Butler @ IU, Game 4: Three-run, 8th inning homer does in IU, 8-5...

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It's RHP Julian Tonghini on the mound with an ERA of 5.14 in 14 IP and a WHIP of 1.86.

For Butler, it's RHP Nate Rosser on the mound with ERA of 8.66 in 17.2 IP and a WHIP of 1.98 with an OBA of .366.

1st inning:

T1st:

Tonghini walked the leadoff hitter on a 3-1 count. An infield single put runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs.

Tonghini got a K for the 1st out. On what could have been a DP ball, Cerny mishandled the grounder with all runners same and the bases loaded with one out and an error charged to Cerny.

With the bases loaded, Tonghini got another K for the 2nd out. Tonghini got a pop out to pitch out of what could have been a big inning for Butler after the error.

B1st:

The top of the order for IU is the same as in the first game today.

Mathison walked on a full count to lead off. Cerny singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs.

Taylor lined out to RF with the runners holding. Tibbitts flied out with the runners still holding and two outs.

Mitchell flied out to end the inning.

End of 1st: IU 0 Butler 0

 

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2nd inning:

T2nd:

It was the bottom of the order up for Butler.

Tonghini put them down in order to include two Ks. Stadler is behind the plate for this game with Tibbitts at 1st.

B2nd:

It was the 6 thru 8 hitters up with Oliver leading off.

Oliver hit a double to put a man in scoring position. Wiggins hit a hard liner that went right to the left fielder for the 1st out with Oliver holding at 2nd.

A groundout kept Oliver at 2nd with two outs. Stadler was hitting in the No. 9 spot and he walked on a full count to put runners on 1st and 2nd and the top of the order up.

Mathison lined out to 1B to end the inning.

End of 2nd: IU 0 Butler 0

 

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3rd inning:

T3rd:

Tonghini faced the top of the order with Dorighi up. He got the first out on a grounder.

Tonghini then gave up a solo homer as Butler takes their first lead of the day. That was the first homer Tonghini has given upon the season.

An infield single that was off the glove of Tonghini, put a runner on with one out.

A DP retired the side.

B3rd:

It's the 2 thru 4 hitters up with Cerny leading off. IU went down in order to include two Ks.

End of 3rd: Butler 1 IU 0

 

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4th inning:
T4th:
It was the 5 thru 7 hitters up for Butler and IU went to the bullpen to bring in LHP Brandon Keyster with an ERA of 5.00 in 9 IP and a WHIP 0f 0.89.

Keyster got back-to-back Ks for two outs. Keyster then gave up a two-out single. A groundout stranded the runner.

B4th:
It's the 5 thru 7 hitters up with Mitchell leading off. Mitchell fouled out to 3B.

Oliver walked on a 3-1 count. Wiggins also walked on a 3-1 count to put runners on 1st and 2nd and one out.

Pyne doubled to score Oliver to tie the game with runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out.

Butler went to the bullpen to bring in RHP Brett Sherrard with an ERA of 2.84 in 6.1 IP and a WHIP of 1.58.

Sherrard would face Stadler in the 9th spot. Stadler hit a SAC fly with Wiggins scoring to give iU the lead.

It was the top of the order up with Pyne at 2nd and two outs. Mathison was hit by a pitch to put runners on 1st and 2nd with Cerny up.

A balk moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Cerny hit a two-run double to make it 4-1 IU with a runner on 2nd and two outs.

Taylor walked on a full count to put runners on 1st and 2nd and two outs.

With Tibbitts up, Butler went to the bullpen again and brought in RHP Simon Linde with an ERA of 10.80 in 15.0 IP and a WHIP of 2.27.

Tibbitts flies out to the warning track to end the inning.

End of 4th: IU 4 Butler 1

 

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5th inning:

T5th:

It was the 9 thru 2 hitters up and Mercer brought in RHP Ethan Phillips with an ERA of 5.40 in 20 IP and a WHIP of 1.65.

Phillips Kd the leadoff hitter and we were at the top of the order with Dorighi up. Phillips walked Dorighi on four pitches. A single up the middle put two on and one out. Buhr was warming up in the bullpen.

