Saturday's Win Over Kentucky Puts Indiana in Optimal Position in Lexington Regional
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A 5-3 win over Kentucky on Saturday moved Indiana – the regional's No. 3 seed – into the driver's seat.
Now, the regional host and No. 12 overall seed Kentucky has to win three games in two days to advance to the Super Regionals. The same is true for West Virginia, who Indiana defeated Friday. For Indiana, a win Sunday night locks in a trip to the Super Regionals next weekend.
"It's going to take 18 innings," Kentucky coach Nick Mingione said after Saturday's loss to Indiana. "The way we're going to do that is one at a time. We've got to get our bodies ready. We've got to get focused on that. They've obviously got to get something to eat and get some rest, make sure they stay hydrated. We have to do it literally pitch by pitch. I know that sounds like coach-speak but that's how it works. We have to be able to dominate and win 18 innings tomorrow. If we do we get a chance to play on Monday."
The Hoosiers can rest and prepare Sunday afternoon as they await the winner of Kentucky versus West Virginia, which begins at Noon ET. The Hoosiers have already locked up a spot in Sunday's Lexington Regional Championship, scheduled for 6 p.m. ET. Saturday's win represented Indiana's 43rd of the season, which ties the 1996, 1987 and 1986 squads for the fifth-most in a single season in program history.
Coach Jeff Mercer and the Hoosiers would sure like to end the regional by winning on Sunday, but the regional's double-elimination format allows for some breathing room. If Indiana loses Sunday, it has another chance to advance on Monday. And no matter how it plays out, Indiana will have the more well-rested pitching staff, compared to Kentucky and West Virginia.
Kentucky used its ace, Zack Lee, during Saturday's loss to Indiana. He allowed four runs in seven innings and threw 106 pitches, so he'll be unavailable for the rest of the regional. West Virginia's Blaine Traxel threw 100 pitches against Indiana on Friday, too. Altogether, Kentucky or West Virginia will have to go 27 innings in two days without their top starter in order to advance.
It's been a piece-by-piece effort for the Indiana pitching staff, who's overcome an injury to All-Big Ten starting pitcher, Luke Sinnard. The Hoosiers' ace struck out five batters and allowed one run in two-plus innings against West Virginia on Friday, but he exited the game one pitch into the third inning due to arm discomfort. Mercer said Indiana pulled him for precautionary reasons.
Brayden Risedorph has pitched the most since Sinnard's injury, throwing 82 pitches on Friday, and Ty Bothwell closed out the Mountaineers with 48 pitches. Ryan Kraft returned from injury on Saturday and threw 48 pitches, followed by Craig Yoho with 64 and Connor Foley with 40.
Mercer said after Saturday's win that he didn't know who would start Sunday against the Kentucky versus West Virginia winner. Seti Manase, who has a 2.73 ERA in 33 innings with 13 starts, is not on the 27-man roster for regional play. That leaves Ben Seiler, who has a 5.72 ERA in 39.1 innings with seven starts this year, as Indiana's most-experienced starters among those who haven't pitched this weekend.
Indiana has reached the NCAA Super Regionals just one time in program history – in 2013 under coach Tracy Smith – so Mercer is candidly inexperienced in this position. His motto throughout the season has been, "win today, today," and that could reflect his and pitching coach Dustin Glant's approach to Sunday's regional championship game.
"It's my first time being here," Mercer said after Saturday's win. "I don't have a whole lot of experience and telling you what I would do or not do quite yet [with the pitching staff]. Need a little time to think about it. I don't know. I try to be honest with you, but I really don't know yet. I'll have to kind of think about it and talk with Coach Glant tomorrow. And, like you said, my motto typically, I'm pretty singularly focused on just win this game while you have a chance to win this game. If somebody gets back up for the second game that wouldn't have been up otherwise, maybe that helps us. But baseball is such a funny game. It's such a hard game to predict, and the way the ball bounces. If you have a chance to win you go for it. It's like us for Foley, I know we're down by a couple, but we just gotta keep going with him. You don't get him out, hey, he could come back tomorrow, and how are we going to cover the rest of the games. If we don't win today, it's going to be tough anyway. So let's just finish it out. We'll probably err on the side of win the game at hand, but I reserve the right to change my mind."
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