IU@ Cincy: IU 11 UC 4. IU ends four-game losing streak...

[ptrich]

LHP Grant Holderfield is on the mound for IU with an ERA of 4.66 in 29 IP, and Cincy is starting LHP Carter Earls with an ERA of 5.79 in 4.2 IP. IU beat Cincy 7-0 at The Bart back in March.

In the 1st, IU goes down in order.

In UC's 1st, Holderfield gets the leadoff hitter on a ground out and the next batter on a flyout, but the next batter hit a homer to LF on an 0-2 count to give Cincy the lead at 1-0. Holderfield then gives up a single to the OF, but a ground out ends the 1st. The guy that hit the homer in Griffin Merritt is a hitter they have to be careful with since he has 14 homers on the season which leads their conference, and is two more than Ellis who leads the B1G.

Added note: Rutgers had their 16-game winning streak snapped today as their midweek pitchers lost to Princeton, 9-7.

 

[ptrich]

In the 2nd, Ellis leads off with a walk. Tibbetts, who has been in a mini slump, hit a two-run homer down the LF line to make it 2-1, IU. Mathison and Murrison ground out for two outs. Doanes then singles with two outs. Freshman Max Johnson, who is playing at SS in place of Glasser, walked in his first at-bat of the season for IU to put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs, but Whalen pops out to end the 2nd for IU.

In UC's 2nd, Holderfield walks the leadoff batter. A ground out gets the lead runner at 2nd and a flyout keeps the runner at 1st with two outs. A base hit puts runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. A ground out to Holderfield ends the inning.

 

[ptrich]

In the 3rd, Jessee reached on a throwing error by the pitcher. Pyne flies out for the 1st out. Ellis then walks for the 2nd time today to put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out, and Cincy goes to their bullpen to bring in RHP Zack Segal with an ERA of 7.92 in 30.2 IP. Tibbetts then hits into a DP to end IU's 3rd. The DP ball has been a friend of our opponents far more than it's been a friend to us.

In UC's 3rd, IU brings in RHP Luke Hayden with an ERA of 8.38 in 9.2 IP. A grounder hit Hayden in the leg but he is able to recover and throw the runner out for the first out. Hayden then struck out Cincy's power hitter Griffen Merritt who hit the 1st inning homer, for the 2nd out. Hayden then got another K to put Cincy down in order in the 3rd and Hayden looks sharp in his first inning out there.

 

[ptrich]

In the 4th, Mathison hits a leadoff homer to RF to give IU the lead at 3-1. Murrison strikes out for the first out. Doanes then hits a solo homer to LF to make it 4-1, IU, with one out. Johnson then grounds out for the 2nd out. IU is 3rd in the B1G in homers so far on the season. Whalen flies out to end a productive inning for IU.

In UC's 4th, Hayden walks the leadoff man. The runner on 1st takes 2nd on a WP. Hayden then walked the next batter, but the runner on 2nd was caught stealing 3rd for the 1st out, and we have a runner on 1st with one out. A flyout and a ground out ends the inning as Hayden recovers nicely from a shaky start to the inning.

 

[ptrich]

In the 5th, Cincy goes to their bullpen and brings in LHP Evan Kemp with an ERA of 2.45 in 7.1 IP. Jessee and Pyne open the inning with singles to put runners on the corners with no outs. Ellis flies out but it's not deep enough to score Jessee from 3rd. Tibbetts walks to load the bases with one out. Mathison is then hit by a pitch to bring in a run to make it 5-1 and that chases the pitcher with Cincy going to the bullpen again bringing in RHP Jackson Murphy with an ERA of 5.62 in 16 IP. Murrison is then hit by a pitch which brings in another run to make it 6-1. Like IU, Cincy leads their conference in hit batters so it's good that it's the Bearcats having that problem today and not IU so far. A walk scores another run to make it 7-1 with the bases still loaded and one out. An attempted pickoff at first by the catcher goes into RF to score another run making it 8-1 with runners advancing to 2nd and 3rd with one out. Johnson and Whalen then struck out to end IU's 5th and Cincy had one of those innings that IU has had several of this season when nothing went right for the most part.

In Cincy's 5th, the leadoff hitter reaches on a single and Cincy is at the top of the order. A fielder's choice gets the runner at 2nd for the first out with a runner on 1st. Hayden gets the second out on a flyout. The runner steals 2nd with two outs. A ground out ends the inning as Hayden continues to hold down Cincy over 3 innings.

 

[ptrich]

In the 6th, UC goes to their bullpen again with RHP Ben Vore with an ERA of 6.10 in 10.1 IP. Jessee leads off with a pop out to 3B. Pyne then walks to put a man on with one out. Cincy then turns their 2nd DP of the game to end IU's 6th.

In Cincy's 6th, Hayden remains on the mound. Hayden walks the leadoff batter and this is the third straight inning that the leadoff man has reached (two walks and a single) against Hayden. A potential DP ball was bobbled by Doanes who gets the runner at 2nd, and there is a runner on 1st with two outs. A ground out ends the inning as Hayden continues to pitch well except for a shaky start to the 4th that he pitched out of.

