Evansville @ IU: Control issues costly in 5-4 home loss to Q4 Evansville.

[ptrich]

RHP Ehan Phillips is on the mound for IU with an ERA of 5.70 in 23.1 IP and a WHIP of 1.77 with an OBA of .258. TJ Schuyler is behind the plate. Mathison, Pyne and Mitchell make up the top of the order with Cerny, Taylor and Brenczewski in the middle of the order, and Wiggins (DH), Oliver and Schuyler at the bottom of the order.

LHP Kevin Reed is on the mound for Evansville with an ERA of 8.13 in 31.0 IP and a WHIP of 1.84 with an OBA of .315.

A brisk wind at 15 to 20 mph is blowing straight out today. It's partly cloudy and 81.

1st inning:

T1st:

Phillips walked the leadoff hitter on a 3-1 count. A flyout got the first out with the runner still a 1st.

Former Hoosier Kip Fougerousse was batting No. 3 and he flied out to the warning track with the wind carrying it for the 2nd out and the runner still at 1st.

On a 3-2 count, Phillips hit a batter to put two on and two outs. Phillips got a K on another 3-2 count to get out of the jam after some control issues in the 1st.

B1st:

Mathison led off. Mathison Kd for the first out. Pyne walked on a 3-1 count. IU leads the B1G in drawing walks at 199 and ranks 30th nationally in that category.

With Mitchell up, A WP moved Pyne to 2B. A flyout resulted in the 2nd out with Pyne holding at 2nd.

Cerny flied out shy of the warning track to end the inning.

End of 1st: IU 0 UE 0

 

[ptrich]

2nd inning:

T2nd:

Phillips faced the 6 thru 8 hitters. Phillips had no control issues in this inning and he put them down in order to include a K.

B2nd:

It was the 5 thru 7 hitters up with Taylor leading off. Taylor grounded out for the first out.

Brenczewski's hot hitting continued and IU got back-to-back doubles by him and Taylor to score a run.

Oliver Kd for the 2nd out and Wiggins still at 2nd and Schuyler up. Schuyler flied out to end the inning.

End of 2nd: IU 1 UE 0

 

[ptrich]

3rd inning:

T3rd:

Phillips was back out there to face the 9 thru 2 hitters. Phillips hit the No. 9 hitter and the top of the order up. It was Phillips 2nd hit batter of the game.

A WP moved the runner to 2nd and after a clean 2nd inning, Phillips' control issue had returned for this inning.

A flyout moved the runner to 3rd and one out. A SAC fly scored the runner from 3rd and the hit batter came back to haunt Phillips. There were two outs with no runners on.

A double by Fougerousse hit the base of the wall to put another runner in scoring position with two outs.

Moffitt was warming up and Phillips would probably not be back out there after this inning if he can get that 3rd out. Phillips walked a batter on a full count to put runners at 1st and 2nd and two outs.

IU was not going to watch Phillips face another batter and they brought in RHP Jack Moffitt with an ERA of 6.75 in 18.2 IP and a WHIP of 1.50. Phillips had control issues in the 1st and 3rd inning, sandwiched around a clean inning.

Moffitt faced the No. 5 hitter who had 8 homers and 12 doubles on the season. Moffitt loaded the bases on a walk on a full count. A grounder to 3rd with the force out there, retired the side.

B3rd:

It's the top of the order up with Mathison leading off. Mathison took a called strike three for the first out, and he has Kd in both plate appearances so far.

Pyne grounded out for the 2nd out. Mitchell doubled to put a runner in scoring position and two outs with Cerny up. Cerny grounded out to end the inning.

End of 3rd: IU 1 UE 1

 

[ptrich]

4th inning:

T4th:

Moffitt faced the bottom of the order. Moffitt got the leadoff hitter on a flyout.

Moffitt walked the next batter on a full count with one out. A base hit put runners on 1st and 2nd and one out. Moffitt hit a batter to load the bases with one out and IU has hit three batters and walked four others in the early going of this game.

IU went to the bullpen and brought in RHP Julian Tonghini with an ERA of 4.50 in 18.0 IP and a WHIP of 1.67.

Tonghini faced UE's best hitter in Shallenberge who had 8 homers and 13 doubles on the season.

A base hit scored two runs to make it 3-1 Aces with runners on the corners and one out.

A groundout scored a run with a runner at 2nd and two outs and the score now at 4-1 UE.

Tonghini then walked another batter on a full count to put runners on 1st and 2nd and two outs.

Mathison saved more runs on a diving catch of a fly to finally end a sorry inning for the IU bullpen.

