Aaron

Really damaging weekend losing the series to a really bad Wisconsin team and nearly getting swept. Not sure what happened, but this was not the team that has played all season and this likely took the team out of NCAA Contention baring a deep run in the Big Ten Tourney. IU lost their first six in league but that was to postseason teams. This was the first and only time outside of the non-conference loss to Gardner Webb, where they completely failed to perform in all areas vs. a struggling team. It comes at the worst possible time though. Shonda Stanton is building a great program and this weekend shows the ascension it is not always a straight line up. This weekend the moment got to big for them and they crumbled under pressure. They'll learn for the future, but it might well cost them the NCAA Tournament for 2024.

Not surprised IU got to Sinibaldi pretty hard last night as Rutgers ace and starting pitcher who is probably the best in the Big Ten. It has happened a fair bit in the Mercer era where they are able to torch some of the best pitchers they face and then struggle against guys who are not great.

Don't go overboard. I 100% agree team is in top-15-25 team. However, with UCLA and USC in conference now as national powers they have little chance of competing for Big Ten title. 3-5 in league is likely though and a borderline host that is between a 4-6 seed in NCAA tourney. I have them right around 20 now as a 5-6 seed in postseason with potential to be higher if team gels and Meister and Beaumont take a step forward. Definitely reason to be excited for another great season but saying they are close to top-10 now or can compete with USC and UCLA for Big Ten Title without seeing how squad plays together yet is a bit of a stretch. I do trust Moren to get the most out of her players though and if we find out there is top 10-15 talent, team will get there. If it is top 20-25 roster that will be reflected in results as well. One thing you can be assured of is they will not underachieve and Moren will squeeze every last bit of the onion out of next season wherever that ends up.

There is the shooter they needed and instant starter in Scalia's spot.

This guy per Trilly which is an ovehype by him in my mind. Great player but was expecting bigger based on the tweet.

No room for her on roster with Striplin, Wiseman, and Meister. Don't want a fourth true post player on team. She needs to go to someone who needs a starting or backup big. If Striplin had not committed today would be worth a look but with that development there is no chance IU has room for her now. They need a knockdown starting shooting guard to take Scalia's spot to fill out roster. Not another big as much as I would love to take her and stab Purdue in back.

Huge loss for Purdue. She was their most promising freshmen last year and a huge projected part of their future. Gearlds era is getting a bit rocky:

Yes. From what I have seen I am comfortable saying she is capable of playing 25 minutes and averaging 15 and 8. It will be a drop off from Mack. However, she will be as good a starting center as anyone in the Big Ten and you won't find a better big in portal for Moren's system. What they need is a starting level player for Scalia more than anything which I hope is in works.

She was brought in likely to be a backup big to Meister I assume. Her stats match that perfectly and she can pop a three from time to time. A good backup big was one of the positions missing until now. Still need a starting level shooting guard to replace Scalia but this is a good start and addresses one of the two big needs (backup post and starting shooting guard).

IU won 12-3 in dominating fashion to take the series. They are now 20-16 overall and 5-4 in the Big Ten.

Walk off Home Run! IU wins 5-4 to sweep Minnesota.

Rybarczyk dealing with just the one home run on the 0-2 pith as IU has hit a grand slam and solo shot to lead 5-1 after 3.

1-0 PSU after an 0-2 pitch for a home run. I have never seen a team give up so many long balls and big hits on 0-2 and 1-2 counts than the Hoosiers have given up this season. If they could just get that under control you could likely hide some of their other issues on the mound similar to last season. That is the number one difference between an OK 2023 on the bump and a bad 2024 is this despite other issues.

Getting rid of Mercer who is a hitting guy would be a complete overreaction to the state of the program. However, as I said above, they do need to do a thorough evaluation of the pitching program and pitching coach Dustin Glant once the year ends. The last three seasons since he showed up, pitching has tumbled big time and it is not acceptable. Offense in general is up big time in college baseball but this goes way beyond that. The inconsistency of guys and the lack of improvement from to many of the arms year-to-year is a massive problem. The fact that IU does not have three consistent guys over the weekend who can go 5-7 innings for the trio of seasons of Glant being here is issue number one and it taxes the bullpen. I am not an expert and it is for the administration and Mercer to figure out why the pitching is not at an acceptable level whether it be Glant, the arms being brought in not being good enough, or the program they use being to complicated for the players to grasp. It goes well beyond injuries or the offensive explosion in NCAA baseball in general.

And another early 7-0 deficit. The offseason evaluation of the pitching program is a must with the inconsistency.

