Indiana University Athletics
Friday, May 31
Knoxville, Tenn.
1:00 PM
Indiana University
vs
Southern Miss
Baseball Central: NCAA Knoxville Regional
5/29/2024 5:00:00 PM | Baseball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After sweating it out on Selection Monday, the Indiana Baseball team (32-24-1) earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Baseball Tournament for the second-straight season. It's the third regional the Hoosiers have reached under head coach Jeff Mercer and the eighth that the program has made since 2013.
IU earned a spot as the No. 3 seed in the Knoxville Regional, home of the NCAA's top-overall seed in Tennessee. The Hoosiers will meet the Sun Belt Tournament Champions, second-seeded Southern Miss, in the first round on Friday afternoon (1:00 PM) in Knoxville.
This will be first time IU plays in a regional with the No. 1 overall seed. The Hoosiers are 0-4 all-time against Southern Miss and beat Northern Kentucky earlier this season. This will be the fourth time in program history that IU has played in an NCAA Regional hosted by a school from the SEC (Kentucky – 2, Vanderbilt).
Sixth-year senior Ty Bothwell will get another chance to pitch for the Hoosiers as he approaches 200 career innings pitched for the program. He will start Friday's game against Southern Miss. He's currently seventh in school history with 231 strikeouts. He pitched 8.2 innings in last year's Lexington Regional across two appearances.
Junior third baseman Josh Pyne is currently riding a 30-game reach based streak. He had a similar streak of 29 games in 2022 as a freshman but becomes the seventh player since 2010 to reach in at least 30-consecutive games.
First pitch on Friday afternoon in Knoxville will be at 1:00 PM at Lindsey Nelson Stadium against Southern Miss. The winner of that game will play at 6:00 PM on Saturday. The loser of the first game will be forced into an elimination game on Saturday at 12:00 PM.
Gameday Info
vs. Southern Miss (Friday, May 31st – 1:00 PM ET)
Live Video: t.ly/0P3P2
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: t.ly/mCu10
vs. #1 Tennessee/Northern Kentucky (TBD)
Live Video: TBD
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: t.ly/mCu10
Probable Starters
Indiana vs. Southern Miss
• Friday – Ty Bothwell, LHP (IU) vs. Billy Oldham, RHP (USM)
Indiana vs. #1 Tennessee/Northern Kentucky
• Saturday – TBD (IU) vs. TBD (TBD)
Player and Stat Trends
Tibbitts Chases 200
• Brock Tibbitts made his return to the lineup at the beginning of May after missing a month with a lower-leg injury. He had four hits in the weekend series win over Purdue including the hit that kickstarted an amazing ninth-inning rally. He had two more in the series at Nebraska. Tibbitts now has 194 for his career and is six away from becoming the 25th member of the 200-hit club at Indiana.
Notable
Back in the Big Dance
• For the 11th time in program history, the Indiana Baseball team will partake in the NCAA Baseball Regionals. The Hoosiers were sent to Knoxville in a four-team bracket that features top-overall seed Tennessee, Southern Miss and Northern Kentucky.
• This is the second-straight appearance for IU in the big dance and third overall for sixth-year head coach Jeff Mercer. The last three head coaches - Jeff Mercer (2019; 2023-24), Chris Lemonis (2015; 2017-18) and Tracy Smith (2009; 2013-14) - all had three tournament appearances including back-to-back trips during their tenure.
Pyne on Base Streak, Career Numbers
• There's not a player on IU's team that plays harder or cares more about the Hoosiers than junior third baseman Josh Pyne. Although his numbers have been "down" during his third season at IU, his ability to make an impact is as high as always.
• Heading into the NCAA Tournament, he's got a reached-base streak 30-consecutive game. He's the seventh player at IU since 2010 with a streak of 30-straight games. During his freshman season in 2022, he was on base in 29-consecutive games.
Nearing the Doubles Record
• This IU ballclub is built to hit doubles. With the power, incredible bat-to-ball skills and the speed this lineup features, the Hoosiers have racked up 134 doubles on the season. Seven players have at least 10, four have at least 15, and two have 20-or-more.
• IU is tied for No. 10 in the entire NCAA with 134 doubles. In fact, all four regional teams are top-25 in the entire country in doubles. Tyler Cerny leads the Big Ten and is top-15 in the NCAA with 23 doubles. His 23 doubles are third most in a single season in program history.
