Butler vs IU: IU 9 Butler 1. Tucker and Bothwell combine to throttle the Bulldogs...

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LHP Cole McDaniel is on the mound for Butler with an ERA of 6.32 in 31.1 IP, while RHP Braydon Tucker is on the mound for IU with an ERA of 5.34 in 30.1 IP. IU is the home team at the Victory Field neutral site.

In the 1st, Tucker walks the leadoff batter to start the game, but then gets the next batter on a K in three pitches. A ground out gets the 2nd out with the runner taking 2nd. Tucker then walks his 2nd batter to put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. A WP moves the runners to 2nd and 3rd with two outs. A ground out ends the Bulldogs 1st, but it wasn't a real clean inning for Tucker as he left two walks on base.

Whalen strikes out to open IU's 1st. Jessee then singles to put a man on with one out. Pyne lines out to 1B who simply had to step on 1st for the DP to end IU's 1st.

 

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In the 2nd, Tucker Ks the first two batters. A little pop up down the LF line popped out of Johnson's glove as he tried to catch up to it from SS and it dropped for a bloop double. Tucker then got another K to end the 2nd for Butler.

In IU's 2nd, Ellis leads off with his 13th homer of the season and his first in around three weeks to give IU a 1-0 lead. Mathison then walks to put a runner on with no outs. Mathison steals 2nd. Tibbets strikes out for the 1st out with a runner on 2nd. Doanes then triples to score Mathison to make it 2-0 with a runner on third and one out. A SF by Murrison scores Doanes from 3rd to make it 3-0 with two outs. Johnson walks to put a runner on with two outs. Johnson then steals 2nd. A flyout ends the 2nd. The first two innings took almost an hour to get through.

 

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In the 3rd, Butler is at the top of their order. The leadoff hitter lines out to SS for the first out. A single puts a runner on with one out. IU gets a K on a WP, but it was explained that because 1st was occupied the batter could not take 1st and he is out while the runner on 1st took 2nd on the WP. A K ended the inning for the Bulldogs.

Butler brings in Adrian Vega from the bullpen and he has an ERA of 4.30 in 23 IP. Jessee gets an infield single to open IU's 3rd. Pyne strikes out and Jessee takes 2nd on a passed ball. Ellis then strikes out for the 2nd out. A line out ends the inning.

 

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In the 4th, Tucker gets a K to start off Butler's 4th. He then walks a hitter on a full count which he has had several of today and is over 70 pitches. He does have 7 Ks up to this point. Tucker then walks another batter to put two on and one out and IU gets busy in the bullpen with Tucker nearing 80 pitches and is having trouble throwing strikes at this point. A base hit through the infield loads the bases with one out and this is the bottom of Butler's order that is reaching on walks and a hit. A ball hit back to Tucker results in force outs at the plate and at 1st for a DP as IU gets out of a jam with no damage done.

In IU's 4th, Tibbets flies out and Doanes grounds out for two outs. Murrison then singles, but Johnson strikes out to end the 4th.

 

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Ty Bothwell replaces Tucker in the 5th and he has an ERA of 6.26 in 23 IP. After getting a 1-2 count on the first batter, Bothwell ends up walking him and we are at the top of the order for Butler. Bothwell then gets a K for the first out with a runner on. Bothwell then walks another batter to put runners (both walks) on 1st and 2nd with one out. Bothwell then gets a K for the 2nd out and with him it's either a walk or a K so far. A line out ends the 5th for the Bulldogs.

Whalen strikes out to leadoff in IU's 5th. Butler has LHP Brandon Haggerty on the mound with an ERA of 24.00 in 6 IP. Jessee gets a ball to just squeeze through the infield for his 3rd hit (3-3) of the night. Pyne then flies out for two outs with a man on. Ellis singles to put runners on the corners with two outs. Jessee then steals home to make it 4-0. Mathison then goes down on a K looking to end the inning with IU up 4-0.