Two of the most underwhelming hires ever were Bob Knight and Teri Moren. You just never know. On paper this hire is very odd and not the big fish anyone expected. Doubt he lives up to UK's expectations and not what I saw coming and would be surprised if he succeeded. However, would say the same about others as well. It is a crapshoot but generally you prefer the bigger name with the better resume.

Then every single northern baseball team is more mediocre than IU. I have raised the bar. I expect baseball and women's basketball to be a postseason team nearly every season now which is something neither had not sniffed before now. Also, remember baseball had to change coaches twice while Moren has made it clear she is a lifer here which helps immediately. If Moren stops being competitive in the conference and misses postseason then get mad. If Mercer misses postseason this year he will rightly be on an extreme hot seat for 2025. However, I'll repeat if women's basketball matches baseball's next decade after top success I will be more than happy as that would mean six NCAA Tourneys in nine seasons with three more Sweet 16's and another Big Ten Title. The other three seasons would see two of them on the bubble with a winning record, and one truly awful season. The women should be so lucky to reach that. Where do I sign on the dotted line now for this;)? I don't expect them to be UConn women's basketball or LSU baseball going forward. If that is what you are expecting you have expectations that are wildly out of proportion. I have fairly high expectations as described above that are within reality.

For a northern team we have been pretty special. Find me a northern team in a northern conference who has been better than IU last decade. There is not one. You think an SEC coach was leaving an SEC job to come to IU? If you mean an assistant they did that with Lemonis and he did pretty well. Like I said if you can find me a northern team in a northern conference who has made this home run hire to be a national power show me and I will apologize. Even Louisville has started falling off and they were closest thing as fringe northern team in a fringe north/south conference. You have expectations that are totally unrealistic and live in a dream land with these expectations.

Blow it with baseball? huh. IU has made the tourney six more times since they were right at the top. I don't know what you expected with a northern baseball team, but they have the most NCAA Appearances in Big Ten since they were at the top in College World Series. I for one would be thrilled if Moren makes the tourney six of the next nine years and remains near the top of the conference. This year notwithstanding, I would gladly take what baseball became post Schwarber and College World Series as that would include another Big Ten Title, three more Sweet 16's (Regional Final which baseball has been to three times is the Final 16), a postseason appearance nearly ever year and remaining constantly competitive. We should be so lucky if Moren keeps IU post-Holmes what baseball has done post-Schwarber. This year and one other notwithstanding I would kill for this. Not sure what you expected, but don't let the disappointment of this season make you think baseball fell off that much from their peak after the Schwarber World Series. It also helps a lot that the Big Ten is a high major in women's basketball and among the power-five while in baseball it is the equivalent of a high mid-major similar to the Mountain West, AAC, or Atlantic 10.

Just an FYI that Fairfield was also in the locker room during the national anthem when they played IU. No idea if Mulkey was making a statement or not but it has indeed happened with other teams unintentionally as it did in Bloomington against the Stags.

In four years at Indiana State she never made the NCAA Tourney. Yes they got a lot better in that time, but to hire someone with that resume is really risky to a program with no previous success. Doesn't mean it couldn't work out (which it clearly has in a big way), but ask anyone at IU and I would expect they would tell you they were unsure if this would work given the desperation the hire was made with. I could not be more thrilled but the reaction at the time from most people was "who is that?" and was more likely to fail then succeed. Even early in her tenure was up and down. Fortunately Indiana stuck with her and program has taken off but no one could have expected this a decade ago when she was brought in.

What's weird about the one IU took from Indiana State is that it was done in desperation after a scandal with the previous coach and she had almost no success with the Sycamores. Hoosiers really lucked out Moren has turned out to be what she has. 99 times out of 100 a hire like this fails. Fortunately IU got the one time the $1 lottery ticket won the million dollar jackpot after their more expensive $10 lottery tickets failed who had better resumes coming in (Kathi Bennett, Felisha Legette Jack, Sharon Versyp). Really remarkable when you think about it all.

Considering Bueckers has already said she is going back to UConn next year and not entering draft, the choice between the two is not even available. Other high picks are expected to be big's and Clark is only guard projected in the top-10 so there is not even an alternative to consider besides Clark for Fever. They already have their franchise big in Aliyah Boston.

That is blowing straight out to Center Field FYI. Could see tons of home runs.

So far Belmont's struggling offense torching IU's struggling pitching. Moffitt was hurt by an error so the runs are unearned on a two-out home run. However, the Bruins missed a couple home runs by a couple inches and hit a solo shot. 4-1 Bruins after three. Bothwell gave a clean fourth. At this point Hoosiers probably need to start Bothwell and Foley back-to-back Friday and Saturday as two best pitchers so far and hope for six good innings rather than stacking them on same day or bringing Bothwell out of pen. That would help a lot of the early game issues I think.