Indiana State @ IU: 9th inning rally falls short as IU loses, 7-5...

[ptrich]

It's RHP Jackson Yarberry on the mound for IU with Schuyler behind the plate. He has an ERA of 9.72 and a WHIP of 2.04 in 8.1 IP. He has 13 Ks to 4 BBs and an OBA of .361.

The batting order is Taylor, Dickerson, Hanley, Cerny, Koskie, Denny (DH), Malamazian, Oliver (at 3B), and Schuyler.

ISU counters with RHP Jacob Spencer on the mound and he has an ERA of 9.64 and a WHIP of 1.36 in 14.0 IP. He has 6 Ks to 3 BBs and an OBA of .291.

It's been kind of a blustery day with the clouds now intermittent with some sun peaking out every so often. It's 53 but feels like 47 right now with the wind. The wind is WNW at 13 mph as I post this and the gusts are up to 23 mph. It's going to be a warm coat game for those in attendance, especially as the sun gets lower. No precip is expected.

T1st:

Good start for Yarberry as he put them down in order to include one K.

B1st:

Taylor grounded out to lead off. Dickerson doubled to put a runner in scoring position.

Hanley was up and he's been in a slump of late. He grounded out with Dickerson taking 3rd.

Cerny popped out to end the inning.

End of 1st: IU 0 ISU 0

 

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T2nd:

Yarberry faced the middle of the order and he put them down in order again to include one K.

B2nd:

It's the 5 thru 7 batters up with Koskie leading off and he grounded out.

Denny walked on four pitches. Malamazian Kd on a full count for the 2nd out.

It was a good time to put Oliver back into the lineup as he hit a two-out, two-run homer to LF to give IU a 2-0 lead.

Schuyler grounded out to end the inning.

End of 2nd: IU 2 ISU 0

 

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T3rd:

After putting six straight batters down to start the game, LHP Deron Swanson came in with an ERA of 3.97 and a WHIP of 1.50 in 11.1 IP. With the bottom of the order up, a grounder hit the 1st base bag and ended up being a double, however after conferring, the umps ruled it was a foul ball.

Oliver got to a foul ball for the first out and then a flyout got the 2nd out. A two-out single gave ISU their first base runner.

A four pitch walk put runners at 1st and 2nd and two outs. Swanson got out of the mini-jam with a K to retire the side.

B3rd:

It's the top of the order up with Taylor at the plate and he flied out. Dickerson Kd swinging for the 2nd out. Hanley fouled out to LF and IU went down in order quickly.

End of 3rd: IU 2 ISU 0

 

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T4th:

Swanson was back out there to face the 3 thru 5 hitters and he gave up a single to the leadoff hitter.

A full count walk put runners at 1st and 2nd with no outs and Swanson has started to show signs of command problems going back to the end of last inning.

Mercer went to the bullpen and brought in LHP Ryan Rushing with an ERA of 4.66 and a WHIP of 1.45 in 9.2 IP. Rushing has yet to give up an extra base hit in his over 9 innings so far.

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

An infield single loaded the bases with one out with the ball hitting Rushing right in the chest and then slowly rolled away. Rushing was okay and a flyout to LF got the 2nd out with the runners holding.

An infield pop-out retired the side with no damage done as Rushing pitched out of Swanson's jam.

B4th:

It was the middle of the order up with Cerny leading off. ISU went to the bullpen and Cerny, Koskie and Denny all grounded out in another quick inning for IU.

End of 4th: IU 2 ISU 0

 

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T5th:

It was the 9 thru 2 hitters up with Rushing on the mound. Back-to-back singles and just like that, there are runners on the corners with no outs. A bunt single scored a run with runners at 1st and 2nd and no outs.

A walk loaded the bases with no outs and IU is about to lose their lead unless Rushing bears down.

Another single scored two runs as the Sycamores take the lead at 3-2 and runners at the corners and still no outs. The runner at 1st was caught stealing for the first out with a runner still at 3rd. A walk put runners on the corners with one out.

Mercer went to the bullpen and brought in RHP Jacob Vogel with an ERA of 3.37 and a WHIP of 1.69 in 5.1 IP.

An infield single scored a run and a flyout and lineout retired the side with ISU up 4-2.

B5th:

It's the bottom of the order up with Malamazian leading off and IU is looking a lot like they did against the Illini in that debacle in Game 3. It doesn't seem to matter what the pitcher numbers are against them.

Malamazian singled to lead off but Oliver hit into a DP for two outs and no one on. Schuyler flied out to end another inning of nothing.

End of 5th: ISU 4 IU 2

 

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T6th:

A leadoff walk and then a double scored another run. The runner on 2nd stole 3rd. A groundout for the first out scored another run to make it 6-2. A K got the 2nd out with the bases empty. A flyout retired the side.

B6th:

We are at the top of the order and the first five batters in the lineup are 1 for 10 so far. ISU went to the bullpen again and the way IU is hitting right now, it doesn't matter who they put on the mound.

Taylor finally got things going with a leadoff solo homer which is his 47th homer of his IU career to tie at the top in homers. Dickerson grounded out, and Hanley walked on a full count.

Cerny fouled out on the infield. Koskie grounded out and IU went right back into a funk after the leadoff homer.

End of 6th: ISU 6 IU 3

 

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T7th:

LHP Grant Holderfield is on the mound with an ERA of 5.77 and a WHIP of 1.71 in 20.1 IP.

