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INDIANA
SELECTED TO AUSTIN REGIONAL
For the eighth time in program history and the fifth time in six years,
Indiana was selected to the 2018 NCAA Baseball Tournament field on
Monday. The No. 2-seeded Hoosiers will play in the Austin, Texas
Regional, facing off with No. 3 Texas A&M on Friday at 5 p.m.
ET on ESPN2.
This will be Indiana's eighth NCAA tournament appearance (1949, 1996,
2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018). Head coach Chris Lemonis is the
only coach in program history to make three regionals in his first four
seasons as IU's skipper. He ties Tracy Smith (2009, 2013, 2014) for the
most NCAA postseason appearances in program history.
The double-elimination competition begins on Friday afternoon at 5 p.m.
ET when the Hoosiers and Aggies face off. Following Friday night's
contest, Texas, the host, will face Texas Southern. All action this
weekend can also be viewed on WatchESPN.
This is Indiana's third ever at large big in the NCAA Tournament (1949,
1996, 2009, 2013 and 2014 were automatic bids), with all three at large
bids coming in the Lemonis era.
Since the start of the 2008 season, Indiana leads the Big Ten in wins
(382) and conference wins (147). The Hoosiers have made six NCAA
Regionals over that span, the most out of any current Big Ten team.
ILLINOIS
WALKS-OFF INDIANA IN THE NINTH, 5-4
Despite having a two-run lead in the fifth inning, Indiana baseball
(38-17) was walked off on by the Illinois Fighting Illini, dropping the
game by a score of 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth. With the loss, the
Hoosiers were eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament.
The Hoosiers got nine hits on the night, highlighted a by two-hit
efforts from junior Logan Kaletha and freshman Cole Barr. Kaletha
knocked out his eighth home run of the season, while senior Logan
Sowers hit out his 10th. Sophomore Andrew Saalfrank tossed 3.2 innings
of scoreless relief.
Indiana got some good production out of the bottom of the order in the
second. Sophomore Scotty Bradley led things off with a double and Barr
followed with a single to put runners on second and third after he
stole second. Junior Wyatt Cross hit a sacrifice fly and Kaletha came
through with a clutch, two-out double to make it 2-0 Hoosiers early.
A one out triple by the Illini set up an RBI groundout for Ben Troike
to cut the IU lead in half.
Sowers home run came on an 0-1 pitch that was crushed to give the
Hoosiers a 3-1 lead in the top of the third.
Back-to-back walks spelled trouble for the Hoosiers in the bottom of
the fifth. Big Ten Player of the Year Bren Spillane made IU pay with a
three-run home run to give the Illini the lead.
Kaletha’s strong two-out hitting continued in the top of the seventh.
After a deep flyout and strikeout for the previous two hitters, Kaletha
went opposite field on a 2-2 pitch to knot the game up at four.
Illinois got the leadoff hitter on base via an error in the bottom of
the ninth. After the runner was bunted over, Ben Troike delivered the
game-winning hit on an RBI double to walk it off for the Illini.
IOW
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