B4th:

It was the 5 thru 7 hitters up and Taylor reached on an error at 2B.

With a fairly strong wind blowing out, IU hasn't been able to take advantage of it against a pitcher who came into the game with an ERA of 8+ and who had given up 12 homers on the season.

Brenczewski hot hitting continued with a single to put runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs with Wiggins up.

Wiggins hit into a DP for two outs with Taylor moving to 3rd. Oliver flied out to end the inning and after IU had two runners on with no outs, they came up with a big 0.

End of 4th: UE 4 IU 1

 

[ptrich]

5th inning:

T5th:

Tonghini was back out there to face the 6 thru 8 hitters and he got the leadoff hitter on a flyout.

Tonghini then gave up a solo homer to make it 5-1. Tonghini then got a K for two outs and Mercer immediately went to the bullpen to bring in a struggling LHP Ryan Kraft with an ERA of 8.56 in 13.2 IP and a WHIP of 2.34.

On a strikeout, Schuyler couldn't control the pitch and the batter reached on a passed ball to put a runner on with two outs. Kraft got another K to finally retire the side after needing four outs.

B5th:

It's the 9 thru 2 hitters up for IU with Schuyler leading off and the UE starter back out there as he watched his elevated ERA drop with each inning against IU hitters.

For the 2nd straight inning, the leadoff batter reached on an error. Mathison was then hit by a pitch to put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs and it's a repeat of last inning where IU had the first two batters on, and hopefully with better results.

Pyne flied out with the runners holding at 1st and 2nd and Mitchell up.

An infield hit put Mitchell on with the bases loaded and one out.

Cerny singled to score both Schuyler and Mathison with one of the runs unearned and one out..

Taylor hit into a DP to end the inning. It was the 2nd DP in the last two innings to kill a rally.

End of 5th: UE 5 IU 3

 

[ptrich]

6th inning:

T6th:

Kraft faced the 2 thru 4 hitters and he put them down in order to include two Ks.

B6th:

It was the 6 thru 8 hitters up for IU. The Aces brought in RHP Drew Fieger with an ERA of 5.57 in 21.0 IP and a WHIP of 1.57. Both Brenczewski and Wiggins Kd and Oliver flied out as IU went down in order.

End of 6th: UE 5 IU 3

 

[ptrich]

7th inning:

T7th:

IU brought in RHP Eli Shaw with an ERA of 9.00 in 6 IP and a WHIP of 1.67, and he faced the 5 thru 7 hitters. Stadler replaced Schuyler behind the plate. Shaw got the leadoff hitter on a groundout.

Shaw then walked a batter to put a runner on with one out. A flyout got the 2nd out with the runner holding at 1st.

A throwing error by Pyne put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. A pop out to shallow left retired the side.

B7th:

It was the 9 thru 2 hitters up with Stadler leading off. Stadler singled to lead off.

Mathison walked on four pitches to put runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs.

Pyne bunted the runners over to 2nd and 3rd and one out.

Mitchell hit a SAC fly to score Stadler to make it 5-4 UE with Mathison taking 3rd. Cerny grounded out to end the inning:

End of 7th: UE 5 IU 4

 

[ptrich]

8th inning:

T8th:

IU brought in LHP Ryan Rushing with an ERA of 11.25 in 8 IP and a WHIP of 2.25, and he faced the top of the order. Rushing got the first two batters on flyouts. A K retired the side as Rushing put them down in order.

B8th:

It was the 5 thru 7 hitters up with Taylor leading off. The Aces went to the bullpen and brought in RHP Max Hansmann with an ERA of 8.53 in 19 IP with a WHIP of 1.95.

Taylor lined out to SS for the first out. Brenczewski and Wiggins both grounded out and IU was down to their last three outs.

End of 8th: UE 5 IU 4

 

[ptrich]

9th inning:

T9th:

Rushing was back out there and he faced the 4 thru 6 hitters and he walked the leadoff hitter on a full count.

A K got the first out but a passed ball moved the runner into scoring position at 2nd.

A groundout moved the runner to 3rd with two outs. Rushing then walked a batter on a full count to put runners on the corners with two outs.

Mercer went to the bullpen to bring in RHP Jacob Vogel with an ERA of 0.87 in 10.1 IP and a WHIP of 1.16, and he faced the No. 8 batter. The runner on 1st took 2nd and Vogel then got a K to retire the side.

B9th:

IU was down to their last three outs and it was the 8 thru 1 hitters up with Bode pinch hitting for Oliver to lead off.

