Doug Buysse is passionate about catching. He was a catcher at John Glenn High School (Walkerton, Ind.) and Saint Joseph’s College (Rensselaer, Ind.). For years, he has offered catching instruction at levels from youth to collegiate. Buysse, who is entering his sixth year as head baseball coach at Indiana University South Bend in 2023, gave catching pointers at the December 2022 meeting of the South Bend Cubs Foundation Coaches Club at Four Winds Field. Addressing an audience with both travel and college coaches, Buysse noted that catcher and pitcher are the two positions that can’t be pushed on young kids. “Kids have to really want to catch,” said Buysse. “You have to have that mentality that I’m going to strap that gear on and get behind the plate.” Catchers have to be decisive, vocal leaders. “I want my catchers to be the loudest guys on the field,” says Buysse. “Even if they’re wrong, they have to run things. I’d rather see them make a call forcefully and it be the wrong call (than say nothing or make a hesitant call).” Buysse, who brought juniors Kaleb Farnham (Hamilton High School Class of 2020) and Anthony Pohl (Pewamo-Westphalia, Mich., Class of 2019) for drill demonstrations, spent much of his time on receiving. “Catchers who receive well help a (pitching) staff and a team,” said Buysse. “They make the game flow. “Chasing the ball to the backstop really kills the pace of the game.” Buysse said the way he teaches receiving now is much different than seven years ago when he began offering instruction at 1st Source Bank Performance Center, where Mark Haley is general manager and executive director of the South Bend Cubs Foundation. “The the way I was taught was what I call ‘drive the wheel system,’” said Buysse. “You caught the inside pitch here, top pitch here, outside pitch here and I worked around the wheel. “The philosophy of catching has really changed. We work down to up and back to the middle.” At IUSB — a member of the NAIA and Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference — the hardest throwers might touch 89 mph making the pitch at the bottom of the strike zone very important. “A low pitch is a big deal for us,” said Buysse. “We want that more than we want any other pitch. “With nobody on and no count we want them to be as low as they can get so the umpire can see over them. We want to stay below the baseball as much as possible.” Buysse wants his catcher to be stable and comfortable. “Playing with stances and getting comfortable is where we start with all of our (catchers),” said Buysse. Catchers might prefer a two-feet stance, right leg down or left leg down. They might put the opposite leg way out to the side aka “kickstand” in order to get low. Buysse said using the left leg down stance often helps younger players who can concentrate on what their arm and glove is doing and not on being able to hold their position. “They don’t have the physical strength to stick (the inside pitch to a right-handed hitter) well,” said Buysse. “On two feet their (left) knee gets in the way the most. “Don’t be afraid to put (young catchers) on a knee. It takes away from that fear that (they’re) going to fall over.” While receiving, the idea is working everyone back to the middle of the plate and not chasing or dragging pitches out of the strike zone. “As they get older the pitch they chase out of the zone the most is a breaking ball,” said Buysse. The coach emphasized a habit catchers should develop. “Too many kids keep their head (stationary) and use their eyes to follow the baseball,” said Buysse. “Let their head move. I’ve heard coaches talk about I don’t like my catcher’s head to move because he distracts the umpire. “He’s not looking at your head. He’s looking where the ball’s at.” Tracking the ball with the eyes really comes into play with the high pitch. “My natural instinct when the ball goes above my head is to duck my head and stick my hand up,” said Buysse. “I lose that ball at about 50 feet. In the last 10 feet I’m hoping my glove’s in the way. “The head has to go up with (the ball). That’s something you’ve to work on. At our level, any ball in the air has to be caught. That’s our rule.” Buysse talked about blocking pitches. “The glove has got to go first,” said Buysse. “Where the glove goes the butt follows. “Once glove is down we’re working forward. We want to block off our belly button as much as we can.” He encourages young catches to block straight down on pitches inside their two feet and get a body in front of anything outside. One blocking drill that is used at IUSB is the “sit and get hit.” The concept calls for having the chest up and absorbing the pitch with the body. This gets catchers to stop flinching, which makes them stuff and allows balls to ricochet to different places. “They track that ball until it hits him,” said Buysse. “I don’t want them to just sit there waiting to get hit.” IUSB monitors development for all players with the use of video that is shared on a Google Drive. Catchers are captured on a tablet (a phone can also be used) during drills and bullpen sessions and can see what they’re doing right and wrong. What about about stealing pitches (turning balls into strikes)? “Don’t try to steal every pitch as a strike,” said Buysse. “Keep balls (as) balls. “Umpires catch on. If you try to steal every ball that’s thrown by the third inning they’re not going to give you anything close because they think you’re trying to steal it.” IUSB is scheduled to open the 2023 season Feb. 3 against Rio Grande and Lindsey Wilson in Johnson City, Tenn. The Titans’ first home game at Rex Weade Stadium in Granger is slated for March 14 vs. Judson.
