Hoosiers Now

Indiana Baseball: Mercer Upset About No Fans For Final Weekend

Indiana has four home games left during this baseball season, and this weekend's games could determine a Big Ten champion. COVID protocols have been loosened in Monroe County, but this far the university hasn't changed its stance on allowing fans.

Tom Brew

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana baseball coach Jeff Mercer had just lost a close game Tuesday night, and he was visibly upset during his postgame chat with the media. And at the end of his interview, he also had something else to be upset about.

Mercer was asked about the new CDC guidelines about public gatherings and the mandates that had been loosened in Monroe County. And after going all season with no fans in the stands, he was visibly upset when asked about it, especially since nothing as been done – at least not yet – about the university changing its policy to allow fans in this weekend, a hugely important four-game set that will likely determine a Big Ten championship.

"It's incredibly frustrating, like, incredibly frustrating,'' Mercer said. "I talked to my administrator (Monday) again, and I haven't heard back after that. I haven't heard a final answer after we talked again yesterday after they changed the guidelines. But at the same time, everybody was really busy last night with the (men's soccer) national championship.

"The changes in Monroe County caught me off guard. Maybe it didn't catch everyone else off guard, but it caught me off guard. But I didn't really find out about it until mid-day Monday when I was talking to our trainer and he brought it up to me. I didn't even realize that. I talked to our administrator – and he's wonderful —and he obviously wants us to be able to do those things as well. Obviously, last night was the national championship game and, everybody, as they should, was focused on that and I haven't been able to talk to him after that. It is frustrating that we're not allowing fans beyond family at this point.''

This is Indiana's final home weekend, and with seven games remaining, they are 1.5 games out of first behind Nebraska, their opponent on Friday night and Saturday night at Bart Kaufman Field. They also play Ohio State on Sunday and Monday, a team that swept them in four games in Columbus in early April.

Playing in front of fans would help immensely. Playing in front of fans, dare we say, might actually help Indiana win a Big Ten championship. But as of now, university policy trumps all, and no fans beyond family are allowed.

The Big Ten dropped its rule against no fans in late March, and teams then could allow fans at their discretion, per local guidelines. Purdue, for instance, has been allowing fans for a month, with no incidents. Indiana didn't change its policy. it has been in effect since the fall, and football and basketball teams each played a full season with no fans in the stands outside of family.

But it's also fair to remember that COVID hasn't gone away. Minnesota and Northwestern have been missed two- or three-week chunks of the season because of COVID outbreaks within their program in April and May. And Mercer plus several of his assistants missed games earlier in the year too after testing positive for COVID-19.

It's going to be a perfect weather weekend too, with forecast for all four days – Friday through Monday – calling for sunny skies and temperatures in the low 80s.

It's such a big weekend that all four games are being broadcast nationally, with three games on the Big Ten Network, and one on ESPNU. (See full Indiana and Big Ten schedules below.)

Related stories on Indiana baseball

  • ILLINI TAKE DOWN HOOSIERS: Indiana wasted a great pitching night, unable to get any timely hits in a 3-2 loss in 10 innings to Illinois on Tuesday. CLICK HERE
  • BIG TEN STANDINGS, SCHEDULE: Indiana took a half-game lead in the Big Ten, barely ahead of Nebraska and Michigan. Here's the latest, plus this weekend's critical schedule. CLICK HERE
  • INDIANA SCHEDULE: Here is Indiana's complete schedule for the season, including links to game stories from Tom Brew for every game this season. CLICK HERE
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Tom Brew
TOM BREW

Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who has worked at some of America's finest newspapers as a reporter and editor, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the Indianapolis Star and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered college sports in the digital platform for the past six years, including the last five years as publisher of HoosiersNow on the FanNation/Sports Illustrated network.

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