By Pete Cava
PBR Indiana Correspondent

Follow @PBRIndiana

Even with no Indiana schools in this year’s NCAA tournament, Hoosier baseball fans will have something to cheer for when regional play opens at 16 sites on Friday. 

Thirteen of the 64 tournament teams have players with Indiana connections.  Those school’s rosters include 34 Hoosiers.    

Most of the former Indiana preps are headed to Louisville’s Jim Patterson Stadium, where Ohio State, Louisville, Wright State and Western Michigan will see action.  

Ohio State’s Buckeyes have seven Indiana high school alumni, including junior left-hander Tanner Tully, whose 1-0 win over Indianapolis Cathedral gave Elkhart Central the 2013 Class 4A state title.  Senior righty Jake Post was drafted by the Pittsburgh out of Chesterton High School high school in 2012. 

Louisville right-hander Bryan Hoeing is among the five Hoosiers playing for the Cardinals.  The former Batesville baseball and basketball standout was selected in last year’s draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks.  

Five Wright State Raiders have Indiana connections, including junior infielder Mitch Roman (Hamilton Southeastern High School), the son of Carmel High School coach Dan Roman.  The father of freshman right-hander Caleb Sampen (Brownsburg) is Bill Sampen, who pitched for the Montreal Expos, Kansas City Royals and California Angels from 1990 to 1994.    

The lone Hoosier on the roster of the Western Michigan Broncos is southpaw pitcher Mark McConnell, a freshman.  

The complete list of players with Indiana connections in the 2016 College World Series: 

At Charlottesville, Va.

            William & Mary:  none.

Virginia:  Fr. RHP/INF Grant Sloan (Zionsville HS).

            East Carolina:  none.

            Bryant:  none.

At Raleigh, N.C.

Saint Mary’s:  none.

Coastal Carolina:  none.

Navy:  Fr. INF/OF Shane Peisker (St. Rita HS, Chicago, Ill.;  Highland, Ind.)

North Carolina State:  none.

At Columbia, S.C.

            Duke:  none.

            UNC Wilmington:  none.

            Rhode Island:  none.

            South Carolina:  So. RHP Brandon Murray (Hobart HS).

At Clemson, S.C.

            Nebraska:  Fr. C Jesse Wilkening (Hanover Central HS)

            Oklahoma:  none.

            Western Carolina:  none.

            Clemson:  none.

At Tallahassee, Fla.

            South Alabama:  none.

            Southern Mississippi:  none.

Alabama State:  Sr. RHP Hunter McIntosh (Columbus North HS);  );  Fr. RHP

Jared Drayton (Richmond HS). 

            Florida State:  none. 

At Gainesville, Fla.

            Connecticut:  none.

Georgia Tech:  Jr. RHP Zac Ryan (Andrean HS).

            Bethune-Cookman:  none. 

            Florida:  none. 

At Coral Gables, Fla.

            Long Beach State:  none.

Florida Atlantic:  Sr. RHP Robbie Coursel (born in Michigan City, Ind.; 

Northeast HS, St. Petersburg, Fla.;  St. Petersburg College).

            Stetson:  none. 

            Miami:  none.

At Louisville, Ky.

Wright State:  So. INF Matt Morrow (Richmond HS), Jr. INF Mitch Roman

(Hamilton Southeastern HS, Sinclair CC), Fr. RHP Caleb Sampen (Brownsburg HS), Jr. RHP Mark Meyer (Jeffersonville HS), Sr. RHP Logan Blair (Mount Vernon-McCordsville HS).

Ohio State:  Fr. 3B/RHP Brady Cherry (Lapel HS), So. OF Tre Gantt

(Hamilton Southeastern HS), So. RHP Curtiss Irving (Greenfield-Central HS), Sr. INF Troy Kuhn (Zionsville HS), Jr. OF Troy Montgomery (Mt. Vernon-Fortville HS), Sr. RHP Jake Post (Chesterton HS), Jr. LHP Tanner Tully (Elkhart Central HS).

Western Michigan:  Fr. LHP Matt McConnell (Lafayette Harrison HS).

Louisville:  So. RHP Chandler Dale (Jeffersonville HS), Fr. INF Devin Mann

Columbus North HS), Fr. 3B Drew Ellis (Jeffersonville HS), Fr. RHP Noah Burkholder (Crown Point HS), Fr. RHP Brian Hoeing (Batesville HS).

At Nashville, Tenn.

            Washington:  none.

            UC Santa Barbara:  none.

            Xavier:  Sr. INF Andre Jernigan (Fort Wayne Homestead HS), So. OF Will

LaRue (Evansville Mater Dei HS), So. RHP Brandon Johnson (New Albany HS), Fr. RHP Matt Kent (Fort Wayne Canterbury), So. RHP Christian Glass (Columbus North HS), Jr. LHP Trent Astie. (Jeffersonville HS),

Vanderbilt:  Jr. INF/OF Nolan Rogers (Bloomington South HS).

At Starkville, Miss.

            Louisiana Tech:  none.

            Cal State Fullerton:  none. 

            Southeast Missouri State:  none.

            Mississippi State:  none.

At Oxford, Miss.

            Boston College:  none.

            Tulane:  none. 

            Utah:  none.

            Mississippi:  none. 

At Baton Rouge, La.

            Utah Valley:  none.

            Louisiana State:  none.

            Southeastern Louisiana:  none.

            Rice:  none. 

At Lafayette, La.

            Arizona:  none.

            Sam Houston State:  none.

            Princeton:  none.

            Louisiana-Lafayette:  none.

At Fort Worth, Texas

            Gonzaga:  none

            Arizona State:  none. 

            Oral Roberts:  none. 

            Texas Christian:  none. 

At College Station, Texas

            Minnesota:  none.

            Wake Forest:  Jr. RHP Parker Dunshee (Zionsville HS). 

            Binghamton:  none. 

            Texas A&M:  none.   

At Lubbock, Texas

            Fairfield:  none.

            Texas Tech:  none.

            New Mexico:  none.

            Dallas Baptist:  none.