Hoosiers take on Valparaiso to start regional

In the back room of Yogi’s Grill and Bar, the first round of roars finally poured out through the restaurant Monday afternoon.

Then, just seconds later, an audibly louder roar came from the gathered members of the IU baseball team.

With their eyes glued on TVs to watch the ESPNU NCAA Tournament selection show, the Hoosiers knew their name would eventually be called, and they would host a four-team regional, the first in school history. What was up in the air was who would join them this weekend at Bart Kaufman Field.

That’s what drew the second roar.

When the No. 3 seeded Florida Gators popped onto the screen in the Bloomington bracket, it sounded more like the Hoosiers were a bubble team that had just made the tournament.

“I thought it was funny because we played them already,” sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley said. “I just can’t wait to see what happens.”

IU, the No. 1 seed, will welcome Florida, Austin Peay and Valparaiso to Bloomington this weekend for a double-elimination NCAA Regional. IU will start by playing Valparaiso Friday night at 7 p.m.

In early March, the Hoosiers (43-14) traveled to Gainesville, Fla., to play the Gators on their home turf. Then-unranked IU took two of three games from Florida, who had just fallen out of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association top-30 poll the previous week, and were still receiving votes. IU outscored the Gators 15-11 in the series.

“Florida is a good ball club,” sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber said. “We went down there with high expectations and beat them two out of three. Once we saw that again, it kind of brought back good old memories.”

IU Coach Tracy Smith couldn’t explain why his team reacted the way it did. He said he thought it would be cool to play a new team, but he’s happy that Florida will get to see IU’s facility after the Hoosiers made the trip down south earlier in the year.

In order for IU and Florida to play again, both would have to either win or lose their first round games. That was too far away for Smith to think about on Monday.

“I think they played a lot better baseball down the stretch than when we saw them early,” Smith said of Florida. “Whether we’re fortunate enough to play them, a lot of things have to happen before that. We’ve got to take care of business. Our focus is on Valparaiso.”

Valparaiso (31-26) enters the tournament for the second consecutive year after winning the Horizon League Tournament. Schwarber said he thought the Hoosiers would see the in-state foe in the Bloomington bracket.

“We were looking at all the national baseball writers, seeing what they were thinking. Pretty much none of it came true, except for one, which is Valpo,” he said. “I never expected Florida to be in our (regional) or Austin Peay. We were pretty excited to see what we got.”

Sophomore starter Aaron Slegers (9-1, 1.98 earned run average), recently named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, is projected to start Friday night against Valparaiso’s Cole Webb (5-7, 3.59).

“Any time you’re talking about the top teams in this tournament, you’re going to play good competition,” Smith said. “I don’t think you look past anybody, you don’t anticipate anybody, you just take care of one game at a time. We’ve been focused on that all year.”

Valparaiso lost to Purdue in its first NCAA Tournament game in 44 years last year. The Crusaders exited the tournament the next day with an 8-1 loss to Kentucky.
The Hoosiers last made it to the tournament in 2009, losing both of their first two games also.

IU comes into the tournament after winning the Big Ten Tournament and regular season championships, the first time it has accomplished that feat in school history. The team’s 43 wins are also a school record.

IU won the Big Ten Tournament May 26 with a 4-3 victory against Nebraska at Target Field in Minneapolis.

Smith said he remained encouraged by his team’s play in the Big Ten Tournament leading into the regional. Six Hoosiers were named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team, and sophomore first baseman Sam Travis was named Most Outstanding Player.

“We’ve been pretty consistent all year,” Smith said. “Our guys are playing well. We got Travis swinging the bat again in the tournament. I don’t want our guys to be overconfident. I just want us to keep doing what we’re doing and not feel like we have to do any superhuman effort out there. Just play the baseball that we’ve been playing, and I think if we do that, we take care of the ball, we throw strikes, we’re a pretty tough team to beat.”

After seeing IU’s name back in the tournament Monday, Schwarber described the feeling as “awesome.” Now, he said he’s hoping to keep the good feeling going this weekend.

“With all the good things that’s been happening to us this year, I feel like it’s going to keep compiling and hopefully we get to the College World Series,” he said.

Scouting the regional

In advance of IU’s third NCAA Tournament appearance and first time hosting an NCAA Regional, here’s a look at foes Austin Peay, Florida and Valparaiso.

No. 2 Austin Peay Governors (45-13)

The Governors are riding a 15-game winning streak, the nation’s longest current active streak, entering the tournament. They won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament to receive an automatic bid. The No. 2 seed is the highest in school history and the first time in the current format an Ohio Valley team has ever received a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Regional. The team registered a school record six players on the All-Ohio Valley Conference First Team. First baseman Craig Massoni was named OVC Player of the Year and closer Tyler Rogers was named OVC Pitcher of the Year. Massoni leads the team with a .388 average and 16 home runs. Rogers owns a 1.83 ERA and has recorded 21 saves.

IU all-time record against Austin Peay 6-0

No. 3 Florida Gators (29-28)

The Gators are one of nine SEC schools to make the tournament. It is the team’s 29th NCAA Tournament appearance and the sixth consecutive appearance under coach Kevin O’Sullivan, tying a school record. The Gators played one of the toughest schedules in the nation as its opponents tallied a .604 winning percentage. Outfielder Harrison Bader was named to the All-SEC Freshmen Team, the only Gator to be recognized with conference honors. Bader leads the team with a .304 average. Taylor Gushue has a team-high .433 slugging percentage, and is tied for the team lead in home runs with five.

IU all-time record against Florida 2-3

No. 4 Valparaiso Crusaders (31-26)

Valparaiso enters its second consecutive NCAA Tournament, and its second consecutive in Indiana, as it played in Gary in the Purdue regional last year. The Crusaders had 10 players named to a Horizon League All-Conference Team, with three players on the First Team. The 10 all-conference players tied for tops in the league with Milwaukee, who won the regular season title. Karch Kowalczyk was named the Horizon League Relief Pitcher of the Year. He had a conference best 0.42 ERA and nine saves. He allowed just one run in over 21 innings pitched. Infielder Tanner Vavra paced the team with a .333 batting average. The Crusaders won their last five games.

IU all-time record against Valparaiso 33-12