Penn St @ IU, Game 1: Toothless IU gives up seven homers in 15-4 home drubbing...

[ptrich]

LHP Ty Bothwell is on the mound for IU with an ERA of 4.87 in 40.2 IP and a WHIP of 1.23 with an OBA of .245. The batting order is pretty much the same as in recent games with the exception of Pyne who is batting 8th and Bode who is batting 9th as the DH.

RHP Travis Luensmann is on the mound for PSU with an ERA of 4.86 in 37.0 IP and a WHIP of 1.51 with an OBA of .200. The Nittany Lions have four lefties at the 1 thru 4 batting order and follow that with four righties with a lefty in the 9th position. The first four in the batting order are hitting .321, .380, .424, and .347.

As I post this, it's partly sunny with a temp of 56 with the wind at WNW at 8 mph with gusts up to 18 mph.

1st inning:

T1st:

Bothwell gave up a solo homer to open the game. The shift on the next batter didn't work as the batter singled where Cerny would normally be, and still no outs.

Another single put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Another single scored a run with runners on the corners with no outs, and Bothwell had given up four consecutive hits.

A DP ball scored another run to make it 3-0 with two outs and the bases empty. A grounder retired the side.

B2nd:

IU's bats better be hot for this game with the hot hitting PSU team already having plated three runs.

Mathison grounded out to the pitcher. Oliver Kds for two outs. Taylor flied out and IU went down in order.

End of 1st: PSU 3 IU 0

 

[ptrich]

2nd inning:

T2nd:

Bothwell faced the bottom of the order and he had already thrown 31 pitches in the game.

Bothwell got the first two batters on a flyout and a K. A flyout to the warning track retired the side.

B2nd:

It's the middle of the order up for IU with Cerny leading off. Cerny walked on a full count for IU's first base runner of the game.

Mitchell Kd for the first out. A bunt by Brenczewski moved Cerny to 2nd and two outs.

Stadler singled up the middle to score Cerny from 2nd.

A base hit by Pyne put runners at 1st and 2nd and two outs with the No. 9 hitter up in DH Bode.

Bode Kd swinging to end the inning.

End of 2nd: PSU 3 IU 1

 

[ptrich]

3rd inning:

T3rd:

Bothwell faced the top of the order that hit him hard in the 1st. The leadoff hitter reached on an error by Oliver who bobbled a grounder.

The next batter grounded out for the first out and the runner on first was able to return to 1st on a misplayed DP attempt.

The error came back to haunt IU as the next batter hit a two-run homer to make it 5-1 and PSU's hot hitting from last weekend has continued at The Bart.

Bothwell got a K for two outs, but then hit a batter to put a runner on. A groundout retired the side.

B3rd:

It was the top of the order up with Mathison leading off. Mathison walked on a 3-1 count.

An infield single by Oliver put runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs.

Taylor had a 3-1 count but ended up striking out for the 1st out.

Cerny lined out to the SS for two outs and runners still at 1st and 2nd. On an infield single by Mitchell, an error on a throw to 3B scored Mathison with runners at 2nd and 3rd and two outs with the run unearned.

Brenczewski Kd to end the inning.

End of 3rd: PSU 5 IU 2

 

[ptrich]

4th inning:

T4th:

Bothwell faced the bottom of the order. Bothwell was at 51 pitches.

Bothwell Kd the leadoff hitter. A single put a man on. A groundout got the 2nd out with the runner moving to 2nd.

We are at the top of the order and the first four batters in the batting order are 5 for 8 right now with two homers.

A flyout retired the side.

B4th:

It's the bottom of the order up with Stadler leading off. Stadler grounded out and there was a review of the play with the play upheld for the first out.

Pyne flied out for the 2nd out. Bode Kd to end the inning.

End of 4th: PSU 5 IU 2

 

[ptrich]

5th inning:

T5th:

Bothwell faced the 2 thru 4 batters. A leadoff homer put the lead at 6-2 and it was the 3rd homer hit from the top four hitters in the PSU batting order.

Bothwell got a flyout for the first out. Another homer, a solo shot, made it 7-2. PSU is seeing the ball well while IU hitters are not right now. IU pitching leads the B1G in homers given up.

Bothwell then walked the next batter on a 3-1 count with Moffitt warming up in the bullpen and one out.

Bothwell then gave up his 3rd homer of the inning, a two-run shot, to make it 9-2 with still one out.

IU finally pulled Bothwell and after two straight good starts, he couldn't handle the hot hitting PSU batting order. The way IU has been hitting the ball in this game, the lead looks almost impossible to make up.

RHP Jack Moffitt came in with an ERA of 5.29 in 17 IP and a WHIP of 1.41. Moffitt got a groundout for the 2nd out and no one on. Another groundout finally retired the side.

B5th:

It was the top of the order up for IU with Mathison leading off. Mathison grounded out to the pitcher for the first out and it was the 2nd time in the game he had grounded out to the pitcher.

Another groundout resulted in the 2nd out. Another groundout ended the inning and IU failed to get the ball out of the infield in this inning.

