 of 13 to make a strong case for a postseason bid.

IU's 6-4 loss to top-seeded Vanderbilt on Saturday evening set up Sunday's elimination game.

The Highlanders were on fire from the start, opening the game with a pair of doubles and a single to take a 2-0 lead before IU could record an out.

Radford added another run in the top of the fifth to extend its advantage to 3-0.

Much like IU battled to make the postseason, the Hoosiers didn't go quietly.

Austin Cangelosi's sacrifice bunt put runners in scoring position in the bottom of the fifth inning after Craig Dedelow and Will Nolden reached on a walk and a single, respectively.

Brian Wilhite, who tied for IU's lead with two hits, was hit by pitch to load the bases. Casey Rodrigue's single put two runs on the board and an error on a pick-off attempt allowed Wilhite to score the tying run.

Radford appeared primed to respond with a score of its own in the sixth, loading the bases with two outs before Thomas Belcher entered the game and retired the batter on the fly out to right field.

Indiana also put runners in scoring position in the seventh, but came up empty.

RU did not waste its opportunity in the eighth inning, loading the bases on a HBP, IU's lone error and a walk. A single and sacrifice fly was all the Highlanders needed to take a 5-3 lead.

NASHVILLE REGIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
••• Indiana was represented by Casey Rodrigue, Brian Wilhite and Kyle Hart. Rodrigue and Wilhite were unanimous selections.

TEAM NOTES
••• With the loss, Indiana finishes the 2015 season with a 35-24 overall record. Indiana made its third consecutive NCAA Regional for the first time in school history.

••• In the NCAA Tournament, Indiana is 10-10 all-time, falling to 7-8 in NCAA Regional contests.

••• Indiana was 12-5 in the month of May in 2015 and 36-12 since 2013.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
••• Senior 2B Casey Rodrigue finished the season with a hit in 24 of his last 30 games. Rodrigue had his ninth multi-RBI game, leading Indiana with a pair.

••• Senior C Brad Hartong's team-best streaks of 12 games with a hit and 18 games reaching base came to an end. The latter was IU's longest of the 2015 season.

••• Junior SS Nick Ramos tied for the Indiana lead with two hits, marking his third multi-hit game in the last five and ninth overall.

••• Junior 3B Brian Wilhite registered a hit in nine of the last 11 games and notched his third multi-hit game in that span.

INDIANA QUOTES
Head Coach Chris Lemonis
Opening statement:
"Another hard fought ballgame, Radford is a very good program, a very good team, and the last 24 hours I think our guys played as hard as they possibly could. We just came up a swing short or a play short here or there, but that's postseason baseball. I'm very proud of our guys, and I tip my hat to Joe and his team -- a great year, a great program.

On his first season at Indiana:
"It was a whirlwind. We had some ups, some downs, some crazier things that happened my first year as any head or assistant coach. I'm very pleased with the way we finished, and I think that's the biggest thing. I think our kids were resilient and grew throughout the year and believed in the program. I'm pretty pleased at this point. Yeah, I'd like to play a little farther, but I think everybody does this time of year. Losing that many guys from last year's teams and having so many uncertainties this year, I'm proud of where we're at."

On what Radford did better or differently in the rematch:
"They definitely played defense better. I think we had the opportunity to jump on a couple of things defensively, earlier. They got a lead in the first, which makes a difference. We had the triple-play the other day which makes a difference so I think there are some things there. Radford's a really good ball club. I think our regional was one of the toughest ones out there with Radford as a two and almost hosted, we thought we might be a two and obviously Vanderbilt, one of the best programs in the country and then Lipscomb who I think was close to 40 wins, so it's just good baseball here. I think we got the good bounces the other day, and I think if we made a play late we'd probably still be playing."

On the team's resiliency:
"We have had our back against the wall for the past five or six weeks. We keep talking about it. It's just a tough group, they won't give in. They play hard, and that's what you get from them, and that's a championship type of quality we try to ingrain in all those young men.

On seeing the seniors leave:
"It's tough. I've been told my whole life that's the toughest speech you got to give to your guys. As an assistant, you just stand there with your head down. The reason it's tough, is because it's a great experience. Like I told our guys, because it's a special experience, what these kids have gone through at Indiana, and for a lot of our seniors-- they put this program on the map nationally. That's three regionals in three years, a couple of Big Ten titles, a super regional, Omaha, these kids have built this program and it's an everlasting memory. That's what you get when you come to Indiana. The kids get treated great, the fans are great, and it makes it bittersweet at the end because it's hard when it's over. I don't think you get that everywhere that you go, and that's why Indiana was so attractive to me."

On controlling the game:
"I think it's a little bit of everything. I know that the weather got real humid and sticky with the ball. Jake, we ran out there and got him a rosin so I know that affected him a little bit. That is a very tough game to play. To play the emotional game last night and to lose it late...we got into our rooms about 12:30 or 1:00 and we were out the door by midday today and you come out today and it's not the emotional game that it was last night so you don't get that rammed up feel from the big crowd. It's still postseason, but that's just a combination of everything. We just have to execute better. I think the HBPs, and some of the walks, that's just not very characteristic of us."

On the weather affecting the closing performance:
" I think the weather was getting to him a little bit. His breaking ball was starting to spike and it was a little bit wet. He's one of the best closers in the country. He's the all-time every Indiana think, so the situation doesn't really bother him, but I think the weather got to him a little bit there late."

On how the game felt versus last night:
"It's the crowd. It's hard not to say this, but you have a bunch of seniors in the dugout and they're not stupid. They know their back is against the wall and if we don't win, my career is over and that's a hard thing for some kids. When you get to that last game, you get a little more pressure. Every team has that across the country, but that's the big difference between last night and today. Last night was a special night and it was an electric crowd, and fun game to play. Most of it I think was the pressure of the moment."

Second baseman Casey Rodrigue
On difficult ending to the season:
" It definitely didn't end the way that we hoped. But this season has been an unbelivable experience. My last two years at Indiana have been great. I couldn't of asked to be around a greater group of guys and a head coach. Coach really believed in the seniors and put a lot of faith in us and I'm grateful for that."

Third baseman Brian Wilhite
On the evaluation of their season:
" I think overall, making it this far, we can't be to down on ourselves. We went through some ups and downs to start the season, but I think the entire time we knew we had a good program and a great group of guys and that we would be fine going forward. Definitely we aren't happy with the end result, but I think we played well and still had a solid season."