Bothwell Gets Another Chance
• IU's lone sixth-year senior Ty Bothwell will get another shot to pitch for the Hoosiers this weekend as he takes the ball in Friday's first round game against Southern Miss. He pitched twice in the Big Ten Tournament despite battling a fever the week before.
• In his career, he's pitched 196.1 innings across 64 appearances. His 231 strikeouts as a Hoosier are seventh most in program history. With seven strikeouts this weekend, he could move into the top-five in IU history.
Mathison Playing His Best Ball
• Despite some offensive struggles at the plate, Carter Mathison has had such a big impact this year due to his power and his defensive talent in center field. He's made zero errors and tracked down a lot of balls in the gap. He was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team after hitting over .400 in the four games.
Who Steps Up?
• Every NCAA tournament run needs a player to step up and make an impact. Last year was catcher Pete Serruto, who hit a home run out of the nine hole to beat #12 Kentucky in the regional. This year could be a number of options. Jasen Oliver loves the big moment but IU has a host of talented players who could step up in the right moment.
Scouting the Opponent
Southern Miss (41-18, 20-10 SBC)
• The Sun Belt Conference tournament champions ride into Knoxville as one of the hottest teams in the country. Southern Miss lost to Tennessee in last season's Super Regional, denying them of their fourth trip to Omaha. IU is 2-2 against Sun Belt teams this year.
• The Golden Eagles will send their ace to the mound in the form of Billy Oldham on Friday. The old-school right-hander, known for precision pitching and a bevy of quality pitches, owns a 7-2 record and a 3.97 earned run average this year. He's got 96 strikeouts to just 26 walks in 90.2 innings pitched.
• Offensively, Slade Wilks rides a hitting streak that's reached over 30-straight games this season. He's hitting .329 with 14 home runs and 65 RBIs this year. Dalton McIntyre is the hit man for Southern Miss, leading the team with 86 base knocks and a .389 batting average.
Inside the Series
Indiana vs. Southern Miss
• These two teams have played just four times in the program's respective history. IU has yet to beat Southern Miss, getting swept in a series in 1990 and losing a solo contest in 2007.
IU earned a spot as the No. 3 seed in the Knoxville Regional, home of the NCAA's top-overall seed in Tennessee. The Hoosiers will meet the Sun Belt Tournament Champions, second-seeded Southern Miss, in the first round on Friday afternoon (1:00 PM) in Knoxville.
This will be first time IU plays in a regional with the No. 1 overall seed. The Hoosiers are 0-4 all-time against Southern Miss and beat Northern Kentucky earlier this season. This will be the fourth time in program history that IU has played in an NCAA Regional hosted by a school from the SEC (Kentucky – 2, Vanderbilt).
Sixth-year senior Ty Bothwell will get another chance to pitch for the Hoosiers as he approaches 200 career innings pitched for the program. He will start Friday's game against Southern Miss. He's currently seventh in school history with 231 strikeouts. He pitched 8.2 innings in last year's Lexington Regional across two appearances.
Junior third baseman Josh Pyne is currently riding a 30-game reach based streak. He had a similar streak of 29 games in 2022 as a freshman but becomes the seventh player since 2010 to reach in at least 30-consecutive games.
First pitch on Friday afternoon in Knoxville will be at 1:00 PM at Lindsey Nelson Stadium against Southern Miss. The winner of that game will play at 6:00 PM on Saturday. The loser of the first game will be forced into an elimination game on Saturday at 12:00 PM.
Gameday Info
vs. Southern Miss (Friday, May 31st – 1:00 PM ET)
Live Video: t.ly/0P3P2
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: t.ly/mCu10
vs. #1 Tennessee/Northern Kentucky (TBD)
Live Video: TBD
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: t.ly/mCu10
Probable Starters
Indiana vs. Southern Miss
• Friday – Ty Bothwell, LHP (IU) vs. Billy Oldham, RHP (USM)
Indiana vs. #1 Tennessee/Northern Kentucky
• Saturday – TBD (IU) vs. TBD (TBD)
Player and Stat Trends
Tibbitts Chases 200
• Brock Tibbitts made his return to the lineup at the beginning of May after missing a month with a lower-leg injury. He had four hits in the weekend series win over Purdue including the hit that kickstarted an amazing ninth-inning rally. He had two more in the series at Nebraska. Tibbitts now has 194 for his career and is six away from becoming the 25th member of the 200-hit club at Indiana.
