Illinois @ IU, Game 1: IU's downward spiral continues in a 9-1 loss...

[ptrich]

It's RHP Ethan Phillips on the mound for IU with an ERA of 5.29 in 17.0 IP and a WHIP of 1.59 with an OBA of .254. Stadler is behind the plate with Tibbitts at 1B. Oliver is at 2nd with Colopy in RF. Mitchell is the DH and is leading off while Cerny has moved up to No. 2 in the batting order.

Illinois is starting RHP Jack Crowder with an ERA of 5.88 in 26.0 IP and a WHIP of 1.54 with an OBA of .257.

It's cloudy and around 52 degrees and a light wind at around 6 mph.

Added note: We have problems, but Iowa is trailing Purdue 8-1 in the 7th as I post this, and they have their ace Brody Brecht on the mound. Iowa has four errors as of right now.

1st inning:

T1st:

Phillips opened the game with a walk on a 3-1 count, but got the next three batters to retire the side.

B1st:

Mitchell grounded out on the first pitch he saw for one out. Cerny popped up for the 2nd out.

Taylor was hit by a pitch to put a runner on and two outs.

Taylor took 2nd on a WP. Tibbitts was hit by a pitch to put runners on 1st and 2nd an two outs.

Mathison popped up to the SS to end the inning.

End of 1st: IU 0 Illini 0

 

[ptrich]

2nd inning:

T2nd:

It's the 5 thru 7 hitters up and the leadoff hitter reached on an error by Cerny at short. A walk on a full count put runners at 1st and 2nd with no outs.

Phillips got a flyout for the first out with the runners holding at 1st and 2nd.

A single loaded the bases with one out. A DP ball ended the inning, but the Illini wanted a review of the play at 1st. The umps upheld the call at first that the runners was out.

B2nd:

It's the 6 thru 8 hitters up and IU went down in order on just 7 total pitches, and it's starting to look like another one of those games where IU hitters are going to need five or six innings to get their bats going.

End of 2nd: IU 0 Illini 0

 

[ptrich]

3rd inning:

T3rd:

Phillips was up and down in the first two inning and he was replaced on the mound by LHP Ty Bothwell with an ERA of 5.16 in 22.2 IP and a WHIP of 1.32.

Bothwell faced the top of the order and he got the first two batters on groundouts. A pitch that bounced into the foot of the next batter put a runner on with two outs. A groundout retired the side and it was the result of a great play by Cerny to get the out at 1st.

B3rd:

It's the 9 thru 2 hitters up for IU with Oliver leading off.

IU went down in order to include two Ks and a foul out as IU is still looking for their first hit and we are again finding a starter with so-so stuff coming in and looking like Bob Gibson in his prime to our hitters.

End of 3rd: IU 0 Illini 0

 

[ptrich]

4th inning:

T4th:

Bothwell faced the 5 thru 7 hitters and he put them down in order.

B4th:

It's the 3 thru 5 hitters up for IU with Taylor leading off.

Taylor and Tibbits both Kd to lead off and the Illini starter has 5 Ks already.

Mathison got IU's first hit of the game with a two-out single, but Pyne flied out to end the inning.

End of 5th: IU 0 Illini 0

 

[ptrich]

Purdue beat Iowa and Brody Brecht, 10-3, with four Iowa errors in the early innings setting the tone for this game.

 

[ptrich]

5th inning:

T5th:

Bothwell faced the 9 thru 1 hitters and he got the leadoff hitter on a flyout. A pop up got the 2nd out.

With the top of the order up, Bothwell walked a batter on a full count, but then got the 3rd out on a shallow flyout.

B5th:

It was the bottom of the order up for IU and Stadler grounded out to leadoff. Colopy walked to put a runner on with one out.

Oliver singled to put runners at 1st and 2nd with one out and the top of the order up in Mitchell.

Mitchell walked on a full count to load the bases with Cerny up.

A SAC fly by Cerny scored Colopy to give IU a 1-0 lead and Taylor up with runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs.

Taylor Kd swinging to end the inning.


End of 5th: IU 1 Illini 0

 

[ptrich]

6th inning:

T6th:

Bothwell faced the 3 thru 5 hitters and he appeared to run out of gas after pitching 3 innings. Bothwell and Tonghini combined for the following in the inning with 14 batters coming to the plate for the Illini.