Doug Buysse. (Indiana University South Bend Photo)
Notre Dame — the last college baseball team from Indiana left standing in 2022 — found out today (May 30) that the Irish will be in the Statesboro Regional for the 64-team NCAA Division I tournament. The No. 2-seeded Irish (35-14) play No. 3 Texas Tech (37-20) at 2 p.m. Friday, June 3. Site host and top-seeded Georgia Southern (40-18) plays No. UNC Greensboro (34-28) at 7 p.m. Friday. Notre Dame made it to the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. Regionals continue through June 6 with super regionals June 10-13 and the College World Series June 17-27. Ball State made it to the “if necessary” Mid-American Conference tournament championship game against Central Michigan and lost 11-7 to wind up the season at 40-19 overall and 32-7 as MAC regular-season champions. Central Michigan earned an automatic NCAA tournament bid. Evansville (32-24, 14-6), Indiana State (26-22-1, 10-10-1) and Valparaiso (16-32, 5-15) bowed out in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. Seasons came to a close for Purdue (29-21, 9-12) and Indiana (27-32, 10-14) at the Big Ten tournament. Purdue Fort Wayne (18-36, 13-15) finished up in the Horizon League tournament. In the past few weeks, conferences have handed out postseason awards at the NCAA D-I, D-II and D-III, NAIA and junior college levels and there is a list of those below.
Junior College Michigan Community College: MARIAN’S ANCILLA — if Rylan Huntley (first team), if Josh Ledgard (honorable mention). Mid-West: Vincennes — ss Peyton Lane (second team), ut Colton Evans (second team).
Week of May 23-29 NCAA D-I Tuesday, May 24 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Pittsburgh 12, Georgia Tech 6 North Carolina State 11, Wake Forest 8 North Carolina 9, Clemson 2
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Missouri State 9, Illinois State 4
Wednesday, May 25 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Pittsburgh 6, Louisville 5 Florida State 13, Virginia 3 North Carolina State 9, Miami 6
Horizon League Tournament Youngstown State 6, Purdue Fort Wayne 0 Northern Kentucky 3, Illinois-Chicago 2
Mid-American Conference Tournament Central Michigan 11, Toledo 10
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Indiana State 8, Valparaiso 0 Missouri State 5, Southern Illinois 1 Evansville 9, Indiana State 1
Thursday, May 26 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Georgia Tech 9, Louisville 4 Notre Dame 5, Florida State 3 Virginia Tech 18, Clemson 6
Big Ten Conference Tournament Penn State 5, Iowa 2 Rutgers 10, Purdue 3 Maryland 6, Indiana 5 Michigan 7, Illinois 5
Horizon League Tournament Wright State 18, Northern Kentucky 4 Oakland 2, Youngstown State 0
Mid-American Conference Tournament Ball State 6, Ohio 4
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Dallas Baptist 4, Bradley 3
Friday, May 27 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Notre Dame 3, Virginia 0 Wake Forest 16, Miami 3 North Carolina 10, Virginia Tech 0
Big Ten Conference Tournament Iowa 5, Purdue 4 Rutgers 5, Penn State 4 Indiana 8, Illinois 1 Michigan 15, Maryland 8
Horizon League Tournament Youngstown State 11, Northern Kentucky 7 Wright State 14, Oakland 3 Oakland 4, Youngstown State 2
Mid-American Conference Tournament Toledo 13, Ohio 5 Ball State 9, Central Michigan 7
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Southern Illinois 8, Indiana State 2 Missouri State 19, Bradley 3 Evansville 21, Dallas Baptist 2
Saturday, May 28 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament North Carolina 7, Notre Dame 2 North Carolina State 8, Pittsburgh 3
Big Ten Conference Tournament Iowa 11, Penn State 3 Indiana 6, Maryland 4 (11 inn.) Iowa 7, Michigan 3 Rutgers 14, Indiana 2
Horizon League Championship Wright State 24, Oakland 0
Mid-American Conference Tournament Central Michigan 10, Toledo 7 Central Michigan 12, Ball State 3
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Southern Illinois 7, Dallas Baptist 5 Missouri State 7, Evansville 6 Southern Illinois 8, Evansville 5
Sunday, May 29 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Championship North Carolina 9, North Carolina State 5
Big Ten Conference Tournament Michigan 13, Iowa 1 Championship Michigan 10, Rutgers 4
Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship Central Michigan 11, Ball State 7
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Southern Illinois 9, Missouri State 6 Championship Missouri State 13, Southern Illinois 3
