Belmont @ IU, Game 3: IU overcame four errors to win the game and the series, 15-7...

[ptrich]

RHP Ethan Phillips who pitched one inning yesterday will be on the mount to start the game and he has an ERA of 6.43 in 14 IP and a WHIP of 1.71. Tibbitts is behind the plate with Brenczewski at 1st. Oliver gets the start at 2B and Mitchell is the DH. Taylor is back and is batting 3rd in the order.

RHP Joe Ruzicka is on the mound for Belmont and he has an ERA of 3.43 in 21 IP and a WHIP of 1.05.

It's 45 degrees and sunny with the win blowing out to RF at about 12 to 13 mph.

1st inning:

T1st:

Phillips got the first two batter on a pop up to 3B and a groundout. The next batter singled up the middle to put a runner on and two outs.

The next batter reached on an error by Cerny after a ground ball was bobbled on what should have been the last out. Runners are on 1st and 2nd and two outs.

A two-out double gave Belmont the lead at 1-0, and IU after giving up five runs to start the game yesterday after two outs, IU has given up another two-out run which was unearned because of the error.

A groundout retired the side

B2nd:

Mitchell led off and walked on a full count. Pyne grounded out to 3B with Mitchell taking 2nd base. Taylor popped out to the catcher for the 2nd out and Mitchell still at 2nd.

Tibbitts singled to the wall in LF with Mitchell scoring to tie the game.

Cerny was hit by a pitch to put runners on 1st and 2nd and two outs with Mathison up.

Mathison walked on four pitches to load the bases with two outs with the bottom of the order up and Colopy at the plate.

Colopy Kd on three pitches and IU left the bases loaded.

End of 1st: IU 1 Belmont 1

 

[ptrich]

2nd inning:

T2nd:

Phillips was back out there to face the bottom of the order for Belmont.

Phillips hit the leadoff batter. Phillips Kd the next batter with the runner on 1st gunned down by Tibbitts on an attempted steal for two outs. A groundout retired the side.

B2nd:

It was the 8 thru 1 hitters up for IU with Brenczewski leading off. Brenczewski singled on a ball to shallow LF in which the wind causing the outfielder to misplay it.

Oliver grounded out moving Brenczewski to 2nd and one out.

Mitchell walked on four pitches to put runners on 1st and 2nd and one out.

Pyne flied out for the 2nd out with the runners holding. A four-pitch walk to Taylor loaded the bases with Tibbitts up.

Tibbitts walked to drive in a run and the bases still loaded with Cerny up and two outs.

Cerny hit a two-out, two run double off the LF wall to make it 4-1 IU with Mathison up and runners on 2nd and 3rd. Mathison Kd on three pitches to end the inning.

End of 2nd: IU 4 Belmont 1

 

[ptrich]

3rd inning:

T3rd:

Phillips was back out there to face the top of the order. Phillips got hit in the leg by a grounder, but got the out. The next batter reached on a single to LF.

Holderfield is warming up in the bullpen.

Taylor grabbed a liner after diving for it, for the 2nd out.

Phillips got a K to retire the side.

B3rd:

It's the bottom of the order up for IU with Colopy leading off.

Colopy flied out to RF. Brenczewski grounded out and the Belmont pitcher has gotten the first two batters on four pitches. Oliver worked the count full before he grounded out to end the inning.

End of 3rd: IU 4 Belmont 1

 

[ptrich]

4th inning:

T4th:

It's the 5 thru 7 hitters up. Phillips was pitching well but Mercer decided to pull him for Holderfield who has really been struggling. Holderfield had an ERA of 18.47 in 6.1 IP and a WHIP of 2.37.

Holderfield gave up a double to the leadoff hitter.

On a grounder to Holderfield, they caught the runner off 2nd and were able to run him down to get the lead runner at 3rd, and there was one out and a runner at 1st.

Holderfield got a K for the 2nd out and the runner still at 1st. In what should have been the 3rd out, a grounder to Pyne, the throw to Brenczewski was in time at 1st, but he failed to squeeze the ball at first and the runner reached on an error.

