Kentucky and Indiana to Meet for Second Time this Season in NCAA Tournament Rematch
Kentucky and Indiana will face off in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday following IU’s 12-6 victory over West Virginia on Friday night. This will be their second meeting of the season and will look much different than these teams’ first meeting way back in mid-March.
When Indiana made their way to Kentucky Proud Park on March 14th, Kentucky was riding a 10-game winning streak, which would eventually balloon to 17. The Hoosiers never got out of the gate, leading to a seven-inning, 12-2 mercy-rule victory for the Wildcats. Kentucky holds a 25-20 lead in the all-time series and has won five of the last six games played in Lexington.
That game can be completely wiped out though, as this is a much different Hoosier team. Following their loss in Lexington, coach Jeff Mercer’s squad finished the season winning 30 of their last 39 games before a disappointing Big 10 Tournament showing. Then as the underdogs on Friday, they doubled West Virginia’s score in a statement first-round victory. The Hoosiers are out for revenge, and there would be no better time to get that revenge than in the NCAA Tournament.
Indiana Impact Players
The Hoosiers experienced an offensive explosion on Friday night against one of the deepest pitching staffs in the entire tournament. Six different Indiana players finished the night with at least one RBI, with three finishing with two apiece.
Sophomore Brock Tibbitts and senior Phillip Glasser have been Indiana’s 1-2 punch all season. Tibbitts has been a total bases machine, leading the team with 138 (10 more than second-most on the team). Glasser and Tibbitts were both named Second-Team All-Big 10 this season.
Tibbitts kicked off Indiana’s strong ninth inning Friday night, tripling to score the first two of five runs plated in the inning. Glasser finished with two RBIs on the night as well thanks to a second-inning go-ahead two-run single.
Big 10 Freshman of the Year Devin Taylor is Indiana’s main power threat. Taylor blasted 16 home runs this season, good for seventh in the league. Taylor was named First-Team All-Big 10 this season for an extremely impressive freshman campaign. Indiana RP Ryan Kraft was also named First-Team All-Big 10 alongside Taylor. SP Luke Sinnard, who started in Friday night’s victory over West Virginia, earned Second-Team All-Big 10 honors. Sinnard lasted just two innings due to an apparent injury but gave up two earned runs while striking out five batters. Sinnard finished the season tied for 12th in all of college baseball with 114 strikeouts, so a major injury would be brutal for the Hoosiers.
Indiana is now 12-15 all-time in NCAA Regional Tournament play with at least one win in each of its last seven appearances. They have only made the College World Series once (2013) and will be looking to head to Sunday 2-0 and in a great position to win the Lexington Regional. Jeff Mercer’s pitching staff gets thinner and thinner by the game, so the Hoosiers may employ 3-4 arms in this one.
Kentucky Impact Players
Entering the tournament, Devin Burkes was one of the hottest hitters in the entire NCAA. In Kentucky’s 4-0 victory over Ball State on Friday, Burkes extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a first-inning single and a huge fourth-inning go-ahead solo home run.
“I thought [Devin’s] home run was a huge play in the ballgame,” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said after the game. “I think our guys kind of took a deep breath and got after it after that.” The redshirt sophomore has taken on a leadership role on the team, a “firestarter,” if you will.
“I was just trying to come through for the team,” Burkes said after the game. “I had to get on base for the guys because they always come through for me.”
The strong relief appearance from Mason Moore on Friday sent shockwaves around the entire NCAA Tournament. Moore took over for Travis Smith in the fifth inning and dominated the Ball State offense. In his five innings on the mound, Moore allowed no hits while striking out two batters. Every inning Moore pitched was three up, three down as he forced 15 consecutive outs against 14 batters. He noted in the post-game press conference that he would be available to pitch again this weekend.
The Big Blue Nation may be on the way to assembling the largest crowd of all time on Saturday for some postseason rivalry baseball. It can’t get any better than that. The first pitch between the ‘Cats and Hoosiers is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. EST Saturday night on the SEC Network.
The winner will advance to the Regional Final, where they will await whoever wins the Regional Semi-Final matchup between the winner of Ball State/West Virginia and the loser of Kentucky/Indiana.
Let’s do another few days of postseason baseball, shall we?
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