(Photo Credit: IU Athletics)

Indiana baseball’s Jeff Mercer was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year today. In his first year with Indiana and in the Big Ten, Mercer joins Tracy Smith and Bob Morgan as the only Indiana coaches to have won the award. Bob Morgan won the award during the 1994 season. Tracy Smith, who now coaches at Arizona State, won the award back in 2013 and 2014. Selections for the winners are done by the Big Ten conference coaches.

This is not Jeff Mercer’s first coach of the year award. In fact, Jeff Mercer comes fresh off of a 2018 Coach of the Year award in the Horizon League. His Wright State team finished first place in the Horizon League with a 39-15 record, but lost to Louisville to advance out of Regionals.

The season is far from finished for Jeff Mercer. He has a chance to further collect hardware and accolades as the Hoosiers prepare for the 2019 Big Ten Baseball tournament. Mercer will be looking to get redemption in the 2019 NCAA baseball tournament immediately following.

Jeff Mercer of @IndianaBase named 2019 Big Ten Baseball Coach of the Year. #B1GBaseball pic.twitter.com/SC7RQPRW1A — Big Ten Baseball (@B1Gbaseball) May 21, 2019

Andrew Saalfrank wins Big Ten Pitcher of the Year

The Hoosiers also won a significant player award with Andrew Saalfrank earning the top number of votes among Big Ten pitchers. The left-handed pitcher from Hoagland, Indiana currently has a 2.58 ERA and a conference-best 8-1 record on the season. The junior pitcher has 96 strikeouts this year.

Tied for first in wins in Big Ten games. @Ballfrank_23 is your Big Ten Pitcher of the Year. pic.twitter.com/YrXzDMz8Os — Indiana Baseball ⚾️ (@IndianaBase) May 21, 2019

Indiana Baseball All-Big Ten Selections

Setting a program-record in home run hits certainly created buzz for the Hoosiers around the league. Although Michigan’s Jordan Brewer won the highest player honor, the Hoosiers did not fall short in the player award department. The following is the full list of Indiana player awards, which was also published today by the Big Ten conference.

All-Big Ten First Team

SP – Andrew Saalfrank

At-Large – Matt Lloyd

All-Big Ten Second Team

1B – Scotty Bradley

3B – Cole Barr

OF – Matt Gorski

All-Big Ten Third Team

OF – Elijah Dunham

All-Big Ten Freshman Team

OF – Grant Richardson, Indiana

Sportsmanship Award Honorees

Drew Ashley