Bellarmine @ IU, Game 4: IU survived shaky 9th to get the sweep, 3-2...

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It's RHP Seti Manase on the mound for IU with an ERA of 1.04 in 8.2 IP.

The Knights have LHP Gavin Braunecker on the mound with an ERA of 15.43 in 7 IP.

It is 36 degrees at game time with the expected high to reach 45, but that has a ways to go.

1st Inning:

T1st:

Manase got the first hitter on a flyout and then K'd the next batter who reached on a WP on the K. Two Ks sandwiched around a single retired the side, so Manase had to get four outs in this inning.

B1st:

Glasser K'd to lead off and Jessee singled to a runner on. Whalen then flied out and Mathison K'd to end the inning.

 

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2nd Inning:

T2nd:

Manase got the leadoff hitter 0n a GO. He then walked a batter after having a 1-2 count. IU then just missed on a DP ball, getting the runner at 2nd for two outs and a man on 1st. Pyne then snagged a line drive which may have saved a run to retire the side.

B2nd:

It's the 5-7 hitters up for IU with Tibbitts up. IU has Ellis behind the plate and Taylor is the DH again today. Tibbitts flied out. Pyne grounded out for two outs. After going 4-4 yesterday, Taylor K'd to end the inning.

 

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3rd Inning:

T3rd:

It's the top of the order up for the Knights. Manase had a clean inning putting them down in order and he had two K's in the inning.

B3rd:

It's the 8, 9, and 1 hitters up for IU. A slumping Ellis K'd on three pitches to lead off.

Cerny singled to bring up the top of the order in Glasser with one out.

Glasser then singled through the infield to put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out.

A WP moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd with one out.

Jessee grounded out to score Cerny with Glasser taking 3rd and two outs with IU up 1-0.

Whalen K'd to end the inning with IU up 1-0.

 

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4th Inning:

T4th:

The leadoff hitter doubled to left center. A grounder to 3b held the runner at 2nd for the 1st out. Manase K'd the next batter with the runner on 2nd stealing 3rd and two outs. Another K retired the side with the leadoff double doing no damage.

B4th:

It's the 4-6 hitters up for IU. IU goes down in order to end the inning.

 

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5th Inning:

T5th:

Manase is back out on the mound to face the 8, 9, and 1 hitters. The leadoff hitter grounded out. The next batter walked on a full count and Manase has gone full on the first two hitters with one out and a man on 1st.

Mercer pulled Manase and brought in RHP Evan Whiteaker who has yet to give up a run in 7 IP. A grounder gets the runner at 2nd on a FC with a runner at 1st and two outs. A flyout retires the side.

B5th:

It's the bottom of the order up for IU. The Knights starting pitcher is still out there and he came into the game with a bloated ERA, but IU hasn't done much against him so far.

Taylor singled to lead off but Ellis hits into a DP for two outs and no one on.

Cerny tripled to right center with two outs.

Glasser grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning and that DP really hurt IU in this inning.

 

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6th Inning:

T6th:

Whiteaker put them down in order.

B6th:

Jessee reached on an infield hit. Whalen flied out and Mathison fouled out for two outs with Jessee still at 1st.

Tibbitts singled to CF to put runners on 1st and 2nd and two outs with Pyne up. Pyne grounded out to end the inning.

 

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7th Inning:

T7th:

Whiteaker faced the bottom of the order. Whiteaker put them down in order to include two K's.

B7th:

It's the 7th inning stretch time and it's the bottom of the order up for IU. The starting pitcher is still on the mound for the Knights and he is at 80 pitches.

Taylor grounded out for the first out.

Ellis singled down the RF line and Murrison came in to pinch run for Ellis with one out and Cerny up.

Cerny singled and took 2nd on the throw with Murrison to 3rd and one out, and that was it for the Bellarmine starter as they go to the bullpen. The Knights brought in RHP David Ecklar to face Glasser and Ecklar has an ERA of 6.08 in 13.1 IP.