Gunnar Pullins sees his future as an event coordinator. Graduated May 7 from Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill., with a Marketing degree, Pullins has job possibilities all around. “I’m open to going anywhere in the country,” says Pullins, 22. But right now the young man who has planned cornhole tournaments for festivals around northwest Indiana is getting ready for a baseball event. A senior first baseman for the ONU baseball team, Pullins and his teammates recently won the program’s third straight Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament title (not counting the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season) and earned a berth in the NAIA Opening Round. “We want to be as far from home as possible,” says Pullins. On Thursday, Pullins got his wish as the Tigers learned that they will play at the site hosted by Westmont in Santa Barbara, Calif., for the right to compete in the 2022 NAIA World Series May 27-June 3 in Lewiston, Idaho. In the Opening Round, Westmont is the No. 1 seed, Indiana University Southeast No. 2, Olivet Nazarene No. 3 and Antelope Valley (Calif.) No 4. The event is May 16-19. Pullins, a righty swinger, is hitting .358 (53-of-148) with three home runs, three triples, six doubles, 35 runs batted in and 39 runs scored. In 51 games, he sports a .955 OPS (.455 on-base percentage plus .500 slugging average) and has 11-of-14 in stolen base attempts. This is his first season at first base and even though he has another year of eligibility it’s his last as a collegiate player. “My shoulder can only take so much more,” says Pullins. “I tore my shoulder senior year of high school. “I went went from throwing hard to throwing very soft.” He was a shortstop at Valparaiso (Ind.) High School, where he graduated in 2018. He played a lot of third base at Olivet Nazarene until he came to a decision with Tigers head coach Jeff Mullikin to move to the other corner to save his arm. A teammate had done the same in 2021 and did very well. From 2019-21, Pullins got into 80 games for ONU and hit .258 (25-of-97) with no homers, one triple, three doubles, 24 RBIs and 45 runs. He had a .652 OPS (.342/.309) and was 15-of-22 in the stolen base department. In a game of adjustments, Pullins has learned to make his share. Not only changing positions. But he has learned to adjust at-bat to at-bat and pitch to pitch. Olivet Nazarene has not faced a pitcher with velocity approaching 90 mph in awhile and is sure to see it in the Opening Round. “It’s about getting the foot down and the hands through the (strike) zone at a certain time,” says Pullins, who is preparing with batting practice against live arms and machines. “We do a 40/90 with one of our BP throwers 40 feet away and he’s chucking it and trying to find barrels.” Velocity is one thing and then there is adjustment when the ball breaks. “There are people who throw the ball straight and there are people who have movement,” says Pullins. “It’s easier to get a barrel on it and hit it hard somewhere when it’s straight.” Born and raised in Valparaiso, Pullins played travel ball with the Lake of the Four Seasons Warriors from Crown Point/Boone Grove area then the Cougars who became the Indiana Breakers around Chesterton then the Outsiders Baseball Club with Dave Griffin (the Purdue Northwest head coach). A varsity player for three of his four years at Valparaiso, Pullins recalls the beginning of practice with Vikings head coach Todd Evans. “He called us gentlemen everyday,” says Pullins of Evans. “It was a respectful way to start off our days.” Pullins played basketball as a Valpo freshman and tennis as a junior. Once he committed to Olivet Nazarene, he spent much of his time honing his baseball skills. Why ONU? “They gave me the best opportunity to get the education I wanted,” says Pullins. “And an opportunity to play right away as a freshman.” That first season, Pullins got a few starts and plenty of pinch-hit opportunities. “I could not get into a rhythm the COVID year,” says Pullins. “As a junior, I struggled confidence-wise.” Over the summer, he played slow pitch men’s softball. “I was putting a barrel on the ball,” says Pullins. “Something switched (in baseball). It was a click.” It hasn’t been all baseball and academics for Pullins, He’s been dating the same girl for most of his time in college. “I’ve met a lot of people and played intramural (sports) prior to senior year,” says Pullins. “They have a lot of events here — like every other week.” At the beginning of the year, there’s “Ollies Follies” — games and events with classes competing against each other. “It’s a lot of fun,” says Pullins. Gunnar is the son of Bub Pullins and Samantha Cardwell. He has two sisters. Alex is older. Lyric is younger.
