B1G Tourney Elimination Game - A flat IU goes down to the Huskers, 10-4...

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First pitch is expected around 6:33 ET. A loss could be the end of IU's season, since an at-large bid could be out of reach even if the Huskers win the tournament.

RHP Julian Tonghini will be on the mound for IU with an ERA of 5.12 in 31.2 IP and a WHIP of 1.64 with an OBA of .264. IU has made some changes in the field with Colopy in LF in place of Taylor who will be the DH in this game. The batting order is Taylor (DH), Pyne and Mitchell at the top of the order with Cerny, Tibbitts and Mathison in the middle of the order, and Oliver, Stadler and Colopy at the bottom of the order. They iced Taylor's shoulder after he was pulled in the first game in the 8th inning.

RHP Drew Christo will be on the mound for the Huskers with an ERA of 4.91 in 51.1 IP and a WHIP of 1.17 with an OBA of .219.

1st inning:

T1st:

Taylor flied out to shallow center to open the game. Pyne singled on an infield hit with no one covering 1st.

Mitchell hit a liner to RF that the fielder couldn't control for an error and runners at 1st and 2nd with one out.

Cerny Kd looking for the 2nd out.

A WP moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd with Tibbitts up.

Tibbitts walked on a 3-1 count to load the bases with Mathison up.

Mathison Kd to retire the side and IU did the same in the earlier game when they had the bases loaded in the early innings. The only good thing about this inning is the Husker pitcher threw a lot of pitches.

B1st:

Tonghini got off to a good start by striking out the lead off hitter. Tonghini then hit a batter to put a runner on.

A WP moved the runner to 2nd. Tonghini then got a K looking for the 2nd out.

A high fly to center end the inning.

End of 1st: IU 0 UN 0

 

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2nd inning:

T2nd:

It's the bottom of the order up with Oliver leading off. Oliver hit a deep fly to RF that was caught just in front of the wall for the first out. Stadler grounded out.

Colopy hit a standup double to put a runner in scoring position and two outs with the top of the order up and Taylor at the plate. Taylor Kd swinging to retire the side.

B2nd:

Tonghini faced the 5 thru 7 hitters. Mathison and Mitchell came close to running into each other on a fly but it was caught by Mathison for the first out.

Tonghini then walked a batter on a full count. A deep fly to RF was the 2nd out. Tonghini then walked another batter on a full count after the batter had fouled a few pitches off and there were runners on 1st and 2nd and two outs.

Tonghini then hit a batter to load the bases with two outs and the top of the order up.

A double cleared the bases and just like that, the Huskers are up 3-0 and loading the bases on two walks and a hit batter came back to bite IU. For the 2nd straight game, IU has given up three runs after two outs to start off a game, with the three-run homer in the first game coming with two outs.

A K that came one batter too late, ended the inning.

End of 2nd: UN 3 IU 0

 

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3rd inning:

T3rd:

It's the 2 thru 4 hitters up. Pyne and Mitchell both singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs.

Cerny flied out to CF for the 1st out.

Tibbitts singled with Pyne scoring to make it 3-1 UN and one out with runners at 1st and 2nd.

Mathison and Oliver both flied out and IU had stranded six runners so far in the game.

B3rd:

Josh Caron who single handedly beat IU in the earlier game with two homers and four RBIs, hit another homer as the Huskers got the run back and it was 4-1. IU had outhit the Huskers so far, 5 to 2, but are down 4-1.

A grounder got the first out. Tonghini then gave up a one-out single. On attempted steal, Stadler gunned down the runner at 2nd for two outs.

Tonghini then walked a batter on a 3-1 count. A grounder ended the inning,

End of 3rd: UN 4 IU 1

 

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4th inning:

T4th:

It was the 8 thru 1 hitters up and Stadler leading off. Stadler lined out to CF for the first out. Colopy went down on a K for the 2nd out, and this was starting to look like the first game where IU made good contact with the ball early in the game with almost no results and then couldn't hardly do anything at the plate as the game progressed.

Taylor grounded out to retire the side.

B4th:

It was the 8 thru 1 hitters up and IU brought in RHP Jacob Vogel with an ERA of 1.69 in 21.1 IP and a WHIP of 1.08. Vogel got the leadoff hitter on a grounder.

