Indiana State baseball to go on the road for Super Regional, despite national seed: 'A variety of factors come into play'

Indiana State, the No. 14 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, will not host a Super Regional this weekend, the school announced Monday.

Indiana State hosted a regional with Iowa, Wright State, and North Carolina last weekend. The Sycamores went 3-0, advancing out of the first weekend of the tournament for the first time since 1986.

Now, Indiana State will match up with TCU — the second seed out of the Fayetteville, Arkansas, regional — for the right to go to the Men’s College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

More: Indiana State baseball tops Iowa again, advances out of regional for first time since 1986

Typically, the higher seed going into the Super Regional will host. But the Sycamores said they will not meet the NCAA lodging requirements to host the Super Regional, among other factors.

Per the NCAA Regional/Super Regional Host Operations Manual, the host institution must make reservations for the visiting team within 30 miles of the ballpark. Terre Haute doesn’t have a lot of hotels to choose from, and the city is hosting the Indiana Special Olympics this weekend — taking up the hotels in the area.

“There are a variety of factors that come into play with the competition for resources and staff,” Indiana State Athletics said in a statement posted to Twitter. “With the potential for multiple large-scale events occurring in the area simultaneously and due to NCAA limitations on hotel distance from the field, there is a lack of hotel space to handle the accommodations required to house the visiting team, the support staff for the games, and the ESPN crew that would be in attendance.”

The NCAA, however, bended the rules for the Lexington Regional, hosted by the Kentucky. Baseball players from Indiana, West Virginia, and Ball State stayed in UK dorms throughout the regional — Lexington didn’t have hotels available because of multiple state tournaments and a country music festival.

Indiana State also pointed to a lack of essential personnel to host another event this weekend, especially after playing host to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and Terre Haute Regional.

“The personnel to run the event is a factor we must consider,” the statement continued. “After hosting the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and the Terre Haute Regional in back-to-back weeks, keeping additional staff available that are not already working with Special Olympics has affected our potential workforce for another large-scale operation.

“... Our baseball team will be heading on the road this weekend for the Super Regionals. We look forward to you making the trip and cheering on the Sycamores as they continue postseason play on the #RoadToOmaha.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: NCAA baseball: Indiana State to go on the road despite national seed