Calumet College of St. Joseph — a private four-year Catholic institution with about 380 undergraduates in Whiting, Ind., embraces a close-knit community. “It’s a family-oriented school and we have a family-oriented team,” says Brian Nowakowski, head baseball coach for the Crimson Wave since the fall of 2012. “We do everything together (including community service, meals and study tables). We don’t single out a single player for any misdoing. “When someone hurts we all hurt.” When Brian and Jeannine Nowakowski’s son, Bryce, required two open heart surgeries in the first year of his young life and then a heart transplant at 2, the CCSJ family rallied with support. Part of the cost of tickets to the Midwest Collegiate League (now rebranded as the Northern League) All-Star Game held at the Crimson Wave’s home park — Oil City Stadium — were given to the Nowakowski family. When Bryce was prepared for, underwent and recovered from his July 30, 2014 transplant at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, the school allowed the head coach to stay there while his assistants — younger brother Scott Nowakowski and Juan Alonso — led the CCSJ baseball team. “The school let me work from home and I never skipped a beat,” says Nowakowski, whose son is now 9. “I could never re-pay them back.” With Bryce’s medical condition and his mother recovering after beating cancer, Nowakowski decided it was best not to travel much during a 2021 season effected by the COVID-19 pandemic. “If I had COIVD I would not be able to go home,” says Nowakowski, who resides with his wife of 11 years and child in Dyer, Ind. The 2021 Crimson Wave only played games in the NAIA-affiliated Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. “Competing in the CCAC is hard,” says Nowakowski. “We’re fighting for same kids in recruiting. All the teams are very competitive.” Olivet Nazarene University finished atop the ’21 conference standings. One feather in the Crimson Wave’s cap is Oil City Stadium, located on 119th Street in downtown Whiting with a unique oil refinery backdrop in the outfield. “It’s a great stadium,” says Nowakowski. “The City of Whiting does a great job keeping it up. It helps in recruiting.” Eight Calumet of St. Joseph players — Michael Biegel, Julian Espino, Kevin McCune, Thomas Montes, Cody Plebanski, Shaun Quinn, Glenford Wagner and Luke Woodward — made the 2021 CCAC all-academic team. A typical mix, the current Crimson Waves roster consists mostly of players from Chicagoland and the Calumet Region with some international students. “We find the best players we can,” says Nowakowki. “If you want to be a part of the school we’re going to take you. “We have affordable tuition. There’s no in-state, out-of-state or intentional. It’s all the same.” Located on New York Avenue in Whiting, CCSJ has an agreement with The Illiana, located across the street. In Oct. 1, the school broke ground on its first residence hall. In 2022, CCSJ is to open the season Feb. 25 at Hannibal (Mo.)-LaGrange. The following weekend the Crimson Wave plays a series at Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Ga. From there CCSJ goes to Lake Wales, Fla., to play in the Warner University Invitational and other games, including at Southeastern. CCSJ finished outdoor fall practice about two weeks ago. The Crimson Wave did drill work four days a week and competed in intrasquad games on the fifth day. Right now, players are at the Rittenmeyer Center four days a week conditioning with weightlifting and stability exercises. Besides Scott Nowakowski (in his seventh year at Calumet College of St. Joseph), the coaching staff also features Nick Relli, Nestor Carillo and Rocco Mossuto. Elli played for Nowakowski at CCSJ. Carillo (Morton Community College in Cicero, Ill.) and Rocco Mossuto (Saint Xavier University in Chicago) are both former head coaches. Nowakowski grew up on Chicago’s East Side and graduated in 1997 from St. Francis de Sales High School, a member of the vaunted Chicago Catholic League. “It’s tough competition,” says Nowakowki. “There’s no easy games in the Chicago Catholic League.” Nowakowski played for Pioneers head coach Al Lodl and was good enough as a right-handed pitcher to sign a free agent contract with the Minnesota Twins organization in 1997 and reported to spring training in 1998. He pitched in the minors that year and 1999 and then was employed in private sector jobs. But the diamond beckoned. “I’ve been a baseball guy most of my life,” says Nowakowski. “I missed the game.” Nowakowski got into coaching as an assistant to Pat Montalbano at Hammond Clark High School and was a Crimson Waves assistant to Tony Myszak for one year before becoming head coach. A few years into the job, Nowakowski earned an Organizational Management degree from CCSJ.
