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Meet Indiana Baseball's Regional Opponents: Kentucky, West Virginia, Ball State

Indiana baseball coach Jeff Mercer and the Hoosiers landed in the Lexington Regional, which features No. 12 overall seed Kentucky, West Virginia and Ball State.

Jack Ankony

Meet Indiana Baseball's Regional Opponents: Kentucky, West Virginia, Ball State
Meet Indiana Baseball's Regional Opponents: Kentucky, West Virginia, Ball State /

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana baseball learned its regional destination on Monday, when the selection committee announced the full 2023 NCAA Tournament bracket.

Coach Jeff Mercer and the Hoosiers landed in the Lexington Regional, hosted by the No. 12 overall seed Kentucky Wildcats. Indiana is the No. 3 seed in the regional and will play No. 2 seed West Virginia on Friday. Kentucky begins the regional on Friday against No. 4 seed Ball State.

Before the games begin, here's what you should know about Indiana's opponents in the Lexington Regional.

Kentucky Wildcats

Kentucky earned the No. 12 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament after going 36-18 and 16-14 in SEC play. As a result, the Wildcats will host this regional at Kentucky Proud Park, where they posted a 25-6 record this year. Kentucky defeated Indiana 12-2 in seven innings on March behind a home run and five RBI from first baseman Hunter Gilliam.

Kentucky is currently ranked No. 2 in RPI, a metric that takes into account the team’s own winning percentage, their opponents’ winning percentage, and their opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage. Kentucky won fewer games than the other top 17 teams in the RPI, but the Wildcats were rewarded for playing a grueling schedule as one of eight SEC teams to host a regional.

Kentucky enters postseason play on a bit of a skid, going 6-5 since the start of May. The Wildcats lost their final two SEC series against Tennessee and Florida – No. 2 and No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, respectively – plus a 4-0 loss to Alabama, another No. 1 seed, in the first round of the SEC Tournament.

The Wildcats have a trio of hitters batting over .300. Senior outfielder Jackson Gray paces Kentucky with a .363 batting average, along with five home runs, 32 RBI, 19 stolen bases and a 1.094 OPS. Sophomore second Emilien Pitre earned second-team All-SEC honors and SEC All-Defensive team honors after batting .337 with one home run, 46 RBI, a .469 OBP and 18 stolen bases. Batting .330, Gilliam leads Kentucky with 11 home runs and 63 RBI, and he joined Pitre on the SEC All-Defensive team. 

On the mound, Zack Lee leads Kentucky starters with a 3.58 ERA and a 5-2 record in 13 starts and 60.1 innings. In his most recent start, the 6-foot-4 righty allowed three runs across five innings against Florida. Redshirt freshman Travis Smith, another 6-foot-4 right-handed pitcher, was the Friday starter in Kentucky's final three SEC series. In 12 starts, he posted a 5.28 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 44.1 innings. Tyler Bosma, a 6-foot-6 lefty, has consistently been in the starting rotation this year, and he enters the postseason with a 5.61 ERA and a 4-4 record in 51.1 innings.

West Virginia Mountaineers

West Virginia, Indiana's first opponent, finished the regular season in a three-way tie for first place in the Big 12. At 39-18 overall and 15-9 in Big 12 play, the Mountaineers are No. 25 in the RPI, six spots ahead of the Hoosiers.

West Virginia had an early exit in the Big 12 Tournament, losing 6-2 to No. 6 Texas Tech, then being knocked out with a 3-2 loss to No. 2 Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers enter postseason play with a five-game losing streak and a 6-7 record since the start of May.

At the plate, West Virginia boasts a potent lineup, with four batters above .300 and four with at least 10 home runs. Second baseman JJ Wetherholt was named Big 12 Player of the Year after batting .443 with 15 home runs, 56 RBI, 35 stolen bases and a 1.290 OPS in 52 games. Caleb McNeely (.301 BA) and Grant Hussey (.262 BA) each belted 13 home runs, followed by Landon Wallace (.323 BA) with 10. Tevin Tucker's .319 batting average ranks third on the team, and he's one of five Mountaineers with at least 14 stolen bases.

West Virginia has leaned on a pair of veteran starting pitchers, who account for 36.2 percent of all innings pitched this season. Blaine Traxel, a 5-foot-10 right-handed graduate student, leads the Mountaineers with 99.2 innings pitched. He posted a 3.79 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and a .245 batting average against with 71 strikeouts and 17 home runs allowed on his way to second-team All-Big 12 honors. Ben Hampton, a 6-foot-1, left-handed junior, landed on the first-team All-Big 12 after recording a 4.17 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP across 82 innings, with 64 strikeouts, nine home runs allowed and a .272 batting average against. West Virginia's closer Carlson Reed, a 6-foot-4 righty, earned first-team All-Big 12 honors after racking up seven saves with a 1.50 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 36 innings. 

Ball State Cardinals

Making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2006, Ball State heads to the Lexington Regional with a 36-21 overall record and a 19-11 mark in Mid-American Conference play. Indiana defeated Ball State in both matchups this year, by scores of 16-13 and 9-8.

The Cardinals finished second in the MAC regular season standings after being swept by MAC champion Kent State, but they avenged these losses in the MAC tournament. After a 7-6 win over Central Michigan, Ball State defeated Kent State in back-to-back games to reach the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals are currently No. 101 in RPI.

Right fielder and first baseman Decker Scheffler leads Ball State with a .388 batting average, while third baseman Ryan Peltier paces the Cardinals with 15 home runs, 54 RBI, 12 stolen bases and a 1.086 OPS. Blake Bevis, Adam Tellier, Matthew Rivera and Hunter Dobbins were Ball State's other biggest power threats this year, each hitting nine or more home runs.

On the mound, Trennor O'Donnell, a 6-foot-7 righty, was Ball State's most reliable starting pitcher all season. He enters the NCAA Tournament with a 2.98 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 92 strikeouts across 84.2 innings. O'Donnell tossed a complete game with one unearned run, five hits and eight strikeouts against Kent State in the MAC Tournament. The rest of the Ball State pitching staff has been up and down, entering the postseason with a 6.08 team ERA.

Here's the full schedule for the 2023 NCAA Baseball Lexington Regional at Kentucky Proud Park (all times Eastern):

Friday, June 2

  • Game 1: Ball State vs. Kentucky at 1 p.m.; TV: ESPN+
  • Game 2: Indiana vs. West Virginia at 7 p.m.; TV: ESPN+

Saturday, June 3

  • Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 at 1 p.m.; TV: TBD
  • Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 at 7 p.m.; TV: TBD

Sunday, June 4

  • Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 at 1 p.m.; TV: TBD
  • Game 6: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 4 at 7 p.m.; TV: TBD

Monday, June 5 (If Necessary)

  • Game 7: same teams as in Game 6; 7 p.m.; TV: TBD

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Published
Jack Ankony
JACK ANKONY

Jack Ankony is a Sports Illustrated/FanNation writer for HoosiersNow.com. He graduated from Indiana University's Media School with a degree in journalism. Follow on Twitter @ankony_jack.

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