Baseball Gameday: NCAA Lexington Regional

LEXINGTON, Ky.– A second trip to the Bluegrass State in 2023 has the Indiana baseball program in the NCAA Lexington Regional. The Hoosiers will open NCAA postseason play against West Virginia on Friday (June 2) at 7 p.m. inside Kentucky Proud Park.

Indiana (40-18) is 6-4 over its last 10 games after going 1-2 at the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha, Nebraska, last week, while West Virginia (39-18) sits at 5-5 over its last 10 contests with a five-game losing streak entering regional play.

Gameday Info
Friday, June 2, 2023 | vs. West Virginia | 7 p.m. ET
Live Video: es.pn/3N7MZmP
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/IUStatbroadcast

Quick Hitter

Indiana is 11-15 all-time in NCAA Regional Tournament play with at least one win in each of its last six appearances.
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The Hoosiers have a Big Ten-best seven NCAA Regional appearance since 2013. Maryland is second with six appearances, while Michigan and Nebraska each have five.
Senior Phillip Glasser saw his 45-game reached base come to an end at Northwestern, which tied for the longest streak in program history since at least 2005.
Glasser is among the top-50 active hitters in a bevy of categories, including No. 5 with 277 career hits.
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Senior Peter Serruto has caught 96 percent of Indiana's innings since April 1 (34 games) and hit .309 during Big Ten play following an injury to Matthew Ellis.
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Freshman Devin Taylor became the third Indiana rookie to earn All-B1G first team honors, as he also brought home the programs third Big Ten Freshman of the Year honor.
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Among relief pitchers nationally, sophomore Ryan Kraft's 54 1/3 innings of relief work is among the most in the country, sitting No. 9 nationally.
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Freshman Devin Taylor carried a 32-game reached base streak that spanned Feb. 25-April 28, which is the longest streak for an IU freshman since at least 2005.
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Sophomore Josh Pyne was named NCBWA National Player of the Week and B1G Player of the Week after a 10-hit, 14-RBI week versus Xavier and Purdue.
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Sophomore Luke Sinnard is one of two Big Ten pitcher with three-or-more double-digit strikeout games in 2023, which includes a B1G-best-tying 13 versus Morehead State.
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Head coach Jeff Mercer became the eighth IU skipper to reach 100 victories in the cream and crimson with a series finale win at Auburn on February 19, 2023. He then won his 200th career game as a head coach at Illinois on April 15.
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NCAA Tournament Notes

Indiana makes its 10th overall appearance in the NCAA Baseball Championships and second under fifth-year head coach Jeff Mercer.
Indiana owns a 14-17 overall record in the NCAA Tournament in program history, with an 11-15 record in NCAA Regional play since its first berth in 1949.
A two-time NCAA Regional host, Indiana will hit the road for an NCAA Regional for the eighth time in program history, with four of those trips to the state of Kentucky.
In the Bluegrass State, the Hoosiers are 2-6 in NCAA postseason play. That includes a 1-2 mark in the 2017 NCAA Lexington Regional.

Scouting the Opponents

West Virginia enters the NCAA Lexington Regional with a 39-18 overall record, which includes a 15-9 mark in Big 12 play.
As a team, WVU is top 30 in walks (No. 27; 311), hit-by-pitch (No. 18; 102), on-base percentage (No. 21; .414) and stolen bases (No. 12; 121).
Along with having three players ranked nationally in stolen bases, the Mountaineers also have three players ranked nationally in sacrifice bunts.
J.J. Wetherholt leads the Big 12 and ranks No. 2 nationally with a .443 batting average. He is also top 30 nationally in doubles (No. 24; 22), stolen bases (No. 12; 35) and runs scored (No. 45; 66).
The pitching staff ranks top-50 in all four major metric categories in the NCAA. They are No. 24 in ERA (4.35), No. 33 in hits per nine innings (8.44), No. 34 in WHIP (1.37) and No. 50 in walks per nine innings (3.90).
Blaine Traxel leads the staff with seven victories, a 3.79 ERA, a 3.55 strikeout-to-walk ratio and an NCAA-best five complete games.

Inside the Series

The opening game of the NCAA Lexington Regional will mark the fourth all-time meeting between Indiana and West Virginia, with the Hoosiers 2-1 in those meetings.
In 2009 and 2010, IU and WVU met during early-season trips to Florida as part of single game meetings. The 2013 meeting was at the annual Baseball at the Beach tournament hosted by Coastal Carolina.
Indiana opened the 2009 season with its the first meeting versus West Virginia in a 14-4 loss in Bradenton, Florida.
The Hoosiers have won the last two meetings, taking a 10-8 decision in Clearwater, Florida, in 2010 and an 8-5 contest in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in 2013.
All-time against the Big 12, Indiana is 7-21 all-time against the current alignment of the Big 12. IU played Texas in Week 2 of the 2023 season and dropped the series, 2-1.
Of the 28 meetings with the Big 12, one has been in the NCAA Tournament (2018 - at Texas; L, 3-2).

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Players Mentioned

Matthew Ellis

Phillip Glasser

Ryan Kraft

Josh Pyne

Peter Serruto

Luke Sinnard

Devin Taylor