FRISCO, Tx. – Indiana baseball’s weekend in Frisco comes laden with opportunity.
The Frisco Classic, a round robin-style event, will match up the 20th-ranked Hoosiers (according to D1baseball.com) with three consecutive marquee contests in as many days. IU gets No. 16 Alabama on Friday night, No. 25 Dallas Baptist on Saturday afternoon and a loaded Arizona team to conclude matters on Sunday.
Scheduling tough in the non-conference is of the many pillars head coach Jeff Mercer’s program has been founded upon. The Hoosiers’ method typically goes something like this: a southern series in a pure road environment (at Baylor this year, at Auburn and at Texas last year; at Clemson in 2022), a neutral-ish site weekend with multiple opponents (Keith LeClair Classic in 2023; Round Rock Classic in 2022), and filling in from there.
Theoretically, IU has already checked both of those boxes within the first two weekends of 2024. A 2-1 weekend at the Baseball at the Beach event included a top-20 victory over then No.18 Coastal Carolina, a late-game surge to pull away from George Mason and a close loss to No. 12 Duke. The Hoosiers made quick work of Baylor at its home ballpark last weekend, breaking out the brooms to dismantle the hosting Bears.
But now, Indiana heads into a second premier event, and the nature of it coming about on the Hoosiers’ calendar is uncommon. That doesn’t mean IU didn’t recognize the magnitude of the chance it provides.
“That third weekend, that’s such a big tournament,” Mercer told reporters prior to the season beginning. “We couldn’t turn it away. We had the Coastal (Carolina) weekend first, and then that weekend came up and when they reached out and asked us to be in it, we didn’t want to walk away from it.”
Not only do these opportunities provide an invaluable barometer to read where a team like Indiana stacks up, but the Regional-like feel can preview what a potential postseason environment would look and feel like. To be fully prepared for a time when you’re hoping to play your best baseball, Mercer reasons, the first time you’re playing another team of the caliber can’t be in the postseason.
“All eyes of college baseball will be on that tournament,” Mercer continued, referencing the Frisco Classic. “That’s a big deal for us to go play.”
It goes without saying that Indiana would do well for itself to emerge from the weekend successful. A team pressured with as lofty preseason expectations as it has had in recent memory means anything less than that could be perceived as falling short.
But above all, staring Indiana down the barrel this weekend is a chance for validation.
IU’s resume already features a win that will carry weight all season long, defeating the host Chanticleers in the season’s first weekend. It also, as recently as Tuesday, possesses a frustrating, shocking loss to Purdue Fort Wayne that raises possible alarms about where Indiana’s floor and ceiling actually resides.
“It was just one of those days,” Mercer told reporters postgame.
That’s partially the result of a partly overturned team still finding its footing. A heavy element of trial and error comes in this stage of the year — lineups need configured, as do defensive alignments and pitching rotations. And while the Purdue Fort Wayne loss that derailed a six-game winning streak resulted in more error, it’s more likely just an unfortunate outcome of a necessary evil this early on.
In the same fashion that it wasn’t too early to have a statement victory, it’s also never too soon to have a letdown loss. Now, IU’s focus must turn to proving it to be an anomaly, not a sign of things to come.
Unblemished this season, Alabama (9-0) comes loaded with a ferocious offense and a familiar foe at the head of it. Former Maryland head coach Rob Vaughn now heads the Crimson Tide, and the history between him and Mercer as friendly competitors has only yielded fantastic battles between their respective programs. Friday night figures to be another chapter in said series. Probable starter Ben Hess comes in 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA over 8.0 IP.
Dallas Baptist (8-0) comes into the weekend also without a scratch on its resume, scoring 11 runs per game so far. The Patriots’ combination of offensive, defensive and pitching production may be among the best in the event. Right-hander Jaron DeBerry is slated to take the hill on Saturday — 1-0 this season with a 4.50 ERA in 10 IP.
While Arizona (4-4) enters the weekend as the only non-ranked foe, it's as much the result of playing a loaded schedule as anything else. The Wildcats took two of three from No. 23 Northeastern in the first weekend of the year, and the trio of ranked opponents will be the fifth, sixth and seventh contests against top-25 teams in the first 11 games of their season. Starters for both sides of Sunday’s finale are still to be determined.
Safe to say, Indiana’s got no off day this weekend in Frisco. Yet, they don’t enter these types of weekends looking for off days. Instead, IU enters with the intention to win, to make a name for itself and to better pave forward a rising trajectory in the season’s early going. The immediate chance to flush Tuesday’s result should be enticing enough.
The Frisco Classic is available to watch on D1baseball.com (subscription required). Game one versus Alabama is set for a 7 p.m. Eastern on Friday.