Brian Nowakowski (Calumet College of St. Joseph Photo)
Notre Dame powered its way to a South Bend Regional championship and now the Irish know they will play host and No. 7 national seed Mississippi State in the NCAA Division I tournament‘s Starkville Super Regional (the Bulldogs went unbeaten in winning the Starkville Regional, which wrapped Monday, June 7). The winner of that best-of-3 super regional series June 11-14 at Dudy Noble Field/Polk-DeMent Stadium will advance to the eight-team College World Series in Omaha, Neb. Former Indiana University head coachChris Lemonis is the bench boss for the MSU Bulldogs. Link Jarrett is in his second season as head coach at Notre Dame (33-11). The No. 10 seed Irish lashed 49 hits with 23 for extra bases and 15 home runs in beating Central Michigan 10-0, Connecticut 26-3 and Central Michigan 14-2 Friday through Sunday June 4-6 at Frank Eck Stadium in taking the South Bend Regional. Irish senior first baseman Niko Kavadas (Penn High School graduate) belted two home runs and drove in four runs in the first win against CMU. The lefty slugger that smacked two homers and drove in eight against UConn. In the second game against Central Michigan, Kavadas hit one homer (his school record-setting 21st of the season) with one RBI. The other dingers rang off the bats of junior Carter Putz (4), senior Ryan Cole (3), junior Brooks Coetzee (2) and senior David LaManna. Indiana State saw its season end at the Nashville Regional hosted by Vanderbilt. The Mitch Hannahs-coached Sycamores lost 7-6 to Georgia Tech, beat Presbyterian 9-2 and lost 9-0 to Georgia Tech. Redshirt junior Jordan Schaffer (West Vigo High School) hit .367 with seven homers, one triple, 10 doubles, 34 runs batted in, 52 runs scored and 11 stolen bases for ISU (31-21). Indiana University Southeast was greeted by a large crowd when it got back to New Albany after its first appearance in the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho. Playing May 28-June 1, Ben Reel’s Grenadiers (50-16) topped against Concordia (Neb) 4-2, lost 11-5 to Central Methodist (Mo.), bested Keiser (Fla.) 9-7 and lost 14-10 to Faulkner (Ala,). For the season, senior Matt Monahan (who missed the World Series because of injury) hit .428, junior Brody Tanksley (Bedford North Lawrence High School) drove in 70 runs and junior Clay Woeste (Lawrenceburg High School) stole 38 bases. Georgia Gwinnett — coached by former Saint Joseph’s College (Rensselaer, Ind.) assistant Jeremy Sheetinger — won the red banner as 2021 NAIA national champions. Sheets returned to coaching this season after serving with the American Baseball Coaches Association. He hosts the Dugout Chatter Podcast Powered by Stick & Ball TV.
After beating Virginia Tech 8-0 and losing to Virginia 14-1 at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C., the Irish will host the South Bend Regional. It will be the first time postseason baseball has been at ND since 2004.
Each regional field features four teams, playing in a double-elimination format. All 16 regionals are scheduled to be conducted from Friday, June 4 to Monday, June 7 (if necessary).
Notre Dame (30-11) plays Central Michigan (40-16) at 1 p.m., followed by Connecticut (33-17) against Michigan (27-17) at 7. Irish head coach Link Jarrett was named the ACC Coach of the Year.
Indiana State went 3-2 at the Missouri Valley Conference tournament in Carbondale, Ill. — beating Illinois State 5-2 and Southern Illinois 11-8, losing to Dallas Baptist 10-1, beating Southern Illinois 9-7 then losing to Dallas Baptist 12-8 (in 11 innings).