Holderfield promptly hit the first batter he saw after having a 1-2 count on him. A groundout sent the runner to 2nd with one out.

Another hit batter put two on with one out, and it doesn't seem to matter who they put on the mound right now as they continue to put batters on the bases in various manners. A groundout and a K retired the side with no damage done.

B7th:

It's the 6 thru the 8 hitters up with Brenczewski coming in to pinch hit for Denny. IU is down to nine outs and needs to get something going.

Brenczewski walked on four pitches to lead off. Malamazian Kd for the first out. Oliver Kd with Brenczewski stealing 2nd and two outs.

Stadler came in to pinch hit for Schuyler. Stadler Kd to end the inning.

End of 7th: ISU 6 IU 3

 

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T8th:

It's the top of the order up for the Sycamores and IU brought in LHP Brayton Thomas with an ERA of 6.75 and a WHIP of 0.56 in 5.1 IP.

Naturally, a 3-1 walk put the leadoff hitter on. ISU has put the leadoff hitter on in five straight innings.

A groundout sent the runner to 2nd and one out. A passed ball sent the runner to 3rd.

A single gave ISU another run to make IU's hill to climb in the last two innings even greater, and while the passed ball doesn't go down as an error, it certainly was a mental error, however the single may have scored the run from 2nd anyway.

A DP retired the side.

B8th:

It's the top of the order up and if we are going to get back into this game, it has to start right now. However, the first five batters in the lineup have done little in this game.

Taylor flied out in front of the wall and Dickerson followed suit with another flyout. Hanley grounded out and in a flash, IU went down in order.

End of 8th: ISU 7 IU 3

 

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T9th:

LHP Anthony Gubitosi came into the 9th to face the 5 thru 7 hitters, and as if it was planned, ISU put the leadoff hitter on with a walk and it was the 6th straight inning that ISU put the leadoff batter on.

A pickoff got the runner at 1st as he was forced to try and make it to 2nd unsuccessfully. Gubitosi put another batter on with one out and Mercer replaced him with RHP Pete Haas with one out and a runner at 1st.

Haas got a flyout for the 2nd out. On a single, the runner tried to reach 2nd and was thrown out to retire the side.

B9th:

It's the middle of the order up with Cerny leading off. Cerny homered to left center to cut into the lead in their final three outs.

Koskie doubled with no outs and maybe IU has something going in what may the final inning.

ISU went to the bullpen with Brenczewski at the plate. Malamazian popped out for the 2nd out.

DeMarteno came in to pinch hit for Oliver and he doubled in a run to make it 7-5 with two outs and the tying run at the plate in Stadler.

Stadler flied out to end the game.

Final: ISU 7 IU 5

 

[ptrich]

Whoever put a hex on this team the last two games, please take it off. The same team that was humiliated in Game 3 at Illinois, showed up at the Bart tonight and couldn't get anything going much until the 9th inning.

No need to go through the game much. ISU outhit IU 11 to 7 and at one point had put the leadoff hitter on either through a hit, walk or hit batter in six straight innings. We got good pitching for the first three innings with Yarberry putting six straight batters down in his two innings and Swanson coming out of 1 IP unscathed, and then it didn't matter who we put on the mound as we had control problems for much of the rest of the game. Vogel was the only one to look good and he didn't get much of a chance as he was pulled after pitching 0.2 IP.

For the Sycamores, it didn't seem to matter who they put on the mound or what their stats were, as we probably couldn't have hit our grandmother on the mound. At one point in the game, our first five batters in the order were 1 for 10.

Oliver, who had sat out several games, gave us a 2-0 lead in the 2nd on a two-run homer, and IU sat on the lead for much of the game while the Sycamores chipped away at the small lead and took the lead for good at 3-2.

Taylor hit a solo homer to tie the Hoosier career record in homers with 47 homers. Cerny had a solo homer also. Dickerson had a double as did Koskie and DeMarteno. At no point in this game did we have more than one runner on base. It was just another sorry game following up the sorry game at Illinois. This is all I'm going to say about it.

There were no errors charged in the game.

 

[ptrich]

I just think it's kind of weird or unusual that this team goes into a batting slump all together as they did in the last couple of games, as well as in other games. Against Illinois in Game 3, we had four hits in the 7 innings of that game and the starting pitcher went the distance with an ERA of just under 10.00 at the start of the game, and against ISU we had four hits through 7 innings of that game. We picked up three hits in the 9th of the ISU game which was too little, too late. Usually, you have a player or two go into a slump but not the entire batting order which is what we saw the last two games, and we faced pitchers with elevated ERAs.

 

[Orford]

I just think it's kind of weird or unusual that this team goes into a batting slump all together as they did in the last couple of games, as well as in other games. Against Illinois in Game 3, we had four hits in the 7 innings of that game and the starting pitcher went the distance with an ERA of just under 10.00 at the start of the game, and against ISU we had four hits through 7 innings of that game. We picked up three hits in the 9th of the ISU game which was too little, too late. Usually, you have a player or two go into a slump but not the entire batting order which is what we saw the last two games, and we faced pitchers with elevated ERAs.

I’m guessing it is really hard to mentally overcome crap pitching that doesn’t challenge batters / the zone at all and puts you in a deficit right away or allowing a big lead to evaporate time and again. I take Mercer on his word that the batters are coached to coach themselves and that he doesn’t tell them in game what to do, expect for every pitch… we have enough competent arms to win series but after that our situation has always been familiar lately with too many freebies