A FC put runners on the corners with two outs.

Phillips almost pitched out of a jam, but he was caught sleeping with the runner on 1st stealing 2nd and the runner on 3rd stealing home for a run. A WP moved the runner to 3rd and a single scored that runner.

A groundout retired the side with IU up just 4-3.

B5th:

It's the 5 thru 7 hitters up with Mitchell leading off.

Mitchell grounded out and Oliver flied out for two outs. Wiggins walked on four pitches, but Pyne grounded out to end the inning.

End of 5th: IU 4 Butler 3

 

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6th inning:

T6th:

It was the 6 thru 8 hitters up for Butler and IU brought in RHP Drew Buhr with an ERA of 4.50 in 10.0 IP and a WHIP of 1.90.

Buhr got the first two batters on flyouts. He then gave up a walk on a 3-1 count with the No. 9 hitter up and two outs. Buhr got a K to retire the side.

B6th:

It's the 9 thru 2 hitters up for IU. Stadler walked on a full count to lead off.

With the top of the order up, Butler went to the bullpen again to bring in RHP Nick Miketinac with an ERA of 8.84 in 18.1 IP and a WHIP of 2.51.

Mathison grounded out with Stadler taking 2nd and one out.

Cerny flied out for the 2nd out with Stadler still at 2nd and Butler went to the bullpen again to bring in LHP Andrew Crumbley with an ERA of 7.27 in 8.2 IP and a WHIP of 1.73. With Taylor up, the move to the bullpen was probably to match a lefty vs lefty.

Back-to-back WPs moved Stadler all the way to home for a run.

Taylor walked on a full count to put a runner on with two outs. Taylor stole 2nd base with Tibbitts at the plate.

With a 3-0 count, they intentionally walked Tibbitts with Mitchell up and two runners on.

Mitchell grounded out to end the inning.

End of 6th: IU 5 Butler 3

 

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7th inning:

T7th:

Buhr faced the top of the order with Dorighi up. Buhr got a K on Butler's best hitter for the first out.

Buhr then faced the No. 2 hitter in the lineup in Urban who was 3 for 3 so far, and he singled to put a runner on with one out.

A hitter beat the shift and singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd and one out. Risedorph was warming up in the bullpen.

On a 2-2 count to the next batter, Mercer went to the bullpen to bring in RHP Braden Risedorph with an ERA of 9.15 in 20.2 IP and a WHIP of 1.55. There were runners on 1st and 2nd and one out.

Risedorph threw a ball for his first pitch to make it a full count, but he Kd the batter for the 2nd out.

Risedorph then gave up a two-RBI double to tie the game.

A flyout retired the side and the 2 thru 5 hitters for Butler have done all of the damage for the Bulldogs and they are 8 for 16 on the game.

B7th:

IU had their 6 thru 8 hitters up. IU continued to see Butler pitchers with elevated ERAs but they are not hitting them like they did in the first game.

Oliver singled to lead off. Wiggins Kd on three pitches looking. A DP ended the inning with one out called on runner interference.

End of 7th: IU 5 Butler 5

 

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8th inning:
T8th:
Risedorph put them down in order.
B8th:
Brenczewski came in to pinch hit for Stadler and he grounded out for the first out.

The top of the order was up and Mathison reached on a one-out error.

Butler went to the bullpen to bring in another lefty in LHP Cole Graverson with an ERA of 4.64 in 21.1 IP and a WHIP of 1.64.

Cerny grounded out with Mathison moving to 2nd and two outs.

Taylor was intentionally walked to put runners on 1st and 2nd and Tibbitts up with two outs.

On a close play with the ball hit off the glove of the pitcher and the pitcher recovered to get Tibbitts at 1st to end the inning.

End of 8th: IU 5 Butler 5

 

[Orford]

How can Risedorph be this bad??

 

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9th inning:

T9th:

Risedorph was back out there to face the top of the order which has absolutely killed us in this game. He gave up a leadoff walk to their best hitter on the season in Dorighi.