Notable
Back in the Big Dance
• For the 11th time in program history, the Indiana Baseball team will partake in the NCAA Baseball Regionals. The Hoosiers were sent to Knoxville in a four-team bracket that features top-overall seed Tennessee, Southern Miss and Northern Kentucky.
• This is the second-straight appearance for IU in the big dance and third overall for sixth-year head coach Jeff Mercer. The last three head coaches - Jeff Mercer (2019; 2023-24), Chris Lemonis (2015; 2017-18) and Tracy Smith (2009; 2013-14) - all had three tournament appearances including back-to-back trips during their tenure.
Pyne on Base Streak, Career Numbers
• There's not a player on IU's team that plays harder or cares more about the Hoosiers than junior third baseman Josh Pyne. Although his numbers have been "down" during his third season at IU, his ability to make an impact is as high as always.
• Heading into the NCAA Tournament, he's got a reached-base streak 30-consecutive game. He's the seventh player at IU since 2010 with a streak of 30-straight games. During his freshman season in 2022, he was on base in 29-consecutive games.
Nearing the Doubles Record
• This IU ballclub is built to hit doubles. With the power, incredible bat-to-ball skills and the speed this lineup features, the Hoosiers have racked up 134 doubles on the season. Seven players have at least 10, four have at least 15, and two have 20-or-more.
• IU is tied for No. 10 in the entire NCAA with 134 doubles. In fact, all four regional teams are top-25 in the entire country in doubles. Tyler Cerny leads the Big Ten and is top-15 in the NCAA with 23 doubles. His 23 doubles are third most in a single season in program history.
Bothwell Gets Another Chance
• IU's lone sixth-year senior Ty Bothwell will get another shot to pitch for the Hoosiers this weekend as he takes the ball in Friday's first round game against Southern Miss. He pitched twice in the Big Ten Tournament despite battling a fever the week before.
• In his career, he's pitched 196.1 innings across 64 appearances. His 231 strikeouts as a Hoosier are seventh most in program history. With seven strikeouts this weekend, he could move into the top-five in IU history.
Mathison Playing His Best Ball
• Despite some offensive struggles at the plate, Carter Mathison has had such a big impact this year due to his power and his defensive talent in center field. He's made zero errors and tracked down a lot of balls in the gap. He was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team after hitting over .400 in the four games.
Who Steps Up?
• Every NCAA tournament run needs a player to step up and make an impact. Last year was catcher Pete Serruto, who hit a home run out of the nine hole to beat #12 Kentucky in the regional. This year could be a number of options. Jasen Oliver loves the big moment but IU has a host of talented players who could step up in the right moment.
Scouting the Opponent
Southern Miss (41-18, 20-10 SBC)
• The Sun Belt Conference tournament champions ride into Knoxville as one of the hottest teams in the country. Southern Miss lost to Tennessee in last season's Super Regional, denying them of their fourth trip to Omaha. IU is 2-2 against Sun Belt teams this year.
• The Golden Eagles will send their ace to the mound in the form of Billy Oldham on Friday. The old-school right-hander, known for precision pitching and a bevy of quality pitches, owns a 7-2 record and a 3.97 earned run average this year. He's got 96 strikeouts to just 26 walks in 90.2 innings pitched.
• Offensively, Slade Wilks rides a hitting streak that's reached over 30-straight games this season. He's hitting .329 with 14 home runs and 65 RBIs this year. Dalton McIntyre is the hit man for Southern Miss, leading the team with 86 base knocks and a .389 batting average.
Inside the Series
Indiana vs. Southern Miss
• These two teams have played just four times in the program's respective history. IU has yet to beat Southern Miss, getting swept in a series in 1990 and losing a solo contest in 2007.
Players Mentioned
LHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballBig Ten Tournament Press Conference - vs. Rutgers
Wednesday, May 21
NCAA Postgame Press Conference - Southern Miss - 2
Sunday, June 02
NCAA Postgame Press Conference - Tennessee
Sunday, June 02
NCAA Postgame Press Conference - Southern Miss
Friday, May 31