Vogel then gave up a double that looked like it was going to be a single and there was one out.

A grounder to Vogel got the batter at 1st with the runner taking 3rd and two outs. A flyout ended the inning.

End of 4th: UN 4 IU 1

 

[82IU]

What a disappointing ending to a beautiful Saturday. Turn out the lights the party's over.
82

 

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5th inning:

T5th:

It's the 2 thru 4 hitters up with Pyne leading off. Pyne Kd swinging to lead off. Mitchell flied out for the 2nd out. Cerny flied out just in front of the warning track and IU went down in order for the 2nd straight inning.

B5th:

Vogel faced the 3 thru 5 hitters with the Hoosier-killer Caron leading off. Vogel threw three straight pitches to the outside and then got two strikes on him before walking him on a full count.

Vogel got a K for the first out and then he gave up a two-run homer to make it 6-1 Huskers, and with the way IU is hitting or maybe it should be not hitting the ball, this game may be over even with four more innings to go. Four of Nebraska's six runs have come from three walks and a hit batter.

IU brought in LHP Ryan Kraft with an ERA of 7.25 in 22.1 IP and a WHIP of 1.88.

Kraft got back-to-back Ks to end the inning.

End of 5th: UN 6 IU 1

 

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6th inning:

T6th:

The Huskers went to the bullpen and brought in RHP Kyle Froehlich with an ERA of 4.91 in 18.1 IP and a WHIP of 1.36.

Tibbitts Kd looking on three pitches. Mathison got an infield single with the ball went off the pitcher's leg and it looked like the it was a tie at 1st, but the Huskers challenged it.

Oliver flied out to RF for the 2nd out and Mathison still at 1st. Stadler flied out just in front of the wall in RF to retire the side.

B6th:

Kraft faced the 8 thru 1 hitters. The leadoff hitter walked on a 3-1 count. A groundout got the first out.

A double scored the walk to make it 7-1 and five of the Huskers runs have come from 4 walks and a hit batter as they have gotten the clutch hits when needed even though the hits are six apiece right now.

On a throw down to 2nd on a pickoff attempt, Cerny was called for interference for blocking the runner's path back to the bag and he was awarded 3B with IU challenging the call and the call was upheld.

Kraft got a K for the 2nd out with the runner a 3rd. With the Hoosier-killer Caron up, IU intentionally walked him to put runners on the corners with two outs.

Kraft got a K to end the inning.

End of 6th: UN 7 IU 1

 

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7th inning:

T7th:

It was the 9 thru 2 hitters up with Colopy leading off. Colopy Kd swinging to lead off.

Taylor singled to put a runner on with one out. Pyne fouled out for the 2nd out.

Mitchell was hit by a pitch to put runners at 1st and 2nd and two outs.

Cerny singled to score Taylor and Tibbitts grounded out to retire the side with UN up 7-2.

B7th:

Kraft faced the 6 thru 8 hitters. The leadoff hitter reached on a single. On a grounder, all Tibbitts had to do was tag the runner out at 1st but the ball came out of his glove when he tagged him for an error and runners at 1st and 2nd with no outs.

An infield pop up got the first out with the runners still at 1st and 2nd. A FC got the runner at 2nd with runners on the corners with two outs.

A two-out, RBI single gave UN an 8-2 lead, and then an error by Cerny when a ball got through him, scored another run to make it 9-2 with both runs scored in the inning being unearned with the two errors by IU>

RHP Ethan Phillips came in for Kraft and he got a K to finally end a bad inning for IU fielding.

End of 7th: UN 9 IU 2

 

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8th inning:

T8th:

It was the 6 thru 8 hitters up with the Huskers going to the bullpen. Mathison fouled out and Oliver grounded out for two outs.

Stadler was hit by a pitch to put a runner on with two outs. Burckel came in to pinch run for Stadler. Taylor grounded out to retire the side.

B8th:

Phillips faced the 3 thru 5 hitters and Schuyler taking over behind the plate. Phillips got the leadoff hitter on an infield pop up. Phillips then gave up a solo homer to make it 10-2.

Mercer was unloading his bullpen now and brought in Ty Rybarczyk to get some season ending throws in.