Bode grounded out for the first out. Stadler grounded out with Mathison up to try to do something with two outs. Mathison grounded out to end what was a sorry game for IU.

Final: Evansville 5 IU 4

 

[82IU]

Two rally killing double plays did us in tonight. I have to assume this will not help our RPI.

82

 

[ptrich]

Two rally killing double plays did us in tonight. I have to assume this will not help our RPI.

82

It was the combination of almost no clutch hitting to go along with control issues. Those two DP occurred with runners in scoring position. A brisk wind blowing out to center and we couldn't even come close to the wall except for the one fly ball by Schuyler.

 

[ptrich]

IMO, we already had no chance at an at-large bid for the Field of 64 before this dud of a game. This game was nothing more than just another example of the up and down, inconsistent play we have had against average to below average teams that has destroyed any post-season chances we had outside of winning the conference tournament. The B1G has a low RPI as a conference, so a strong finish in the B1G's regular season will probably not be enough help for us.

We had a pitcher come into The Bart with an ERA of over 8 and had given up 12 homers in 9 game appearances, and with the wind blowing out, he pretty much held us down. He induced us into two inning killing DPs in back-to-back innings with runners in scoring positions. Meanwhile, the Aces got five runs on just 4 hits with walks and hit batters killing us and pretty much costing us the game with our bats being quiet.

We outhit the Aces 7 to 4 and we were 7 for 32 for a team average of .224, while the Aces were 4 for 32 for .125. We had two players with multiple hits with Mitchell going 2 for 3 with an RBI and Brenczewski going 2 for 4 with a run scored. Cerny had a two-RBI single. Mitchell, Brenczewski, and Wiggins all had doubles.

IU had one error to two errors for the Aces.

We used seven pitchers with all of the damage done by Evansville being in innings 3 through 5 with the solo homer in the 5th being the deciding run. Control issues in the 3rd and 4th innings pretty much done us in with walks and hit batters and a WP all contributing to runs. IU pitching gave up 8 walks and 3 hit batters in the game. Kraft, Shaw, Rushing, and Vogel all combined to shutout the Aces over the last four innings after all the damage had been done with Kraft getting four Ks in 1.1 IP.

 

[TomEric4756]

It was the combination of almost no clutch hitting to go along with control issues. Those two DP occurred with runners in scoring position. A brisk wind blowing out to center and we couldn't even come close to the wall except for the one fly ball by Schuyler.

And the clutch hitting stats for the Penn State wins were fabulous… let’s keep winning this conference series and how the chips fall in the BiG tourney. Looks like we’ll have to win it.

 

[rcaulfie]

There is something really wrong with this team. I feel completely embarrassed thinking they were going to be really good this year. First, Purdue Ft Wayne comes into the Bart and beats us and now Evansville. What an F'ing joke.

 

[GeddyHoosier]

Wow losing to Ace Purple is bad. They haven’t done anything since Andy Benes was on the mound-and that was about 35 years ago.

 

[Bucket Getter]

There is something really wrong with this team. I feel completely embarrassed thinking they were going to be really good this year. First, Purdue Ft Wayne comes into the Bart and beats us and now Evansville. What an F'ing joke.

That’s exactly my thoughts too. There’s way too much talent on this team to be .500.

 

[GeddyHoosier]

Pritch-Thanks for all the updates and being the "baseball guy" around here. I try to do the same thing on the Soccer Board during season and it can get pretty lonely when there are only a few other posters paying attention. Appreciate keeping tabs on the Hoosiers.

 

[Orford]

Anyone catch the IUBASE post game media interview with Mercer? He’s never been one to throw anyone under the bus (which I like unlike my own comments) but he came as close as I’ve seen in disappointment primarily about hitters not doing their jobs and following plan but also effectively said Phillips is a vet and needs to attack as well as Moffitt. Did say he’s been pleased with pitching improvement but in my mind how did you let it get that bad in first place…? This season needs a miracle to go beyond big and no guarantee we get in the big either

 

[Bucket Getter]

Anyone catch the IUBASE post game media interview with Mercer? He’s never been one to throw anyone under the bus (which I like unlike my own comments) but he came as close as I’ve seen in disappointment primarily about hitters not doing their jobs and following plan but also effectively said Phillips is a vet and needs to attack as well as Moffitt. Did say he’s been pleased with pitching improvement but in my mind how did you let it get that bad in first place…? This season needs a miracle to go beyond big and no guarantee we get in the big either

I’d hope he’s having quite a few closed-door heart-to-heart conversations with players and coaches. Something has gone terribly wrong with this edition of IU baseball.