 

[ptrich]

In the 7th, Tibbetts hits a fly to the warning track for the first out. Mathison then walks to put a man on with one out. Mathison stole 2nd, and Murrison popped out for two outs. Doanes flies out to end IU's 7th and we are at the 7th inning stretch.

In Cincy's 7th, LHP Ryan Kraft replaces Hayden and he has an ERA of 7.96 in 26 IP. Kraft gets the first two batters on Ks, but then gives up a double with two outs, and the double is just the 2nd hit by Cincy since the 2nd inning. He then walks a batter on four pitches to put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs and we have Cincy's power hitter up in Griffen Merritt. A flyout ends the inning.

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

In the 5th, Cincy goes to their bullpen and bring in LHP Evan Kemp with an ERA of 2.45 in 7.1 IP. Jessee and Pyne open the inning with singles to put runners on the corners with no outs. Ellis flies out but it's not deep enough to score Jessee from 3rd. Tibbetts walks to load the bases with one out. Mathison is then hit by a pitch to bring in a run to make it 5-1 and that chases the pitcher with Cincy going to the bullpen again bringing in RHP Jackson Murphy with an ERA of 5.62 in 16 IP. Murrison is then hit by a pitch which brings in another run to make it 6-1. Like IU, Cincy leads their conference in hit batters so it's good that it's the Bearcats having that problem today and not IU so far. A walk scores another run to make it 7-1 with the bases still loaded and one out. An attempted pickoff at first by the catcher goes into RF to score another run making it 8-1 with runners advancing to 2nd and 3rd with one out. Johnson and Whalen then struck out to end IU's 5th and Cincy had one of those innings that IU has had several of this season when nothing went right for the most part.

In Cincy's 5th, the leadoff hitter reaches on a single and Cincy is at the top of the order. A fielder's choice gets the runner at 2nd for the first out with a runner on 1st. Hayden gets the second out on a flyout. The runner steals 2nd with two outs. A ground out ends the inning as Hayden continues to hold down Cincy over 3 innings.

was there carnival/Benny Hill music playing while UC was in the field that half inning?

 

[ptrich]

In the 8th, Johnson leads off with a walk for his 2nd walk of the game. Whalen flies out with Johnson holding at 1st. Jessee then singles to CF to put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out and Cincy goes to the bullpen to bring in their 6th pitcher of the game in RHP Chase Hopewell who has an ERA of 16.20 in 11.2 IP. Hopewell comes in averaging almost two earned runs an inning, so he has struggled, but he has no problem with Pyne as he strikes him out looking on an 0-2 count. Ellis grounds out to end IU's 8th, as a struggling Hopewell easily puts down IU's scoring threat.

In UC's 8th, Kraft remains on the mound. The leadoff man grounded out and Kraft then gave up a triple. Kraft then got a big K, his 3rd so far, to keep the runner at 3rd. A single managed to sneak through the infield to CF to score the run with a runner on 1st and two outs. Kraft then walks the next batter to put a runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. With Kraft it seems to be feast or famine in this outing as he seems to either get Ks or gives up extra base hits (double and triple) or walks. Kraft has done a little bit of everything as he hits the next batter to load the bases, and Mercer goes to the bullpen to bring in RHP Reese Sharp with an ERA of 10.20 in 30 IP. While Sharp has 43 Ks on the season he has also given up 7 homers and is averaging over one earned run an inning at 34, although the runners he is inheriting belong to Kraft. The good Sharp shows up and strikes out his man on three pitches to end the threat.

 

[ptrich]

was there carnival/Benny Hill music playing while UC was in the field that half inning?

I wasn't really paying any attention to it, but it was probably appropriate for that inning if that's what it was.

 

[ptrich]

In the 9th, UC has gone to the bullpen again to bring in little used LHP Andrew Neff with an ERA of 13.50 in 1.1 IP. Tibbetts opens the inning with a double. Mathison strikes out for the first out. Murrison reaches on a throwing error by the SS as IU has runners on the corners with one out. Doanes bunts to the pitcher for the 2nd out with Tibbetts remaining at 3rd and Murrison moving to 2nd. Johnson walks for the 3rd time today to load the bases with two outs. Whalen then clears the bases with a double to make it 11-2 as all three runs are unearned because of the error. Whalen then steals 3rd. A ground out ends IU's 9th.

In UC's 9th, Sharp walks the leadoff man. Sharp then gets a shallow pop out for the first out and then gives up his 8th homer of the season, a 2-run shot that was crushed to CF and had to clear a tall wall out there which makes it 11-4. Sharp gets a ground out for the 2nd out and a K to end the game.

 

[ptrich]

IU goes into the Husker series at Bart Kaufman on a positive note. They outhit Cincy 9 to 8 and Cincy helped out with 3 errors, 2 hit batters, and 9 BBs. Jessee, Tibbetts, and Doanes all had two hits apiece, while Whalen went 1 for 6 with a double that cleared the bases for 3 RBIs. Tibbetts, Mathison, and Doanes all had homers. Hayden got the win. The pitching was pretty good with the exception of Sharp's 9th, although Sharp came in to get a K in the 8th with the bases loaded to end a threat.

Added: I mentioned that Sharp did not have a good 9th, but I should mention that Kraft's 8th wasn't much better, and it was ironically Sharp who ended up getting IU out of Kraft's jam.