End of 5th: PSU 9 IU 2

 

[ptrich]

6th inning:

T6th:

Moffitt faced the 9 thru 2 batters. Moffitt walked the leadoff hitter on a 3-1 count. It was the top of the order up for PSU and a FC got the runner at 2nd for the first out.

A double put runners at 2nd and 3rd and one out as the top of the order continued to batter IU pitching.

A SAC fly scored a run and then a single scored another run with two outs and it was 11-2 PSU.

Another homer which was a 2-run shot gave PSU a 13-2 lead as IU is getting embarrassed on their home field and they are still looking for the elusive 3rd out. A K finally retired the side as IU continued to have no answer for the upper half of PSU's batting order.

B6th:

The PSU starter faced the middle of the order with Cerny leading off.

Cerny flied out, and Mitchell and Brenczewski both Kd as IU went down in order to end the inning.

End of 6th: PSU 13 IU 2

 

[ptrich]

7th inning:

T7th:

RHP Eli Shaw came in for Moffitt and he Kd the first two batters faced. A pop up in the infield was botched by Pyne for an error with the runner thrown out trying to take 2nd to retire the side.

B7th:

It was the bottom of the order up and Stadler grounded out.

Pyne, Wiggins pinch hitting for Bode, and Mathison all walked to load the bases. Oliver singled on a fly ball that appeared to be lost in the lights by the outfield, to score a run. With the bases still loaded, Taylor reached on a FC with another run scoring and runners on the corners with two outs.

Cerny flied out to end the inning.

End of 7th: PSU 13 IU 4

 

[ptrich]

8th inning"

T8th:

The top of the 8th went like this RHP Ryan Rushing on the mound.

Walk
single
FC for an out
WP
SAC fly scoring a run with two outs.
A K retired the side.

B8th:

IU went down in order..

End of 8th: PSU 14 IU 4

 

[ptrich]

9th inning:

T9th:

RHP Seth Benes came in for Rushing and he gave up a leadoff solo homer. He then got to Ks and a groundout to retire the side.

B9th:

Pyne walked to leadoff. Wiggins Kd, Mathison popped out, and Oliver Kd to end the game.

Final: PSU 15 IU 4

 

[rcaulfie]

So I go to IU's site to see who won, and the most recent baseball article is titled "Indiana Baseball Starting to Find It's Groove" and then I see the score. What a joke.

 

[ptrich]

The good feeling we had after we easily beat Maryland in the first two games of that road series, went poof in the last two games. We were a complete no show in the final game at Maryland where we had just three hits and four of the five runs scored in the game being unearned after an error. Today, we were simply never in it, with Bothwell getting jumped on in the first inning and the Nittany Lions never looked back.

IU is now 10-9 at The Bart after losing just four games all last season there. Right now, we are a combined 13-10 against Q3 and Q4 teams, and we are currently 8-5 against Q4 teams after going unbeaten against them last season. Penn St came in as a Q4 team and they still are after drubbing us tonight.

IU managed just 5 hits tonight and one of those came after an outfielder lost the ball in the lights. We were outhit 14-5 and we were 5 for 31 for a team average .161 after we hit for a team average of just .139 against Maryland in the last game there. Maryland was 14 of 39 for .359 and half of their hits were homers.

Oliver was the only IU hitter with multiple hits and he went 2 for 5 with 1 RBI. IU struck out 11 times.

IU tacked on two more errors on their total for the season while PSU had one error.

Bothwell came into the game after having two straight good starts, but the Nittany Lions teed off on him right at the start with him giving up a homer to the first batter he saw. Fourteen of the 15 runs scored by PSU were earned, and of the five pitchers used, only Shaw did not give up an earned run, with Bothwell going 4.1 IP.

Bothwell - 4.1 IP, 9 hits to include 5 homers and 8 earned runs, 3 Ks, 1 BB, and a hit batter.

Moffitt - 1.2 IP, 3 hits to include a double and a homer, 4 earned runs, 1 K, and 1 BB.

Shaw - 1.0 IP, no hits or earned runs, 2 Ks, and no BBs.

Rushing - 1.0 IP, 1 hit and 1 earned run, 1 K, 1 BB, and 1 WP.

Benes - 1.0 IP, 1 hit to include a homer and 1 earned run, 2 Ks, and no BBs.

 

[ptrich]

Other scores from the B1G tonight:

NW 6 Maryland 5 (10 inn)

Purdue 7 MSU 2

Rutgers 7 Neb 6

OSU 8 Iowa 5

Illinois 15 N. Illinois 5

Michigan/Minnesota were idle with a doubleheader scheduled for tomorrow.

 

[Im4iu89]

Thanks Ptrich for all your coverage! Our pitching is atrocious. If we do not score over 12 runs in a game, we do not win. This is on Coach! Has not developed pitching in all his years here.

 

[Orford]

Thanks Patrick for all your coverage! Our pitching is atrocious. If we do not score over 12 runs in a game, we do not win. This is on Coach! Has not developed pitching in all his years here.

Have to agree with that