The Sycamores are in the Nashville Regional. Georgia Tech (29-23) plays Indiana State (30-19) at 1 p.m. Friday while Vanderbilt (40-15) takes on Presbyerian (22-21) at 7.
Indiana State earned its 11th NCAA postseason appearance in program history and the third under head coach Mitch Hannahs.
Ball State (38-18) swept a four-game Mid-American Conference home series with Miami (Ohio). The Cardinals did not hear their name called Monday.
Nor did Indiana (26-18). The Hoosiers went 1-2 in a Big Ten Conference series at Maryland.
Purdue (16-26) wrapped the season with one win against Penn State and a doubleheader split against Minnesota in a Big Ten pod weekend.
The 2021 season also closed at the MVC tournament for Valparaiso (16-35) and Evansville (28-27). Valpo went 2-2 and UE 1-1 in Carbondale.
The event is slated for May 25-30 in Greensboro, N.C.
The Irish meet No. 12 seed Virginia Tech in Tuesday’s second game. ND’s current four-game win streak includes a three game weekend sweep at Virginia Tech.
Penn High School graduate and Notre Dame first baseman Niko Kavadas heads to Carolina with 16 home runs and 49 runs batted in.
Missouri Valley Conference tournament play begins and Indiana State (27-17, 14-10) goes in as the No. 2 seed while Evansville (28-26, 11-16) is No. 7 and Valparaiso (14-33, 9-19) No. 8.
Games will be played May 25-29 at Southern Illinois-Carbondale.
The Sycamores receive a first-round bye to Day 2 while UE (vs. Illinois State) and Valpo (vs. Missouri State) play on the first day.
Indiana State overcame an 8-0 deficit to win 13-10 at Evansville Saturday to secure the No. 2 seed in the eight-team tourney behind Dallas Baptist (33-15).
Left-hander Geremy Guerrero is 9-1 with a 1.92 earned run average and catcher Max Wright has 14 homers and 37 RBIs for the Sycamores.
Ball State (34-18, 25-11) won its first two games then lost two in a Mid-American Conference series at Ohio. The Cardinals wrap the MAC season May 28-30 with four games against Miami (Ohio) in Muncie.
Nick Powell (.353) leads BSU in hitting. Right-hander John Baker (7-3, 2.45) has been the No. 1 starting pitcher.
Indiana (24-16, 24-16) has lost the first three games of its Big Ten Conference pod series, dropping two to Nebraska and one to Ohio State in Bloomington. The Hoosiers host the Buckeyes again today (May 24).
A 9-8 loss for Purdue (14-25, 14-25) at Minnesota Sunday kept the Boilermakers from a four-game sweep of the Golden Gophers.
A three-team pod (Purdue, Penn State, Minnesota) in West Lafayette is slated for May 27-29.
The 2021 season came to a close for both Butler (14-23 overall, 8-13 in the Big East Conference) and Purdue Fort Wayne (11-35 overall and 8-28 in the Horizon League).
The five-team finals of the NCAA Division III Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament saw Transylvania emerge as champions.
Transy bested Earlham (25-20, 21-18) in the final game. Bluffton knocked out Anderson (23-19, 20-17). A loss to Anderson eliminated Franklin (25-14, 23-12).
Indiana Tech (35-27) and Indiana Wesleyan (44-14) both bowed out in NAIA Opening Round play in the Marion Bracket.
Vincennes (24-31) saw its slate finish in the junior college Mid-West Athletic Conference tournament.
Of the state’s 38 college baseball programs, eight are still playing. There’s seven in NCAA Division I and there’s one in NAIA.
Indiana University Southeast (48-14) earned its first trip to the NAIA College World Series, which is May 28-June 4 in Lewiston, Idaho.
No. 2 seed Indiana Wesleyan (43-12) and No. 5 Indiana Tech (31-25) are part of the five-team Marion (Ind.) Bracket at Indiana Wesleyan.
IWU, coached by Rich Benjamin, won the regular-season and tournament titles in the Crossroads League.
Indiana Tech, coached by Kip McWilliams, was the regular-season champion in the Wolverine-Hoosier Conference.
No. 2 seed Indiana University Southeast (45-14) will be one of five teams competing in the Kingsport (Tenn.) Bracket.
IU Southeast, coached by Ben Reel, was the regular season and tournament champion in the River States Conference.
