Aaron

Absolutely and it speaks to everyone moving in a different direction as I said. IU needs a complete house cleaning at the top and many other Universities are laughing at the school right now and pulling donations. It all started with Quinn being put in charge of the trustees which he was totally unqualified for and has spread around to all levels. Reminds me of the Herbert days again and eventually like with him there will be a complete house cleaning. McRobbie was far from perfect but was the best leadership IU has had since the 90's much like Tom Crean. Both were flawed, but more successful than anyone else since then despite lots of issues. All of this speaks to how poorly the University and board of trustees has been run the last 30 years and Buckner and the current administration are just the latest example of it and maybe the worst of all or at least close to it.

Two things are true and somewhat mutually exclusive in all of this. 1. The Hysterics guys are a major issue and not having them around the program as much going forward is a VERY good thing. 2. The IU Administration is a dysfunctional mess right now starting with Quinn, the trustees, the president and it goes right on down. Until house is cleaned from top to bottom at IU more and more of this dysfunction will come out in public with everyone moving in different directions. All of this is interrelated to very poor leadership at the top that goes right on down and dirty laundry is now being aired in public from all angles and won't stop until their is a house cleaning of the trustees, Quinn, the president, Woody, and other administrators at the top. All are interrelated despite the university and athletic department being separate entities officially and many of the best people at IU have been removed by this administration (the Hysterics don't fall into this boat of being 'the best' but same idea of being tossed out) for daring to speak up against them. A couple more examples of the disfunction: https://indianapublicmedia.org/news/iu-trustees-arent-unanimous-on-letter-supporting-pres-whitten.php https://indianapublicmedia.org/news/iu-trustee-meeting-interrupted-by-protests-calling-for-whittens-termination.php This is all I could find, but more of this type of dirty laundry will likely be aired going forward until major changes are made at the top and eventually it will come from much more respected and better people than the Hysterics.

Last time IU had a Dickerson it worked out pretty well and he even managed to have a decent pro career in MLB after:).

Some systems rely on elite pitching or even a lot of extra bases with less homers. Also lower average with lots of homers can be done as well. Lower averages with no dingers is not a system anyone would ever use:).

That's an elite pickup. Was injured last year but hit nearly .375 with double digit home runs two seasons ago. Should fit Shonda Stanton's system perfectly that is offensive heavy and relies on high averages and a lot of bombs.

There is already a thread for the weekend here as an FYI: https://btownbanners.com/topic/14489-iu-baseball-ncaa-regional-may-31-june-3-knoxville/

Agreed with all of this as well!

This is probably an unpopular opinion but the Fever's smallest problem is Berger not playing. As an IU fan I hope she plays more. As a neutral observer, she is a bench player at best and is the least of the Fever's problems right now. Their coach is not the best, but benching Caitlin Clark in fourth quarter and her rotations in general are far bigger issues. They have a lot of problems and Berger not seeing the court is one of the many small things. It is more of a microcosm of the coaching mismanagement. This staff needs to make a ton of changes if they don't want to be shown the door. Not playing Berger is a minor problem in a chain of much bigger issues by the management and no one would even notice if she had played somewhere else. If the staff fixes everything else and still doesn't play Berger it will not make or break the team as much as we love her hustle and energy. I know IU fans don't want to hear this but its the reality. However, with the stubbornness and mistakes of the staff in general, they are likely on the way out soon and it has zero to do with their management of Berger.

IU tied the game when down to their final out but the bad luck continued as the tying double was a half-an-inch from a go-ahead home run. 7-7 to bottom 7.

IU out of inning but needs a run to keep game going.

And now IU three outs from losing after two massive throwing errors on what should have been a routine double play. Both teams seemingly trying to give this game away and IU may be the last one to do so.

IU misses a break now on a game tying bloop single 6-6. Washington still batting bottom 6.

What a catch By Cora Bassett to save a triple! IU catching every break so far.

Another IU Home Run that was out by an inch on the top of the wall and its 6-4. Huskies still struggling with who to throw after inexplicably removing first girl who was cruising. As an aside Mizzou has strange ground rules. The top of the wall has a short fence just beyond it. Every baseball and softball game I have ever seen, one needs to clear the fence and hitting off the top of wall is in play. Not here apparently.

Now Washington goes to a part time two-way player on the mound who has not pitched in nearly a month. Either way this will look questionable. If she does well the question is why she was not put in first as a stronger arm and if she fails it can be asked again why the cruising starter was removed.

