IU

Hoosiers headed for Nashville, NCAA tournament

Zach Osterman
zach.osterman@indystar.com
Scott Effross (center) and Indiana's deep, balanced pitching staff have cued a return to the NCAA tournament for the third-straight year.
  • IU vs. Radford%2C 3 p.m.%2C Friday%2C ESPN3

BLOOMINGTON A smile crept briefly over Chris Lemonis' face, as the tension evaporated from Indiana's locker room.

Lemonis, the Hoosiers' first-year baseball coach, had just seen Indiana's name finally called for the 2015 NCAA tournament. IU will head to Nashville, and Vanderbilt's regional.

After enduring a listless early spring slump, and riding a frenetic end-of-season tear during which IU won 11 of its last 14 games, Lemonis could exhale.

"We're excited to get in," Lemonis said. "A month ago, I wasn't too sure, but we're excited."

Unlike Indiana's tournament bids in each of the last two seasons, this year's was never guaranteed, either by a Big Ten tournament title or an undeniable resume. The Hoosiers leaned on their deep, balanced pitching staff, one that responded by allowing more than five runs in a game just once in those last 14.

Timely hitting did the rest, spiriting the Hoosiers to series sweeps of Ohio State and Maryland, and to the Big Ten tournament semifinal.

Now, they'll once again carry the flag for the Big Ten, into the teeth of southern baseball.

Indiana opens with Big South champion Radford, while Vanderbilt, the regional's top seed, will face Atlantic Sun champion Lipscomb. Should the Hoosiers win their Friday game, they would almost certainly meet last year's national champion, and this spring's SEC tournament runner-up.

"Vanderbilt's always a tough opponent," said Lemonis, who as Louisville's hitting coach helped steer the Cardinals past the Commodores in a 2013 super regional.

But speaking with the media shortly after Monday's selection show, Lemonis didn't spend more time on the Commodores than he did the weekend's other two participants. And both he and his players said they didn't know much yet about Radford, their Friday opponent, much less who might be waiting for them afterward, win or lose.

NCAA regionals work in a double elimination format, with Friday's winners squaring off Saturday, and its losers having to play their way through a losers' bracket simultaneously.

Indiana swept its regional and a best-of-three super regional at Florida State to reach the College World Series in 2013. They advanced through the winners' bracket to Sunday in 2014, before losing consecutive games to Stanford to end the season.

From that 2014 team -- the Big Ten's first-ever NCAA tournament national seed -- Indiana lost sluggers Sam Travis and Kyle Schwarber, key seniors Joey DeNato and Dustin DeMuth, and coach Tracy Smith and his entire staff.

Lemonis' tenure began strong with a 15-4 start, including a three-game sweep of eventual regional host Cal State Fullerton. But from March 22 until the end of April, the Hoosiers slumped, going just 9-15 in that stretch and falling away from the NCAA tournament picture.

"We have overcome a lot," senior center fielder Will Nolden said. "That's what's gonna make us even tougher in this tournament."

The sweep at Maryland cued Indiana's crucial end-of-season surge, anchored by a pitching staff that finished with a team ERA of 3.41.

"Our mantra as a pitching staff this year is, we're gonna win games or we're gonna lose games," junior right-hander Scott Effross said. "We need to be as solid as we can, and we'll be fine. I have 100 percent confidence in this pitching staff, that we can hang with any team in the country."

As of Monday afternoon, Lemonis said he and his staff were still studying match-ups to determine the best weekend rotation.

But IU's coach said he prefers using his best pitchers early, and getting as deep into the winners' bracket as possible. That could mean going first to Luke Harrison (4-1, 1.69 ERA), IU's preferred No. 1 starter recently, or Kyle Hart (4-0, 1.48 ERA). Lemonis emphasized nothing was set yet.

Hart has been on a steadily increasing pitch-count limit, as he works back from last year's Tommy John surgery.

Whatever Indiana's plan, the Hoosiers will return to a competition they'd only participated in twice in their history before 2013. Through a talent drain, a coaching change and a forgettable midseason slump, they persevered.

For their effort, the road ahead only steepens.

"It's a new season," Lemonis said, that brief, satisfied smile long since disappeared.

Follow Star reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.