The NAIA season has ended for Taylor (37-20), Saint Francis (34-22), Huntington (33-16), Indiana University-Kokomo (28-20), Marian (25-29), Indiana University South Bend (24-24), Oakland City (17-27), Bethel (15-39), Grace (12-31), Calumet of Saint Joseph (7-29) and Goshen (3-34).
The 34 wins is a single-season school record for Saint Francis and Panthers coach Dustin Butcher.
Franklin (25-12), Earlham (23-18) and Anderson ( 20-17) were among teams winning opening round series and making it to the five-team finals in the NCAA Division III Heartland Collegiate Conference tournament.
Transylvania and Bluffton will be the other two teams. The tourney is to conclude Sunday, May 23.
The 2021 season is over for Indiana’s other D-III programs — Rose-Hulman (23-14), Hanover (20-20), Manchester (19-22), Wabash (18-15), DePauw (15-21) and Trine (6-28).
NCAA D-III teams Indianapolis (27-21), Southern Indiana (24-20) and Purdue Northwest (11-22) have also seen their slates come to a close.
Ivy Tech Northwest (31-25) lost 2-1 to Kellogg in a three-game National Junior College Athletic Association Regional in Battle Creek, Mich., and wrapped its season.
Max Flock homered three times and collected five hits and six runs batted in as Vincennes swept a doubleheader from Spoon River and made the Mid-West Athletic Conference tournament May 20-23 in Normal, Ill.
NJCAA member Ancilla (6-29) has concluded its season.
NCAA Division I Notre Dame (26-10) was idle in Atlantic Coast Conference play and yet the Irish earned the program’s first regular season title since 2006 by winning the ACC Atlantic Division.
ND has one more ACC series May 20-22 at Virginia Tech before the conference tournament in Charlotte, N.C.
Indiana (24-12, 24-12) is second in the Big Ten Conference to Nebraska (25-11, 25-11). The Hoosiers have eight more conference games remaining. There will be no Big Ten tournament.
Ball State (32-16, 23-9) holds a slight lead on Central Michigan (32-17, 23-10) at the top of the Mid-American Conference standings.
BSU has a May 21-23 road series against Ohio and May 28-30 home series with Miami (Ohio) before the postseason.
The eight-team Missouri Valley Conference tournament is scheduled for May 25-29 in Carbondale, Ill. Right now Dallas Baptist (31-13, 16-4) and Indiana State (25-15, 12-8) are the top two seeds with Evansville (26-24, 9-14) No. 6 and Valparaiso (14-29, 9-15) No. 7.
Ivy Tech Northeast (30-23) swept a National Junior College Athletic Association sub-regional series against Lakeland over the weekend.
The Great Lakes Region 12 tournament will be hosted by the highest seed.
In the second season of the program (2019), Ivy Tech went 33-14. For now, that is the school victory record.
The 2021 sub-regional win was also the 10th postseason championship of Titans boss Lance Hershberger’s college coaching career.
He had earned two NAIA independent sectionals (1996, 1998), one conference tournament title (2000), five consecutive NAIA regional crowns (1998-2002) and one NAIA super regional title (2001) at Indiana Tech prior to Saturday’s feat for Ivy Tech.
Hershberger’s 55 postseason victories is the most all-time among college baseball coaches in Indiana.
Indiana University Southeast (43-14) has made it to championship game of NAIA River States Conference tournament.
By going 3-1 Thursday through Saturday, the Grenadiers earned the right to meet Point Park Monday (May 10) for the right to move on to the NAIA Opening Round.
With a RSC tournament loss to IU Southeast, Indiana University Kokomo (28-20) saw its 2021 season come to a close. Point Park put out Oakland City (17-27).
The top six seeds — Indiana Wesleyan (41-12), Taylor (36-19), Huntington (33-14), Saint Francis (34-21), Mount Vernon Nazarene (29-18) and Marian (25-28) — are still alive in the NAIA Crossroads League tournament at IWU in Marion, Ind.
Play began Friday and resumes Monday, May 10. The championship will be Tuesday, May 11 (Wednesday, May 12, if necessary).
With each win, Saint Francis adds to its single-season school record for victories.
With a 10-inning Saturday loss to Saint Francis, Bethel (15-39) concluded its season.
Indiana Tech (31-25) went 1-2 in the NAIA Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament and now awaits the NAIA Opening Round pairings.
