The IU baseball team's storybook season is still being written, and the final chapter is on tap.
After decades of futility, the Hoosiers are finally Omaha-bound.
IU clinched its first-ever appearance in the College World Series with an 11-6 win over Florida State Sunday at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla.
It has been a season of 'firsts' for the Hoosiers, but this first -- a spot on college baseball's biggest stage -- is without a doubt the biggest. IU swept the mighty Seminoles, a perennial power from the ACC, 2-0. Florida State was playing in its sixth straight super regional and 13th overall, and IU its first.
The Hoosiers had made it a point to not stage on-field team celebrations after several monumental wins-- the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles, and the Bloomington regional -- having repeatedly said those accomplishments were just steps along the way to the ultimate goal.
When Tim O'Conner caught DJ Stewart's flyball to left for the final out, they finally enjoyed a well-deserved dogpile.
The Hoosiers (48-14) are the first Big Ten team to reach the College World Series since Michigan in 1984.
Up 8-5 entering the bottom of the eighth, IU blew the game open with a three-run inning.
Dustin DeMuth hit a double to left that kicked up chalk along the foul line and was brought home three batters later on a two-out, two-run triple RBI triple to right by senior center fielder Justin Cureton that also scored Chad Clark, who reached on a fielder's choice.
Will Nolden made it 11-5 IU on an RBI double high off the extended wall in right.
The insurance runs gave freshman lefty Will Coursen-Carr (5-0) a comfortable margin to work with. He bailed out an ineffective Aaron Slegers, tossing four innings of one-run ball before allowing a pair of base runners in the 9th and giving way to closer Ryan Halstead with one out.
Halstead didn't make things easy, though, walking Giovanny Alfonzo to load the bases before hitting Casey Smit to force across a run. He bounced back by striking out Josh Delph on a high fastball and getting Stewart's flyout.
