Belmont @ IU, Game 1: IU continues to struggle in another home loss, 9-3...

[ptrich]

1st inning:

T1st:

Moffitt on the mound and he got the leadoff hitter on a flyout. An error by Pyne put a runner on. A FC got the runner at 2nd for two outs. Another single put two on and Moffitt then gave up a 3-run homer to give Belmont a 3-0 with all three runs unearned because of the error. A pop up ended what was a bad start to the game by IU.

B1st:

It's Mitchell to lead off. Mitchell tripled to RF. Taylor hit a SAC fly to drive in Mitchell with one out and no one on.

Tibbitts flied out for the 2nd out and Mathison singled up the middle to put a runner on. Pyne Kd to end the inning.

End of 1st: Belmont 3 IU 1

 

[ptrich]

2nd inning:

T2nd:

Moffitt was back out there to face the bottom of the order. The Belmont bottom of the order is hitting .220, .176, and .123.

Moffitt Kd the lead off hitter. Oliver, who is at 2B, nabbed a liner for the 2nd out. Moffitt then gave up a homer to RF to a .123 hitter with the wind playing a big part in the homer.

A flyout retired the side and Belmont has two homers in the game and we are still in the 2nd inning.

B2nd:

Cerny led off and he Kd looking for the first out. Bode, the DH, flied out for the 2nd out. Stadler popped up and the Belmont pitcher had an easy inning.

End of 2nd: Belmont 4 IU 1

 

[ptrich]

3rd inning:

T3rd:

LHP Ty Bothwell replaced Moffitt and he had an ERA of 4.32 in 16.2 IP and a WHIP of 1.44, and he faced the 2 thru 4 hitters. Bothwell got off to a great start by putting them down in order with two Ks.

B3rd:

It's the 9 thru 2 hitters up for IU with Oliver leading off. Oliver grounded out for the first out with the top of the order up in Mitchell.

Mitchell flied out for the 2nd out. Taylor singled to RF. Tibbitts singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. Mathison grounded out to end the inning and IU has left a lot of runners on this season so far.

End of 3rd: Belmont 4 IU 1

 

[ptrich]

4th inning:

T4th:

Bothwell was back out to face the 5 thru 7 hitters.

Bothwell put them down in order for the 2nd straight inning and it included two more Ks.

B4th:
It's the 5 thru 7 hitters up with Pyne leading off. On a full count, Pyne singled through the left side of the infield with Cerny up.

Cerny just missed on a homer and doubled off the RF wall with Pyne taking 3rd.

Bode popped up in the infield with the runners still at 2nd and 3rd and one out with Stadler up.

Stadler walked to load the bases and one out with Oliver up. Brenczewski came in to pinch hit for Oliver.

Brenczewski hit a SAC fly to drive in Pyne, with runners on 1st and 2nd and the top of the order up in Mitchell and two outs.

Mitchell walked on 3-1 count to load the bases and two outs with Taylor up.

Taylor popped up in the infield to end the inning and IU has stranded six runners on base so far in the game.

End of 4th: Belmont 4 IU 2

 

[ptrich]

5th inning:

T5th:

Bothwell was back out there and he faced the 8 thru 1 hitters. Burckel was at 2B.

Bothwell put them down in order again for the 3rd straight inning and Bothwell got two more Ks for six Ks so far.

B5th:

It's the 3 thru 5 hitters up with Tibbitts leading off. IU had outhit Belmont so far 6 to 3 but those two homers by Belmont have been killers so far.

Tibbitts walked on four pitches. Mathison Kd for the first out with Tibbitts stealing 2nd.

Pyne lined out to CF with Mathison still at 2nd and two outs. Cerny flied out and IU leaves another runner on.

End of 5th: Belmont 4 IU 2

 

[ptrich]

6th inning:

T6th:

Bothwell was back out there to face the 2 thru 4 hitters.

Bothwell put them down in order again in a very efficient inning and he has had four straight clean innings.

B6th:

It's the bottom of the order up for IU and Belmont went to the bullpen to bring in RHP Hank Liss with an ERA of 2.57 in 14 IP and a WHIP of 1.14.

Bode grounded out for the first out. Stadler walked and Wiggins came in to pinch hit for Burckel. Wiggins grounded out with Stadler taking 2nd.

Mitchell got an infield single to put runners on the corners with two outs and Taylor popped up to end the inning. IU has left 9 runners on base so far.

End of 6th: Belmont 4 IU 2

 

[ptrich]

7th inning:

T7th:

Bothwell was back out there but he ran into some bad luck with the first two batters reaching on infield hits. A FC at 2nd put runners on the corners with one out.

A foul out to the catcher resulted in the 2nd out. The runner on 1st took 2nd with runners on 2nd and 3rd and two outs.

Bothwell got a K to retire the side with no damage done and another great inning by Bothwell.

B7th:

Tibbitts led off with a double. Mathison walked on a full count with Tibbitts taking 3rd on a WP and runners on the corners with no outs.

Tibbitts scored on a SAC fly by Pyne. Cerny and Bode both Kd to end another pathetic inning by IU hitters.