In order:

single
double
double
walk
Tonghini came in
groundout
groundout
single
WP
walk
walk
hit batter
single
single
walk
FC retired the side after the Illini got 8 runs.

B6th:

It was 4 thru 6 hitters up for IU. Tibbitts was hit by a pitch and the Illini went the bullpen.

Mathison walked to put two on and no outs. Pyne flied out for the first out.

Sefcik hitting for Stadler popped up for two outs.

A passed ball moved Tibbitts and Mathison to 2nd and 3rd with two outs.

Colopy Kd to end the inning.

End of 6th: Illini 8 IU 1

 

[ptrich]

7th inning:

T7th:

In a sign that Mercer is already looking to Saturday's game, he brought in RHP Eli Shaw with an ERA of 19.29 in 2.1 IP and a WHIP of 2.15.

Shaw faced the 8 thru 1 hitters. Shaw got a flyout and then a K for two outs. The K was the first one of IU in the game so far.

A single put a runner on with two outs. The runner on 1st stole 2nd and a two-out error at 2B scored the runner from 2nd with the runner who reached on the error out after trying to take 2nd. The Illini scored a two-out unearned run.

B7th:

It was the 9 thru 2 hitters up and Oliver walked to leadoff. Mitchell and Cerny then Kd for two outs. Taylor grounded out to end the inning.

End of 7th: IIlini 9 IU 1

 

[ptrich]

8th inning:

T8th:

RHP Jacob Vogel came in to pitch with an ERA of 0.00 in 4.1 IP and he faced the 3 thru 5 hitters.

Vogel got the leadoff hitter on a flyout. A long fly to the wall was snagged by Mathison for the 2nd out.

A pop up retired the side and Vogel put them down in order.

B8th:

It's the 4 thru 6 hitters up with Tibbitts leading off.

Tibbitts popped up for the first out, Mathison doubled to put a runner in scoring position, Pyne and TJ Schuyler both Kd to end the inning.

End of 8th: Illini 9 IU 1

 

[82IU]

IU has struck out 11 times to Illinois 2. That tells me World's of info. They are disciplined hitters and we are not. We have 2 errors, they have 0. Poor fundamentals all around are rearing their ugly heads. We may be lucky to win 20 games this year if we keep this up.
82

 

[ptrich]

IU has struck out 11 times to Illinois 2. That tells me World's of info. They are disciplined hitters and we are not. We have 2 errors, they have 0. Poor fundamentals all around are rearing their ugly heads. We may be lucky to win 20 games this year if we keep this up.
82

Light hitting Illinois with a pitching staff that is almost as bad as IU's, beat us in all phases of the game, and this is not just a bad game, but a trend as we continue to head south on the season.

 

[ptrich]

9th inning:

T9th:

RHP Seti Manase came in with an ERA of 19. Manase put them down in order to include two Ks.

B9th:

Colopy grounded out. Oliver popped up. Mitchell singled. Cerny ended the game with a groundout.

Final: Illinois 9 IU 1

 

[Bucket Getter]

I’m at a loss for words. Mercer has to be thanking his lucky stars for Mike Woodson.

 

[Orford]

wow the optimistic view is…..hard to see

 

[ptrich]

There's absolutely nothing good you can say about this game and we were thoroughly beaten in all phases of the game by a team that had a losing record coming in. Our pitching was for the most part not that bad, but when you have an inning like we had in the 6th (which was a horrible inning for the pitchers) where the Illini, one of the worst hitting teams in the B1G, had 14 batters (I believe) come to the plate, it totally deflated the team and we limped toward the finish. We did have two errors charged, but I noticed that the official scorer must have changed the error on Pyne to a single so we had one error on the game at SS.

Our hitting was almost non-existent and our top six hitters in the batting order were just 3 for 20 at the plate and two of those hits came near the end of the game with the Illini already up 9-1.

This team is now at .500 with an 11-11 record and you have to wonder if this team is facing a threat of not making the B1G tourney despite that fact we have just started the conference season. Iowa fans are probably wondering the same thing after they lost at Purdue today 10-3 with their ace pitcher on the mound in Brecht and they had four errors very early in the game.

There's no need to go through all of the numbers today since there is almost nothing good to say about it. The box score says it all:

Baseball vs Illinois on 3/22/2024 - Box Score - Indiana University Athletics

The official box score of Baseball vs Illinois on 3/22/2024

iuhoosiers.com

 

[Bligedy]

A bullpen game on a conference Friday is BS.