IU just took advantage of one of the more bizarre coaching decisions I have seen. Washington had a lefty in who was cruising through four innings. Her pitch count was not high and even more so in softball where a pitcher can throw every inning of every game there was zero reason to remove her. However, Washington coach did just that for a righty who IU beat up in 1/3 of an inning in the fifth to get within 4-3. Then the first pitcher comes back (this is allowed in softball) out cold and first pitch is an IU 2-run home run. IU went from down 4-1 to up 5-4 as we head to the sixth. Washington is a legendary program with a legendary coach and has been to 30 straight NCAA Tourney's. However, If IU gets the final nine outs and wins the Huskies manager will be kicking herself and have some explaining to do. Before the new girl threw her first pitch I was thinking in my mind that making a change at pitcher was a strange decision. Shonda Stanton also removed a struggling Brianna Copeland who is normally the Hoosiers best arm for Sophie Kleinman. With two innings left this game, it is coming down to a pitching decision by each coach with one hitting the mark and one looking like a misfire.

I just thought you were a little overly optimistic. Maybe comparing softball was a bit much and confusion was the wrong emoji. However, without the RPI getting to at least the high 40's they will not even be considered. To get there they need some combination of five wins between now and selection Sunday. Even the IUBase guys who are the most optimistic out there have more or less said they have a ton of work to do and need several more wins. Winning two of three does not give IU a decent chance but makes them need to get all the way to the conference championship to have a chance. A sweep still leaves you a couple games short still. The committee does things almost exclusively on RPI and unless they get it into the 40's (which will take five wins) they will not even be considered. They will not take a Big Ten team with an RPI in the low 50's regardless and they likely need five wins to get higher than that. They are 66 RPI points out of the top 50 and a sweep would get you 35-40. 2 of 3 would lose you 10-15 RPI points for the weekend. Just trying to make sure everyone understands the realistic math and where IU stands. I pay much more attention to the RPI and resume than anything the bracketologists say and IU is about five games short of where they need to be right now to be considered and need some combination of that between now and selection Sunday to have a chance which is possible. However, tons of work to do and 2 of 3 this weekend leaves you needing three wins and getting to conference championship and be considered. I didn't mean to be confused by your post as much as making sure everyone understands they are a few wins away still. I definitely appreciate everyone's optimism for sure. However, the chances are somewhat short of rosy right now when looked at realistically.

Baseball America is assuming a deep run in the Tourney and is being WAY too optimistic. IU has a TON of work to do to go at-large. RPI is 58 and anything less than a sweep this weekend will leave it in the upper 50's where it is now. A sweep will move RPI to right around the lower 50's and then probably two Big Ten Tourney wins puts you in discussion. If IU goes 2 of 3 probably anything short of making Big Ten title game will likely not be enough. Softball's RPI was 46 with a much better record and an otherwise similar resume to be last four in by making conference championship. Baseball will need to do the exact same without a sweep. With a sweep you might be able to get away with making the Semifinals and getting in. I am sorry to pour cold water on this at-large excitement. However, the reality is the team has tons work to do to get a bid without winning conference tourney. Softball had work to do as well and barely did enough with an RPI that is around 10 spots higher. Baseball has even more it needs to have happen and is at least some combination of five wins minimum from at-large discussion including Big Ten Tourney. RPI does not need to get to exactly 45, but it needs to get at least into the high 40s which will require a sweep and two wins in conference tourney or 2 of 3 and three wins in Omaha. Lose this series and auto-bid is only way. It gives be no pleasure to be the barer of bad news but the above I wrote is the somewhat long odds IU is facing to get in :(. Not impossible, but tons of work to do.

So did IU. Both were among the last four in.

It is highest seed always now. It used to switch in baseball and softball conference tourney till recently but now it is always higher seed. Now need to do same in NCAA Tourney which still alternate based on a convoluted formula.

That is number's 4, 23, unranked, and 17 in ESPNW's 2025 recruiting rankings. Makalusky and Caffey who are already committed are 56 and 59 respectively.

Today's game against NW is likely the equivalent of a play-in game for an NCAA Tournament berth. Hoosiers are on bubble and possibly out with a loss today. With a victory, I'd be stunned if they don't make it. Hoosiers beat NW in one of the three games last weekend and were competitive in all three.

Probably need to upset NW another time in Big Ten Tourney quarter finals for bid to NCAA Tourney. If only they had won that Wisconsin series then probably being Purdue would be sufficient. Now more work to do.

Saw the play on TV. Kleinman was hit on the neck by a line drive and was taken off on a stretcher.

I have never been overly impressed by Gearlds and am not surprised. The Big Ten coaches that impress me a lot are Moren, Shauna Green at Illinois, Robyn Frailick at MSU, Lisa Bluder at Iowa, Kevin McGuff at Ohio State. Those are the coaches that are special when it comes to recruiting and in-game strategy.