Game Thread: Indiana vs. Michigan State
- Thread starter Stu Jackson
- Start date
Junior righty Pauly Milto starts on the mound for Indiana.
Right-handed freshman Mason Erla gets the nod for Michigan State.
Right-handed freshman Mason Erla gets the nod for Michigan State.
Indiana batting order:
1. CF Logan Kaletha
2. 1b Matt Lloyd
3. LF Matt Gorski
4. RF Logan Sowers
5. 3b Luke Miller
6. 2b Drew Ashley
7. C Ryan Fineman
8. DH Scotty Bradley
9. SS Jeremy Houston
1. CF Logan Kaletha
2. 1b Matt Lloyd
3. LF Matt Gorski
4. RF Logan Sowers
5. 3b Luke Miller
6. 2b Drew Ashley
7. C Ryan Fineman
8. DH Scotty Bradley
9. SS Jeremy Houston
T1: Michigan State's Danny Gleaves singles to shortstop, then gets caught stealing at second. Bryce Kelley flies out to left. Chad Roskelly flies out to left.
Scoreless heading into B1.
Scoreless heading into B1.
B1: Kaletha walks. Lloyd grounds out to second, advancing Kaletha to second. Gorski strikes out swinging. Sowers strikes out swinging.
End of 1st inning: Still scoreless.
End of 1st inning: Still scoreless.
T2: Michigan State's Justin Antoncic flies out to center. Zach Iverson flies out to left. Marty Bechina strikes out swinging.
Still scoreless heading into B2.
Still scoreless heading into B2.
B2: Miller flies out to right. Ashley flies out to center. Fineman flies out to center.
End of 2nd inning: Still scoreless
End of 2nd inning: Still scoreless
T3: Michigan State's Adam Proctor flies out to center. Zack McGuire doubles to left. Kory Young flies out to center. Gleaves flies out to left on a diving catch by Gorski.
Still scoreless heading into B3.
Still scoreless heading into B3.
B3: Bradley grounds out to second. Houston flies out to right. Kaletha flies out to right.
End of 3rd inning: Still scoreless.
End of 3rd inning: Still scoreless.
Couldn't agree more. But the truth is we seem to have zero situational hitting awareness. Grip and rip is fun against some of those crappy pre-conference teams we build a resume against, but rarely works effectively against teams that can game plan and pitch with purpose. Considering the hitting coach and the overly aggressive 3rd base coach are the same guy...well, I'll leave it at that.
And it looks like our weak hitting shortstop is back to playing mind games on routine ground balls. Crap.
T4: Michigan State's Kelly singles to shortstop. Roskelly hits a ground-rule double to left center, advancing Kelly to third. Antoncic hits an RBI single to left.
Michigan State 1, Indiana 0 with no outs and runners on the corners.
Michigan State 1, Indiana 0 with no outs and runners on the corners.
Stick a fork in us......unless we can get out of this inning only giving up 1-2 runs.
Great pitching depth for a tournament run doesn't amount to squat when you only play two games before exiting.
Great pitching depth for a tournament run doesn't amount to squat when you only play two games before exiting.
T4 continued: Michigan State's Iverson hits an RBI single to right, scoring Roskelly and advancing Antoncic to second.
Michigan State 2, Indiana 0 with no outs.
Michigan State 2, Indiana 0 with no outs.
Pitching change for Indiana: Sophomore lefty Cam Beauchamp replaces Milto.
Michigan State currently has four consecutive hits.
Michigan State currently has four consecutive hits.
I've been saying this since Coach got here, we've got to be among the worst in runner LOB. It's maddening to say the least. Either this changes or we'll never get over the hump.
T4 continued: Michigan States' Bechina walks to load the bases. Proctor strikes out swinging. McGuire walks, RBI, scoring Antoncic.
Michigan State 3, Indiana 0 with one out.
Michigan State 3, Indiana 0 with one out.
T4 continued: Michigan State's Young reaches first on a fielder's choice after the sac-bunt, but Iverson is out at home. Bases still load with two outs.
Pitching change for Indiana: Sophomore righty Cal Krueger replaces Beauchamp.
Pitching change for Indiana: Sophomore righty Cal Krueger replaces Beauchamp.
The failure to make hitting adjustments is very concerning. Overly aggressive and undisciplined are the words I'd use.
Think of it this way: Minnesota, Michigan, Purdue, and Illinois are all (imo) (1)less talented and (2)more selective at the plate than IU. They have also won more games than us. Since our approach is 'let it all hang out', the burden of proof is with our coaching staff.
At the start of the game, the BTN announcer predicted the IU batters would have a difficult time with the Illinois pitcher, because although he had a mediocre fastball, he had a slow, sharp breaking ball. They faced the same guy earlier this year and couldn't hit him. You have to wait out that kind of guy and hit mistakes or wait on the fast ball. Not IU's line-up---we went up and hacked away at breaking balls in the dirt, with predictable results. Very disappointing.............
B4: Lloyd grounds out to second. Gorski strikes out swinging. Sowers grounds out to first.
End of 4th inning: Michigan State leads 3-0
End of 4th inning: Michigan State leads 3-0
T5: Michigan State's Kelley dobules down the left field line. Roskelly's RBI single to left scores Kelley.
Michigan State 4, Indiana 0 with zero outs
Michigan State 4, Indiana 0 with zero outs
T5 continued: Antoncic grounds out to third. Iverson strikes out swinging. Bechina walks. During Proctor's at-bat, Roskelly advances to third and Bechina second on a wild pitch. Proctor strikes out looking.
Still 4-0 Michigan State heading into B5
Still 4-0 Michigan State heading into B5
B5: Miller grounds out to shortstop. Ashley flies out to center. Fineman strikes out swinging.
End of 5th inning: Michigan State still leads 4-0
End of 5th inning: Michigan State still leads 4-0
T6: Michigan State's McGuire singles to right. Young's sac-bunt advances McGuire to second. During Gleaves' at-bat, McGuire advances to third on a wild pitch. Gleaves strikes out swinging. Kelley hits an RBI single through the left side, scoring McGuire.
Michigan State 5, Indiana 0 with two outs.
Michigan State 5, Indiana 0 with two outs.
T6 continued: Michigan State's Roskelly strikes out swinging.
5-0 lead for Spartans heading into B6.
5-0 lead for Spartans heading into B6.
Yes--we won the BTT there in 2014. We also beat NEB in an elimination game there in 2016, but lost twice to MD to get eliminated ourselves.
B6: Bradley flies out to right. Houston walks. Kaletha walks, advancing Houston to second. Lloyd's RBI single to right scores Houston and advances Kaletha to second.
Michigan State 5, Indiana 1 with one out
Michigan State 5, Indiana 1 with one out
T7: Michigan State's Antoncic flies out to center. Iverson grounds out to first. Bechina grounds out to shortstop.
Still 5-1 Michigan State heading into B7.
Still 5-1 Michigan State heading into B7.
B7: Sowers singles to center. Miller doubles to left center, advancing Sowers to third. Ashley fouls out to first. Fineman strikes out swinging. Bradley walks to load the bases. Houston strikes out swinging.
End of 7th inning: Michigan State still leads 5-1
End of 7th inning: Michigan State still leads 5-1
Why would you not pinch hit in that situation?
.218 hitter in the 7th representing the tying run,seems like a no brainer to me.
