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IU baseball strikes first in NCAA tournament, smoking bats cool off red-hot Southern Miss

Indiana baseball didn't look like a team that belonged on the bubble.

The Hoosiers (33-24-1) were firing on all cylinders in a convincing 10-4 win over Southern Miss to open the NCAA tournament in the Knoxville Regional. They will play the winner of the game between No. 1 overall seed Tennessee and Northern Kentucky on Saturday at 6 p.m.

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Indiana knocked off a Southern Miss team (41-19) that came into the tournament on a six-game win streak. The Golden Eagles had won 14 of their last 15 games and only had one other loss in the month of May.

That resume didn't mean much to a dangerous Hoosiers lineup that had 17 hits on the day. First baseman Brock Tibbitts led the way going 4-of-5 with a home run and four RBIs and he was one of five players with multiple hits.

IU baseball knocks around Southern Miss ace Billy Oldham

Indiana got off to a hot start against Southern Miss starter Billy Oldham.

The Hoosiers jumped out to a 5-0 lead through the first two innings with eight hits against the right-handed pitcher. Oldham, who only gave up more than three earned runs in two starts this season, helped the Golden Eagles advance out of the NCAA regionals last year with a win over Auburn.

He didn’t make it out of the fourth inning Friday afternoon.

In the first inning, Tibbitts launched a two-run home run to left field that scored Nick Mitchell. While Tibbitts had 23 career home runs coming into the game, it was his first since a March 29 win over Butler.

Third baseman Josh Pynes extended his on-base streak to 31 consecutive games with a RBI single in the second inning.

Oldham did work out of a jam in the third inning after putting runners at the corners and no outs, but it didn’t slow Indiana down. Devin Taylor led off the fourth with a single and Mitchell walked — he reached base in his four plate appearances — and they both came around to score on a two-run double from Tibbitts.

Tibbitts hit a scorcher down the left field line to clear the bases and knock Oldham out of the game. Oldham ended up pitching 3.2 innings while giving up seven earned runs and 12 base runners (10 hits) and only one strikeout in his second-shortest outing this season.

IU starting pitcher Ty Bothwell overpowers Southern Miss

Indiana's Ty Bothwell (41) celebrates after striking out Southern Miss' Gabe Broadus (27) to end the third inning of the NCAA Baseball Tournament Knoxville Regional at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Friday, May 31, 2024 in Knoxville, Tenn.
Indiana's Ty Bothwell (41) celebrates after striking out Southern Miss' Gabe Broadus (27) to end the third inning of the NCAA Baseball Tournament Knoxville Regional at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Friday, May 31, 2024 in Knoxville, Tenn.

Indiana pitcher Ty Bothwell hit a pair of milestones while putting his team in the driver’s seat. He only allowed one runner in scoring position while shutting out Southern Miss through the first five innings.

He let out a fiery scream after getting Braden Luke to chase a breaking ball way out of the zone in the fourth to strike out the side. The strikeout gave him the fifth most in program history. Bothwell, the team’s lone sixth-year senior, also crossed 200 career innings pitched (65 appearances) in the win.

“He’s a bulldog,” Indiana baseball coach Jeff Mercer said, during an in-broadcast interview.

While his fastball was still hitting 92 mph in the sixth inning, Southern Miss did get on the board with a two-run home run to right field from Nick Monistere. Bothwell came out of the game after hitting the next batter for reliever Drew Buhr.

Southern Miss added a run to make it 8-3 on a misplayed ball at second base, but Buhr got an infield pop-up to end the inning.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: NCAA tournament: Indiana baseball's bats cool off hot Southern Miss