IU @ Michigan State, Game 3: IU survives 9th inning drama to win 6-5...

[ptrich]

IU has LHP Ty Bothwell on the mound with an ERA of 7.56 in 16.2 IP. IU has changed the batting order with Jessee moving into the No. 3 spot and Taylor into the No. 7 spot, and the rest of the lineup the same as in the first two games.

MSU has LHP Nick Powers on the mound with an ERA of 4.44 in 52.2 IP.

It's 58 degrees and cloudy with almost no chance of rain. Wind is NW at 11 mph.

1st Inning:

T1st:

Glasser grounded out to start the game and Whalen K'd for two outs. Jessee K'd to retire the side.

B1st:

The leadoff hitter reached on a single. A balk was called on Bothwell on a pickoff attempt to move the runner to 2nd, and IU is already off to a bad start with a mental error.

A pop up to Cerny kept the runner at 2nd and one out.

A GO moved the runner to 3rd with two outs. A grounder right up the middle bounced off the mound and went into CF to score a run and a runner on 1st and two outs.

Bothwell walked on a full count to put runners on 1st and 2nd and two outs. A pop up to Bothwell ended the inning.

MSU 1 IU 0

 

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2nd Inning:

T2nd:

It's the 4-6 hitters up with Tibbitts leading off and he popped out for the first out.

Mathison flied out short of the warning track for the 2nd out. Pyne grounded out to retire the side.

B2nd:

It's the bottom of the order up for MSU. Bothwell put them down in order.

MSU 1 IU 0

 

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3rd Inning:

T3rd:

It's the bottom of the order up and MSU went to the bullpen to bring in RHP Adam Berghorst with an ERA of 5.22 in 29.1 IP.

Taylor welcomed the new pitcher with a homer to RF to tie the game.

Cerny and Serruto grounded out for the first two outs. Glasser popped up to the SS to retire the side.

B3rd:

Bothwell faced the top of the order and he put them down in order. After a so-so 1st, Bothwell has had two straight really good innings.

IU 1 MSU 1

 

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4th Inning:

T4th:

It's the 2-4 hitters up and Whalen and Jessee both grounded out for two outs.

Tibbitts walked on a full count and Mathison walked on four pitches to put runners on 1st and 2nd and two outs.

Pyne took a strike three pitch to retire the side leaving two on.

B4th:

Bothwell is back out there to face the 4-6 hitters. The leadoff hitter reached on a bloop double that was popped up down the LF line and Glasser and Jessee couldn't corral it, and it could have been a mental error where the players weren't on the same page on that pop up.

A flyout to RF resulted in the first out with the runner holding at 2nd.

A deep flyout moved the runner to 3rd and two outs.

Bothwell got a K to end the inning, and that leadoff fluke bloop double did no damage.

IU 1 MSU 1

 

[TomEric4756]

Let’s save a split … at least … go Hoosiers

 

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5th Inning:

T5th:

With the bottom of the order up and Taylor leading off, MSU goes to the bullpen and brought in RHP Ryan Szczepaniak with an ERA of 7.67 in 27 IP.

For the second time in this game, Taylor welcomed a new pitcher out of the bullpen with a no doubt homer to right center to give IU the lead at 2-1.

Cerny doubled to put a runner in scoring position with no outs.

Serruto singled thru the left side to put runners on the corners with no outs and the top of the order up.

Glasser hit a SF to score Cerny to make it 3-1 with a runner at first and one out.

Whalen K'd on a check swing where he went too far for the 2nd out.

Jessee K'd to retire the side.

B5th:

Bothwell faced the 8 thru 1 hitters. The leadoff hitter reached on a grounder past Bothwell.

The runner on 1st stole 2nd. A pop up to shallow RF kept the runner at 2nd with one out.

It's the top of the order up with the hot hitting Frank up. Frank singled just past Cerny to put runners on the corners with one out and Frank is 6 of 12 (I believe) on the series.

Mercer goes to the bullpen bring in RHP Luke Hayden with an ERA of 8.66 in 17.2 IP, and Hayden has had control problems, but he pitched well in his last appearance.

Hayden got a huge K for two outs and the runners still on the corners.

Hayden then walked the next batter on a 3-1 count to load the bases with two outs.

A single scored a run, but the runner from 2nd was called out at the plate to end the inning. It was challenged, but the out was upheld. It took them very long to review and if it takes that long they should have upheld the call on the field, which they did.

IU 3 MSU 2

 

[hookyIU1990]

That's an out. No way they can overturn it.

 

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6th Inning:

T6th:

MSU went to the bullpen again and they brought in RHP Dominic Pianto with an ERA of 6.04 in 22.1 IP, and he faced the 4-6 hitters with Tibbitts leading off.

Tibbitts K'd looking to leadoff.

Mathison clubbed a no doubter homer 435 ft to CF that cleared the wall by a bunch to make it 4-2 IU with one out. Playing late night games in the first two games of the series with the cool to cold damp air, IU had no homers in those games.

Pyne walked and Taylor hit into a FC with Pyne out at 2nd for two outs. Cerny lined out to retire the side.

B6th:

Hayden was back out there to face the 5-7 hitters.

Hayden gave up back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners with no outs.

Hayden got a DP ball with a runner scoring and two outs with no one on.

This sixth inning has been kind to the Spartans as they have scored in that inning in all three games.

A GO ended the inning.

IU 4 MSU 3

 

[hookyIU1990]

Foley throwing hard. His 3rd strike for out #2 @97.

I do like the potential of these young guys.

 

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7th Inning:

T7th:

Serruto grounded out to leadoff. Glasser then singled and took 2nd on a WP with one out.

Whalen grounded out in a close play at 1st with Glasser taking 3rd and two outs.

Jessee flied out to retire the side.