End of 7th: Belmont 4 IU 3

 

[ptrich]

8th inning:

T8th:

Bothwell got the leadoff hitter on a K. He then gave up a walk. A flyout resulted in the 2nd out.

Bothwell then gave up a two-out, two-run homer to make it 6-3 Belmont and Belmont has three homers to account for all of their runs in the game. Another flyout retired the side.

B8th:

Stadler flied out. Sefcik came in to pinch hit for Carlson and he Kd looking for the 2nd out. Mitchell grounded out as IU goes down in order.

End of 8th: Belmont 6 IU 3

 

[ptrich]

9th inning:

T9th:

Bothwell was back out there and he walked the leadoff hitter on a 3-1 count. He then moved the runner to 2nd on a WP with no outs.

Bothwell then walked another batter on a full count to put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs.

Another hitter reached on an error by Bothwell to load the bases without a ball leaving the infield.

Tonghini came in for Bothwell with the bases loaded and no outs. A base hit scored two more runs to make it 8-3 and runners at 1st and 2nd and no outs.

A flyout sent the runner on 2nd to 3rd with runners now on the corners with one out. A groundout scored the runner from 3rd to make it 9-3 and another groundout retired the side.

IU has to have a huge bottom of the 9th to pull this game out and our hitting has been pathetic in this game so I have no confidence in this team being able to make even a modest dent in the lead.

B9th:

IU hitters went down in order like lambs being led to the slaughter.

Mathison Kd to end the game and we ended the game like we started it -- a sorry effort at the plate.

Final: Belmont 9 IU 3

 

[82IU]

This Season is really turning South in a hurry. I thought there was too much talent for this to happen. Guess I was wrong. Still not sure what to think of our Pitching efforts. Is Glant making them overthink things? We also seem to lack in playing sound fundamental baseball and commit too many fielding errors. Still don't have guys that can bunt, steal bases or take the extra base on hits with this team. Seem to be very slow afoot. Live and die by the HR. Hopefully we will get it out of our system and turn things around!
82

 

[ptrich]

Our non-conference season has really gone south and we are probably now in a position to where we will have to win the B1G conference tournament to get into the Field of 64. The B1G looks to be weaker this season so having a good conference season will probably not be good enough for postseason play.

What was supposed to be our vaunted everyday lineup looks weak right now and we get handcuffed by just about every pitcher we have faced lately. The Illinois State pitcher came into that game with elevated numbers across the board, and he handled our batting order like he was either Sandy Koufax or Bob Gibson in their prime. We got great pitching out of Bothwell from the 3rd to the 7th inning today before he finally ran out of gas, but the best we could do was pick up two runs over that period to get within one run of Belmont, and we had to scratch and claw just to get those two runs.

Symbolic of how our day went is the 4th inning:

Pyne reached on a single and Cerny doubled off the wall to put runners at 2nd and 3rd and no outs. Bode popped up in the infield, Stadler walked to load the bases with one out. Brenczewski hit a SF to score Pyne. Mitchell walked to load the bases with two outs and Taylor popped up in the infield and we ended up with just one run after having runners at 2nd and 3rd to start the inning with no outs. It was like that for the entire game when we put runners on.

No need to do a summary of this game since it was such a weak effort on our part. The Player of the Game would be Bothwell with the way he pitched from the 3rd to through the 7th, but it was a wasted effort.

 

[Bucket Getter]

I’m sorry to say I’ve lost interest in watching every pitch of every inning like I’ve done for the past 12 years. I’ll check in here to see the ptrich recaps, but that’s even becoming tiring. Is Mercer’s magic running out?

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

Our non-conference season has really gone south and we are probably now in a position to where we will have to win the B1G conference tournament to get into the Field of 64. The B1G looks to be weaker this season so having a good conference season will probably not be good enough for postseason play.

What was supposed to be our vaunted everyday lineup looks weak right now and we get handcuffed by just about every pitcher we have faced lately. The Illinois State pitcher came into that game with elevated numbers across the board, and he handled our batting order like he was either Sandy Koufax or Bob Gibson in their prime. We got great pitching out of Bothwell from the 3rd to the 7th inning today before he finally ran out of gas, but the best we could do was pick up two runs over that period to get within one run of Belmont, and we had to scratch and claw just to get those two runs.

Symbolic of how our day went is the 4th inning:

Pyne reached on a single and Cerny doubled off the wall to put runners at 2nd and 3rd and no outs. Bode popped up in the infield, Stadler walked to load the bases with one out. Brenczewski hit a SF to score Pyne. Mitchell walked to load the bases with two outs and Taylor popped up in the infield and we ended up with just one run after having runners at 2nd and 3rd to start the inning with no outs. It was like that for the entire game when we put runners on.

No need to do a summary of this game since it was such a weak effort on our part. The Player of the Game would be Bothwell with the way he pitched from the 3rd to through the 7th, but it was a wasted effort.

 

[Orford]

I was so looking forward to this season of baseball given football and basketball woes then tonight I thought maybe I’ll get an antidote from IUBB… now I’m back to my usual hopeful feelings before the Saturday tee time 😀