A SAC bunt moved the runner to 2nd and one out. They intentionally walked the next batter to put two on and one out.

A FC got the runner at 2nd for two outs with runners on the corners.

Risedorph then gave up a two-out, three run homer to give Butler the lead and you just had the feeling the way this game was going in the latter part of the game, that it was a matter of time before Butler grabbed the lead.

A flyout retired the side after the damage was done.

B9th:

Mitchell grounded out, Oliver singled, Wiggins flyout out, and Pyne fouled out to end a frustrating game for all concerned.

Final: Butler 8 IU 5

 

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How can Risedorph be this bad??

He has really regressed this season. Hindsight is always 20/20, but I had a bad feeling when he went out there for the 9th to face the part of the batting order that was hitting us all game long, and the homer with two outs was a no doubter.

 

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To go 2-2 against a pitching staff that came into the series with the biggest team ERA we will see this season at just under 10.00 has to give us a bad feeling going into the next four games with Indiana State and then a road series at Maryland. We should have taken at least 3 of 4 from Butler and I was expecting a sweep. Butler has to feel good about breaking even, and we should be really concerned over it.

We may have trouble winning any series in the B1G this season. With Maryland starting the season with a home record of 9-1, and they are 3-2 in the B1G right now with a game tomorrow at Michigan, we will be facing a team that has the 2nd best team ERA in the conference right now at 4.56. We got battered by Maryland last season at The Bart in losing all three games, and a lot of those players are gone as well as their head coach going to Alabama, but they seemed to have reloaded this season while maybe not being quite as good.

When Butler executed successfully that double steal in the 5th where Phillips fell asleep on the mound and Butler stole home, that seemed to energize the Bulldogs and they got a single after that to close within one run.

All we could do from the 5th inning on was to scratch out one run after two WPs brought a runner in from 2nd, and that was it.

Tonghini and Keyster pitched well through the first four innings, but the musical chairs with the bullpen pitchers didn't go well after the 4th with all three pitchers used in the 5th inning on, giving up at least 2 earned runs in short stints on the mound. Seven of the eight earned runs were given up from the 5th inning on.

We generated just 6 hits against pitchers with elevated ERAs as the Butler coach seemed to push all of the right buttons in using his six pitchers in the game. Cerny and Oliver had five of our six hits.

I hate to say it, but we may be sub .500 by the end of next weekend.

Here's the link to the box score:

Baseball vs Butler on 3/30/2024 - Box Score - Indiana University Athletics

The official box score of Baseball vs Butler on 3/30/2024

iuhoosiers.com

 

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Here are the scores from the B1G today.

OSU 12 Purdue 10

Neb 9 NW 5

Mich 12 MD 1

Iowa 14 Minn 6

MSU 5 Rutgers 2

Illinois 17 PSU 6 and Illinois 12 PSU 8 in a DH.

Illinois is off to a great start after taking the series from us and also sweeping PSU this weekend to go 5-1 right out of the gate in the conference. They now have back-to-back series with Minnesota and Northwestern, and they could be sitting pretty good after that schedule before things get tougher.

 

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A couple of quotes from Mercer after losing the 2nd game of the DH.

"The stumbling block for us at times is when we get emotional and frustrated," head coach Jeff Mercer said following the series split. "It's about being calm and executing and doing your job. We didn't do that enough. You do that and you look up and you're in a different game. It doesn't go well for us when we play (frustrated)."

"You see glimpses," Mercer said. "For me, you take the positives from (Friday) and the first game of the double-header and you just pick up and you move on and you learn the hard lesson. You hate to have to lose to learn."

 

[Next time]

They’ve had plenty of chances to ‘learn’ this season. When is he going to hold himself and the coaching staff accountable? Half these guys have played 3plus years in college. The frustrated and emotional can’t be an excuse at this point. The players are not performing when it matters, so it comes down to preparation, approach, or lack of talent. These guys are extremely talented, so why are they not prepared or lack the approach? The majority of this team met all three of these last year? What the heck has changed?