Two more runs and the game will be over on the run rule with there currently being one out.

A single put a runner on with one out. A double put runners on 2nd and 3rd.

Rybarczyk then got back-to-back Ks to end the inning and to avoid a run rule end to the game in what was already an embarrassing game for IU to end their season.

End of 8th: UN 10 IU 2

 

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9th inning:

T9th:

It's the 2 thru 4 hitters up for IU with Pyne leading off in what may the last at-bats for the season.

Pyne Kd to leadoff. Mitchell singled to put a man on.

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

Tibbitts grounded out for the 2nd out with the runners moving to 2nd and 3rd.

A WP scored Mitchell to make it 10-3. Mathison hit a ground rule double off the top of the left center wall to score another run.

Oliver grounded out to end the game and probably IU's season.

Final: UN 10 IU 4

 

[82IU]

We should have a solid nucleus of players coming back for next year... that is if we don't lose a bunch of key players to the Portal. I can see the Northern Schools becoming a minor league for the SEC and ACC.
82

 

[82IU]

Give credit to Nebraska's pitchers. They kept getting ahead of the batters in both games and made us defensive hitters. Josh Caron was an IU killer in the 5 games we played them.
82

 

[ptrich]

We should have a solid nucleus of players coming back for next year... that is if we don't lose a bunch of key players to the Portal. I can see the Northern Schools becoming a minor league for the SEC and ACC.
82

It's going to be an interesting off season with the MLB draft and the portal which for baseball this season, starts June 3rd and runs to July 2nd, and that's per the NCAA. A player can enter the portal at any time but they have to enter within that parameter to be eligible to play next season. The MLB draft is during July 14th thru the 16th.

Yes, the B1G lost a few high-level players to both the SEC and the ACC last season and we had two starters that ended up in the ACC in Whalen and Ellis, although Ellis missed something like the last 40 games to injury with Serruto finishing out the season, so it was like we never had Ellis on the roster for that season. We also lost Hunter Jessee to Cincy in a move to get closer to home.

 

[Bucket Getter]

Time for a change. Mercer has had a chance and driven it into the ground. Too much talent for this shit show of a season.

 

[Next time]

I haven’t posted since early in the season because I was skeptical of all the hype and press, but hoped Mercer was going to prove me wrong. Unfortunately, he didn’t. He’s had two magical seasons during his tenure (1st year and last year) both with extremely veteran clubs. The years he hasn’t had multiple seniors both in the field and on the mound, they have sputtered at the end and fell short in conference play.
It’s hard to win, but man it seems like Mercer can get the talent in, but not sure about the balance between the veterans and development of the youth once they get here, especially on the mound.
I hope all these guys return, but I said the same thing after last years run. We could have returned 7 of 9 in the line up, with Ellis making it 8 of 9. This year Josh, Carter, Nick, Tyler, and Brock could go. You have to assume a few will which scares me based on my previous point about Mercer’s need for seniors. And, I’m not counting the pitchers.
This is my only rant on underperforming. On to recruiting and seeing who’s going to return and who’s going to continue their journey somewhere else.

 

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For what was on the line, it baffled me how lousy IU played today and especially in the last game when it was do or die on the season. There is no use to go through the numbers since IU had to win the tournament or the season was finished, and they didn't show up today. I thought that maybe if they made the championship game, they might have a chance to sneak into the Field of 64, but I thought it would be a slim chance for that to happen.

The omen that we were going to have a hard time in the last game today came when we had the bases loaded in the 1st and couldn't get that clutch hit. Yet, when the Huskers loaded the bases in the 2nd after Tonghini walked two batters and hit a batter with two outs, and the Huskers got a bases clearing double. They outhit us by one, 11 to 10, but they got the clutch hits when needed and we didn't. At one point when the Huskers were up 7-1, we actually had more hits than they did, but we were down six runs. Like in the first game, our hitting got worse as the game progressed.

We can also look at midweek losses to Purdue Ft Wayne and Evansville which helped drag our RPI down.

Now it's on to watching what happens with the draft and the portal.

Here's the box score:

Baseball vs #2 Nebraska on 5/25/2024 - Box Score - Indiana University Athletics

The official box score of Baseball vs #2 Nebraska on 5/25/2024

iuhoosiers.com