Runners were at 1st and 2nd and two outs.

Holderfield then walked a batter on a full count to load the bases with two out, and we should have been out of the inning.

Holderfield then hit a batter to give Belmont their 2nd unearned run of the game after errors, and both runs came after two outs.

The move to pull Phillips who was pitching well, for a struggling pitcher, doesn't look real good now.

A ground ball retired the side in which an unearned run scored after two outs.

B4th:

The top of the order was up with Mitchell leading off and he got an infield hit.

Pyne hit into a DP for two outs.

Taylor reached on a two-out double with Tibbitts up.

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

End of 4th: IU 4 Belmont 2

 

[ptrich]

5th inning:

T5th:

Holderfield was back out there to face the 3 thru 5 hitters with Tonghini warming up in the bullpen.

Holderfield gave up a leadoff homer to LF to make it 4-3 IU.

A lineout to LF got the first out.

Mercer pulled Holderfield for RHP Julian Tonghini who has an ERA of 3,18 in 11.1 IP and a WHIP of 1.24.

Tonghini faced the No. 5 hitter with one out and no one on.

A line drive was caught by Cerny for two outs. A groundout retired the side.

B5th:
It was the 6 thru 8 hitters up with Mathison leading off.

Mathison walked for the 2nd time today on a 3-1 count.

A single by Colopy put runners on the corners and no outs with Brenczewski up.

Brenczewski popped up in the infield for the first out.

Oliver singled to score Mathison and runners on the corners with one out and the top of the order up in Mitchell.

The Bruin starter was pulled for LHP Jalen Borders with an ERA of 57.86 in 2.1 IP and a WHIP of 6.87. This had to be a lefty vs lefty move with Mitchell up.

Mitchell walked on a 3-1 count to load the bases. Pyne got an RBI walk on four pitches with the bases still loaded and one out with Taylor up.

Taylor got a bases clearing double to give IU a 9-3 lead with a runner on 2nd and one out.

Tibbitts flied out for the 2nd out with Taylor taking 3rd.

Taylor scored from 3rd on a WP.

Cerny singled to put a runner on with two outs and Mathison up.

Belmont went to the bullpen again and brought in RHP Bill Duby with an ERA of 1.80 in 10 IP and a WHIP of 0.90. Mathison flied out to end the inning.

End of 5th: IU 10 Belmont 3

 

[82IU]

You would think we were facing the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds the way Belmont has torqued IU'S pitching staff this weekend! SMH.
82

 

[ptrich]

6th inning:

T6th:

Tonghini was back out there to face the bottom of the order and he Kd the leadoff hitter but the runner made it to 1st after Tibbitts couldn't handle the ball and was late to 1B on his throw.

A drop third strike, a single, and another error on Cerny's throw, loaded the bases with no outs.

An infield single scored an unearned run with the bases still loaded and no outs and Belmont has yet to have a ball leave the infield for them.

Tonghini then walked a batter on a full count to score another run. Belmont has scored two runs without a ball leaving the infield.

IU has been charged with four errors so far with three of their five runs at this point being unearned.

A DP ball got the first two outs with another unearned run scoring to make it 10-6.

A single scored another run to make it 10-7 and that was the first ball to leave the infield for Belmont in this inning.

Another singe to shallow CF put runners on 1st and 2nd and two outs.

A flyout finally retired the side in what was an atrocious inning from a fielding standpoint. Four of Belmont's seven runs are unearned in the game.

B6th:

It was the bottom of the order up with Colopy leading off and he walked on a full count. Wiggins came in to pinch hit for Brenczewski and he reached on a FC with Colopy out at 2nd.

Oliver flied out for the 2nd out and the runner still on 1st with the top of the order up.

A WP moved the runner to 2nd, but Mitchell flied out to end the inning.