Indiana University South Bend (24-23) went 1-1 in its first two games of the NAIA Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament and was slated to play again Monday, May 10 in Joliet, Ill.
Next up for NCAA Division II Indianapolis (21-19) and Southern Indiana (22-18) is the eight-team Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament, slated for Thursday-Sunday, May 13-16 at Lindenwood in St. Charles, Mo.
The first part of the two-tier NCAA Division IIII Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament has been set.
Best-of-3 series are slated for Friday-Saturday, May 14-15 with No. 10 seed Defiance (6-31) at No. 1 Transylvania (26-10), No. 9 Mount Saint Joseph (12-26) at No. 2 Franklin (23-12), No. 8 Bluffton (16-22) at No. 3 Rose-Hulman (23-12), No. 7 Manchester (19-20) at No. 4 Earlham (21-18) and No. 6 Hanover (20-18) at No. 5 Anderson (20-17).
A five-team double-elimination tournament will follow May 20-23 at the best remaining seed after Round 1.
Fifth-year senior Danny Dopp is now the career hits leader at Earlham. His 194 — reached in Saturday’s doubleheader against Manchester — surpass the 192 of Nate Lynch, who played for the Quakers 2014-17.
DePauw (15-21) saw its season wrap Saturday in non-conference D-III play against Washington University of St. Louis.
NCAA Division I Indiana (23-10, 23-10) went 2-0 against Rutgers and 1-1 against Nebraska in Piscataway, N.J., and hold a 1/2-game lead on Michigan for the lead in the Big Ten Conference standings. IU is slated to play three at Michigan Friday-Sunday, May 14-16.
Even with a 1-2 series against Florida State, Notre Dame (25-10, 22-10) is well ahead of Louisville (26-15, 16-10) for the lead in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
By splitting a four-game series at Central Michigan, Ball State (30-14, 21-7) remains 1 game behind first-place CMU in the Mid-American Conference standings.
Indiana State (24-12, 11-5) went 3-1 in a Missouri Valley Conference series at Missouri State. The Sycamores trail MVC front-runner Dallas Baptist by 2 games.
With a win in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader at Youngstown State, Purdue Fort Wayne gave Mastodons head coach Doug Schreiber the 500th win of his collegiate coaching career.
Because of health concerns within the Northwestern program, the Northwestern at Purdue series was postponed.
Purdue has worked an arrangement with Ohio State to add a Tuesday, May 11 game at Alexander Field.
Jared Heard’s two-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning helped Indiana University-Kokomo (22-16, 10-8) to a walk-off 2-1 baseball victory against Brescia Saturday, April 17 at Kokomo Municipal Stadium.
It was the Cougars’ seventh straight victory — the longest current streak among Indiana’s 38 collegiate programs.
By beating Brescia 8-1 in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, IUK gave head coach Matt Howard his 100th career victory.
Indiana Wesleyan (36-11, 25-3) built a three-game lead in the Crossroads League standings with a four-game sweep of Huntington. The Wildcats have won six in a row.
Frank Plesac pitched a seven-inning complete game with 14 strikeouts as Bethel (13-30, 10-18) completed a four-game sweep of visiting Crossroads League foe Goshen and ran the Pilots’ win streak to five.
Indiana State (20-8, 7-1) finally played games at Bob Warn Field after opening the season with 24 on the road. The Sycamores swept a four-game Missouri Valley Conference series against Valparaiso.
Ellis Hanna II drove in four runs in a 12-1 win in the series finale. ISU has won five straight.
Clay Woeste collected nine hits, scored nine runs and drove in seven as Indiana University Southeast (32-13, 20-1) racked up 41 runs in a three-game River States Conference series sweep at West Virginia Tech.
IUS also got eight hits, four runs and eight RBIs from Marco Romero, five hits, three runs and six RBIs from Derek Wagner, seven hits, four runs and five RBIs from Matt Monahan and five hits, seven runs and five RBIs from Brody Tanksley.
The Grenadiers have won four in a row.
Purdue (9-15, 9-15) ran its win streak to four by beating Michigan State twice and Illinois once during a three-team Big Ten Conference pod in Champaign, Ill.
Joe Moran smashed three homer runs as Taylor (33-12, 22-6) wrapped a four-game Crossroads League sweep of visiting Spring Arbor. Moran pushed his season homer total to 12.
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