Indiana State baseball wins second consecutive conference title
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WISH) — The Indiana State University basketball team was one of the best stories of the college basketball season, but the school’s baseball team is making major headlines as well.
The team has captured its second consecutive Missouri Valley Conference title and is back in the polls, ranked in all six major ratings.
“It’s hard because people see us as kind of distant from an SEC school or someone like that. That’s something that’s been with us forever,” catcher Grant Magill told NCAA.com. “It’s so hard for a mid-major to dig its way out. But once you get on the other side, it’s awesome.”
This season’s title comes after last year’s amazing season that ended in controversy when the Sycamores earned the right to host a 2023 super regional against TCU but circumstances forced them to play 800 miles away at Fort Worth.
“You step back when everything is said and done and you just hope and pray that that’s not your one opportunity,” coach Mitch Hannahs said. “You have the opportunity to play a team on your field, best-of-three, to go to Omaha. We would take that any day and twice on Sunday. It didn’t really hit us when we had to go to Fort Worth, but then when you’re in that environment and there’s the noise and everything you’ve got to deal with, you really begin to understand what an advantage it really is to host that super regional.”
Magill added, “That’s probably going to live with me forever, I don’t know how that series would have gone if it was here. We were given a fair shot — I don’t know how fair — but we were given a shot and that’s all I could expect.”
The Sycamores have owned the MVC, winning 18 consecutive league series going back to 2022. According to NCAA.com, the Sycamores had maybe 40 season ticket holders last season. This season, more than 400 — a 1,000% increase.
With another league title, they may have another shot of hosting a regional again in Terre Haute.