End of 6th: IU 10 Belmont 7

 

[ptrich]

You would think we were facing the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds the way Belmont has torqued IU'S pitching staff this weekend! SMH.
82

That four-run 6th by Belmont was all on the fielding. We should have been out of that inning with no runs scored.

 

[ptrich]

7th inning:

T7th:

RHP Aydan Decker-Petty came in for Tonghini and he had an ERA of 6.23 in 4.1 IP and a WHIP of 1.85.

D-P put them down in order with one K to retire the side.

B7th:

It's the 2 thru 4 hitters up Pyne leading off.

Belmont is sticking with their ace out of the bullpen in Duby.

Pyne hit a ball that was well-placed in left center and he made it to 2nd for a double.

Taylor flied out for the 1st out with Pyne holding at 2nd. Tibbitts fouled out to the catcher for two outs.

Cerny then clubbed a two-out, two-run homer to make it 12-7 and he somewhat made amends for his two errors on the game

Mathison Kd to end the inning

End of 7th: IU 12 Belmont 7

 

[ptrich]

8th inning:

T8th:

D-P was back out there and he got the leadoff hitter on a pop up to Cerny.

He then walked the next batter on four pitches, but got the next two batters to retire the side.

B8th;

Colopy walked on a full count, Stadler grounded out for the first out with Colopy taking 2nd.

Oliver and Mitchell both walked to load the bases with one out.

Belmont went to the bullpen again and Pyne Kd, A WP scored Colopy.

Taylor walked to load the bases and Tibbitts singled to score both Oliver and Mitchell.

Cerny flied out to end the inning.

End of 8th: IU 15 Belmont 7

 

[ptrich]

9th inning:

T9th:

RHP Jacob Vogel came in to close it out and facing a bunch of pinch hitters, he Kd the first two and then gave up a single to put a man on with two outs.

Vogel then hit a batter to put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. Vogel got a K to end the game.

Final: IU 15 Belmont 7

 

[ptrich]

The pitching was not bad for the most part and they gave up just three earned runs, but our fielding was atrocious and accounted for four unearned runs in the game. We now have 29 errors in 20 games and we are dead last in the B1G with a fielding percentage of .959. Cerny leads the way in that category with 12 errors and a fielding percentage of .854. It seems that most of the errors that Cerny has committed are of the bobbled ball variety. His bat has been big for us, but a lot of those errors have been in critical situations.

Our pitching is now next to last in the B1G with a team ERA of 6.96 with only Michigan being worse at 7.13. So, in the three major categories of hitting, pitching, and fielding, we are last or next to last in two of them with the conference season starting next weekend. We are tied for 6th in hitting with a team average of .297.

We outhit Belmont 12 to 10 and we were 12 of 35 for a team average of .343, while Belmont was 10 of 39 for .256. We had 14 walks in the game and just 4 Ks. Five of our 12 hits were extra base hits with four doubles and one homer.

Cerny - 3 for 5 with a double and homer, and he had 4 RBIs,

Tibbitts - 2 for 4 with 4 RBIs.

Taylor - 2 for 4 and two doubles with 3 RBIs.

Pyne and Oliver each had an RBI.

Phillips opened the game and pitched well for 3 IP giving up no earned runs, but Mercer decided to pull him for Holderfield who has really been struggling. Holderfield didn't have a good outing and he gave up an earned run in his limited outing, but he has had worse outings this season. Tonghini gave up the other two earned runs in another short outing. Decker-Petty and Vogel pitched the final three innings which were shutout innings. IU had no WPs in the game

Phillips (W) - 3.0 IP, 3 hits to include a double, no earned runs, 2 Ks, no BBs, and a hit batter.

Holderfield - 1.1 IP, 2 hits to include a double and homer, 1 earned run, 1 K, 1 B, and a hit batter.

Tonghini - 1.2 IP, 4 hits and 2 earned runs, 1 K, and 1 BB.

Decker-Petty - 2.0 IP, no hits and no earned runs, 1 K and 1 BB.

Vogel - 1.0 IP, 1 hit and no earned runs, 3 Ks, no BBs, and a hit batter.