Had steady rain not washed away Indiana’s series finale with Illinois last Sunday, the Hoosiers would have trotted out a lineup with five freshmen. Paul Toetz would have batted fourth and played second base, Kip Fougerousse would have hit fifth and manned first, Morgan Colopy would have filled the six slot and covered right field, Ethan Vecrumba would have batted seventh and fulfilled the designated hitter duties and Tank Espalin would have batted eighth and gone to work at shortstop.
That’s a lot of youth for a team with NCAA Tournament aspirations, especially one that now feels the pressure to not only win series but sweep them.