Glasser scored Murrison on a SF to make it 2-0, IU with two outs.

Jessee reached on an error by 2B, with Cerny scoring an unearned run to make it 3-0.

Jessee stole 2nd and then reached 3rd on an error by the catcher.

Whalen grounded out to end the inning with IU up 3-0..

 

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8th Inning:

T8th:

Whiteaker walked the leadoff batter and Mercer goes to the bullpen in LHP Ryan Kraft with a 2.45 ERA in 11 IP.

Kraft will face the top of the order with a man on and no outs. Kraft got a K for the first out with the runner still at 1st.

A FC gets the runner at 2nd with a runner on 1st and two outs. It was close to being a DP ball.

Kraft got another K to retire the side.

B8th:

It's the 4-6 hitters up for IU. The Knights brought in another pitcher in RHP Ryan Johnson who has an ERA of 47.25 in just 1.1 IP.

Mathison popped out to the SS to lead off and Tibbitts grounded out for two outs.

Pyne walked to put a runner on with two outs.

Taylor singled with Pyne taking 3rd and Taylor taking 2nd on the throw with two outs. Serruto walked to load the bases, but Cerny flied out to end the inning.

 

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9th Inning:

T9th:

Kraft is back on the mound looking for his fifth save of the season and he faced the 4-6 hitters. In a defensive move, Colopy goes to RF and Jessee going to LF with Mathison heading to the bench.

The leadoff hitter reached on an error by Glasser, IU's first error of the game.

A FC gets the runner at 2nd with a runner on 1st and one out.

A single puts runners on the corners with one out.

A double scored a run with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out and Kraft who has been money in closing out games is having trouble after the leadoff error set the tone for the inning.

A GO scored another run to make it 3-2, and another GO ended the game. Kraft got the save but was charged with two runs.

 

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IU hammered out 10 hits to 4 hits for Bellarmine, but for the most part, IU couldn't quite get the clutch hits like they did yesterday. It looked like IU was going to get the shutout, but when the leadoff hitter in the 9th reached on an error, that seemed to give the Knights some impetus to try to pull the game out or at least send it to extra innings.

There were three players with multi-hits:

Cerny was 3 for 4 with a triple
Jessee was 2 for 4 with a RBI
Taylor was 2 for 4

Bellarmine had two errors to the one error by IU in the 9th that set the stage for their 9th inning rally that came up short. One of IU's three runs scored was unearned.

With the exception of the shaky 9th, the pitching was really good in the game.

Manase went 4.1 IP, 2 hits, no runs, 7 Ks, 2 BBs, and a WP. He gave up a harmless double.

Whiteaker came in and went 2.2 scoreless innings with 2 Ks and 1 BB, and he got the win.

Kraft put down the three batters faced in the 8th, but the leadoff man reaching on an error by Glasser in the 9th, seemed to set the tone for a Bellarmine rally that fell just short. Kraft's numbers were 2.0 IP, 2 hits and 2 runs both unearned, 2 Ks, and no BBs. It was Kraft's fifth save of the season.

IU has a midweek game on Tuesday at Kentucky and UK will probably be 14-2 after today's game that they are leading 19-2 in the 5th against Southern Illinois as I post this. With this being what you might call a resume game, it will be interesting to see how Mercer handles the game from a pitching perspective. In perusing UK's schedule up to this point, IU has played a little better schedule so far.

 

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Here's the link to the game recap. I thought the two runs that crossed the plate in the 9th should have been unearned runs because of the leadoff error, but at the time, the live stats had them as earned and continued to do so after the game. I edited my end-of-game summary to reflect that those runs were unearned.

Series Sweep Complete - Indiana University Athletics

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – A pitcher's duel closed out a competitive four-game series on Sunday (March 12) at Bart Kaufman Field as the Indiana baseball program w...

iuhoosiers.com

Here's the box score link:

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[TomEric4756]

Home sweeps are always good.