B7th:

IU brought in RHP Connor Foley with an ERA of 3.63 in 22. IP and he faced the 9 thru 2 hitters and he put them down in order which included two Ks.

IU 4 MSU 3

 

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8th Inning:

T8th:

MSU brought in RHP Noah Matheny with an ERA of 6.75 in 29.1 IP.

Tibbitts and Mathison both singled with the latter a bunt as IU beat the radical shifts they have been employing in this game.

Pyne popped out on a bunt attempt for one out.

Taylor singled to score Tibbitts and Mathison taking 3rd with runners on the corners.

Cerny hit into a FC with Taylor out at 2nd and Mathison scored. Serruto K'd to retire the side.

B8th:

With Foley back out there, he faced the 3-5 hitters. Foley K'd the leadoff hitter.

Foley then walked the next batter on a 3-1 count with one out.

Foley then walked the next batter on a 3-2 count to put runners on 1st and 2nd and one out.

Foley then got a big K looking for two outs and the runners at 1st and 2nd.

On an 0-2 count, Foley hit a batter who was 0-3 on the day to load the bases with two outs.

Foley then got a K swinging to end the inning with no damage done.

IU 6 MSU 3

 

[HoosierJimbo89]

Where is the relief pitcher?

P.S. Nevermind, kind of, lol

 

[ptrich]

T9th:

MSU goes to the bullpen again and brought in RHP Brian Martin with an ERA of 7.27 in 8,2 IP, and he faced the top of the order with Glasser up. Glasser grounded out to 2B for the first out.

Whalen flied out for the 2nd out. Jessee singled to RF to put a runner on with two outs.

Tibbitts popped up to 2B to retire the side.

B9th:

Foley, who has never gone more than two innings in a game, was back out there to face the 9 thru 2 hitters.

The leadoff hitter singled up the middle to put a runner on and the dangerous Frank up.

Frank singled to put runners on the corners with no outs and the tying run at the place.

Foley then got the dangerous Farquhar on a big K for one out and the runners on the corners.

A double scored two runs with a runner on 2nd and one out. An intentional walk put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out.

Foley got a big K for two outs and runners still at 1st and 2nd.

Foley got another K to end the game, and while we stayed with Foley too long, he managed to finish the game, but not without drama.

IU salvaged the final game of the series to finish in 2nd place by themselves in the B1G and with the 2nd seed in the tournament. They also secured their 40th win on the season.

IU 6 MSU 5

 

[82IU]

Guess who we have to play the first game of the B1G Tournament? You guessed it... Sparty! Aarrgghh! LOL. Or at least I think they win the tiebreaker with Illinois to finish as the 7th Seed.
82

 

[ptrich]

Guess who we have to play the first game of the B1G Tournament? You guessed it... Sparty! Aarrgghh! LOL. Or at least I think they win the tiebreaker with Illinois to finish as the 7th Seed.
82

It's Illinois. Before the weekend series started, I saw that if Illinois tied MSU and Purdue at 12-12 they would have the tie breaker, so with the Illini tying MSU they get the No. 7 seed. We took 2 of 3 from the Illini in Champaign earlier.

 

[82IU]

It's Illinois. Before the weekend series started, I saw that if Illinois tied MSU and Purdue at 12-12 they would have the tie breaker, so with the Illini tying MSU they get the No. 7 seed. We took 2 of 3 from the Illini in Champaign earlier.

I guess I missed that. I was not looking forward to having to play Sparty again. Thanks for the info.
82

 

[ptrich]

IU finished the regular season at 40-16 and finished in 2nd place in the B1G with a 16-8 record. They are also as I post this at a RPI of 27 with games still going on, and that was where we were when we started the MSU series back on Thursday. Iowa had their rubber match against PSU canceled earlier in the season, and they finished a half game behind IU in the standings.

IU trailed through the first two innings 1-0, but then tied it in the third at 1-1 and took the lead for good in the 5th inning, but it sure got interesting in the 9th when Sparty got two runs to make 6-5 and had two on with one out. With the pressure on the freshman Foley, he got two straight Ks to preserve the win.

IU was outhit 11 to 10 and IU was 10 for 36 for a team average of .278, while the Spartans were 11 of 36 for .306.
IU had two hitters with a multi-hit game and it seemed that dropping Taylor to No. 7 in the batting order suited him just fine with a big game at the plate. Here are some stats.

Taylor: 3 for 4 with 2 homers, 3 RBIs, and 2 runs scored.
Mathison: 2 for 3 with a homer, a RBI and 2 runs scored.
Cerny: 1 for 4 with a double, a RBI and a run scored.
Glasser also had a hit with a RBI.

In a change from last night, IU had no errors as well as MSU.

As far as pitching goes, Bothwell had a so-so first inning, but then breezed through innings 2 thru 4, before being pulled in the 5th after putting a couple of runners on with one out. Hayden and Foley combined to finish out the game and they gave up three earned runs over the next 4.2 innings with a lot of drama in the 9th before Foley closed it out with two straight Ks.

Foley had never gone more than two innings in a game this season, so this was his longest outing yet, and he threw 69 pitches which was by far a season high for him. I would like to know the conversation going on between Mercer and Glant in keeping Foley out there. But it worked out in the end, and they got 40 wins out of this pitching staff against just 16 losses on the regular season, so I'm not going to complain about that decision. Here are the pitching stats and there were no WPs by Hoosier pitchers.

Bothwell: 4.1 IP, 5 hits to include a double, 2 runs both earned, 2 Ks, 1 BB, and a balk.
Hayden: 1.2 IP, 3 hits, 1 run earned, 1 K, and 1 BB.
Foley: 3.0 IP, 3 hits to include a double, 2 runs both earned, 8 Ks, 3 BBs, and 1 hitter batter.