 

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In the 6th, Bothwell strikes out the leadoff man for IU's 10th K of the game so far and we are at the bottom of the order for Butler. Bothwell gets another K for the 2nd out, both swinging. The next batter, a pinch hitter, hit a single on a 3-2 count to put a runner on with two outs. A flyout to Johnson in shallow LF ends the 6th for Butler.

In IU's 6th, Butler goes to the bullpen again to bring in their fourth pitcher of the game in RHP Alex Voss with an ERA of 7.30 in 12.1 IP. Tibbetts leads off with a single. A WP sends Tibbetts to 2nd with no outs. Another WP sends Tibbetts to 3rd with no outs. A SF to CF by Doanes scores Tibbetts to make it 5-0 with one out. Murrison flies out for the 2nd out. Johnson then strikes out looking to end the 6th.

 

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In the 7th, Butler is at the top of the order and the leadoff hitter pops out on a bunt to Ellis. A K and a ground out ends the 7th for Butler and Bothwell puts them down in order.

In IU's 7th, Butler brings in their fifth pitcher of the game in RHP Benji Downs with an ERA of 7.11 in 12.2 IP. Whalen pops out in the infield for the first out. Whalen walks and Pyne is hit by a pitch to put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. A WP advances both runners to 2nd and 3rd. Ellis then singles to RF to score both runners to make it 7-0 with one out and a runner on 1st. Butler goes to their bullpen again to bring in their sixth pitcher of the game in RHP Greg Gilbert with an ERA of 13.50 in 8 IP. Mathison then bloops a hit to CF to put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Tibbetts flies out with both runners holding for two outs. Serruto is pinch running for Elllis and will replace him at catcher. Doanes doubles down the RF line to score two more runs for IU to make it 9-0 with two outs, and Doanes has 4 RBIs on the game. Murrison strikes out to end the inning, but IU's plates four runs in the inning.

 

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In the 8th, Serruto takes over behind the plate and Goforth takes over at 3rd. Bothwell gets the first two outs on a ground out and flyout. With a game tomorrow, it's a good thing that IU has used only two pitchers so far. Bothwell then gets another K, his 6th of the game, to end Butler's 8th.

In IU's 8th, Butler makes yet another change on the mound, their 7th, and they bring in RHP Spencer Seigworth with an ERA of 7.36 in 3.2 IP. Johnson pops out and Whalen grounds out for the first two outs. Jessee then gets his 4th hit of the game (4-4) on a single with one out. Goforth strikes out to end the inning and IU is three outs away from going home with a win.

 

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In the 9th, Bothwell strikes out the leadoff man, but then gives up a homer to the next batter to give Butler their first run of the game. Regardless of the homer, Bothwell has pitched well and it was a very good 5 IP for him tonight. Bothwell then gets another K for the 2nd out and Bothwell has a season high in Ks at 8. Murrison ends the game fielding a fly.

 

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With a game tomorrow, it was good that IU had good pitching and only had to use two pitchers while Butler went through 7 pitchers. IU outhit Butler, 12-5, with Jessee going 4 for 4, Ellis 3 for 4 with a solo homer and 3 RBIs, and Doanes was 2 for 3 and had 4 RBIs. Tucker threw a lot of pitches and had several full counts, but he kept Butler from crossing the plate and he and Bothwell had a combined 15 Ks. Tucker went 4 IP giving up 3 hits, no runs, 7 Ks, and 4 BBs. He did have 2 WPs that obviously didn't hurt anything. He threw 86 pitches over the 4 IP. Bothwell went 5 IP giving up 2 hits including the 9th inning solo homer, 1 run, 2 BBs, 8 Ks, no WPs, and he threw 72 pitches over the 5 IP. Butler did not leave with any bruises as Tucker and Bothwell were clean in that category.

 

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Here's the game recap with a link to the box score:

Victory at Victory Field - Indiana University Athletics

Two pitchers combined to scatter five hits and the offense produced at least nine runs for the 11th time in 2022 as the Indiana baseball program captured a 9...

iuhoosiers.com

 

[hookyIU1990]

Thanks for doing these game threads.