IU @ Iowa, Game 3: IU run-ruled again, 10-0, in a poorly played series...

[ptrich]

IU has scored a combined three runs in the first two games, so will we see the same against their Sunday starter? One thing is for sure, we can't continue putting runners on with walks and hit batters like we did yesterday. Grable has surpassed Gilley of late as being our most stable pitcher to start games, so we need a big game out of him.

RHP Ben Grable will try to get the Sunday win and he has an ERA of 3.96 and a WHIP of 1.32 in 36.1 IP. He has 37 Ks to 12 BBs and an OBA of .259. Schuyler will be behind the plate.

The batting order is as follows: Moore, Taylor, Dickerson, Hanley, Denny (RF), Cerny, Malamazian, Wiggins (DH), and Schuyler. It's been a while since we have seen Wiggins in the lineup and he was in a hitting slump at the time he disappeared in the lineup.

Iowa's Sunday pitcher is RHP Reece Beuter with an ERA of 3.99 and a WHIP of 1.17 in 47.1 IP. He has 51 Ks to 17 BBs and an OBA of .213.

As I post this, it's 64 degrees with intermittent clouds and no rain expected. It's windy with the wind SSE 16 mph and gusts to 22 mph.

Iowa is a more experienced team and their lineup is loaded with draft eligible players to include all of their weekend starters, so this is the season they need to make waves in the B1G tournament and the Field of 64. With their pitching, they could very well do that. On the other side, IU is a young team and often has five freshmen in the lineup.

T1st:

Moore Kd looking to start the game.

Taylor singled to put a runner on. Dickerson Kd looking on a pitch that was well off the plate for the 2nd out.

Hanley Kd to retire the side and the Iowa pitcher already has three Ks to start the game.

B1st:

Good start for Grable as he Kd the leadoff hitter on three pitches. A flyout got the 2nd out. A K ended the inning and it included two Ks.

End of 1st: IU 0 Iowa 0

 

[ptrich]

T2nd:

It's the 5 thru 7 hitters up with Denny leading off and he singled to put a runner on.

Cerny hit into a DP which erased Denny on the bases.

Malamazian Kd to end a very quick inning.

B2nd:

Grable faced the middle of the order and it was another good start for Grable as he Kd the leadoff hitter.

Grable then gave up a double to put a runner in scoring position with one out. Denny was out of position on the shift to make a play on that ball.

A single scored a run and just like that, Iowa has a 1-0 lead. Grable then got a K for the 2nd out with the runner still at 1st.

A two-out, two-run homer put Iowa up 3-0, and if we don't start getting our bats going we might as well get on the bus with our tails between our legs since IU has been a no-show at the plate for much of the series so far. Obviously, Iowa pitching has been a big factor in that.

A groundout ended the inning.

End of 2nd: Iowa 3 IU 0

 

[ptrich]

T3rd:

It's the 8 thru 1 hitters up with Wiggins leading off. IU has jumped on the early pitches so far in this game which is saving the Iowa pitcher's arm.

Wiggins walked on a full count to put the leadoff runner on and Schuyler up. Schuyler hit into a DP, the 2nd one in the early innings, which took Wiggins off the base paths.

Moore grounded out and it was another very quick inning for IU.

B3rd:

It's the top of the order up for Iowa and Grable got the leadoff hitter on a K. A one-out double put a runner in scoring position.

A 3-1 walk put runners at 1st and 2nd, and IU is in danger of pitching themselves out of this game early on for the 2nd straight game.

An infield hit loaded the bases with one out. Everything seemed to go in Iowa's way in this series with balls finding the infield holes or weak hitting grounders going for singles, while IU is constantly grounding out or hitting into DPs.

A walk on a full count scored a run to make it 4-0 and while Iowa is making Grable work for his outs, IU hitters have been flailing away at early pitches for the Iowa pitcher who is at a low PC.

A SAC fly scored a run with two outs and runners at 1st and 2nd and we are already down 5-0 and may be on our way to another run-rule game if the bats don't wake up.

A two-out ground rule double scored another run to make it 6-0 with runners on 2nd and 3rd.

A K finally ended a disastrous inning.

End of 3rd: Iowa 6 IU 0

 

[ptrich]

T4th:

It's the 2 thru 4 hitters up with Taylor leading off and if the meat of our order can't do anything, you can stick a fork in IU in this game.

Taylor Kd to lead off. Dickerson flied out and this is looking familiar with the meat of our order, and that was on five pitches to get the first two outs.

It took a throwing error by 3B for IU to get a runner on with two outs as Hanley reached. I believe this was the first error of the series by both teams.

A groundout retired the side in another very quick inning.

B4th:

Grable was back out there to face the 9 thru 2 hitters and he Kd the first two batters for two outs. A groundout ended the inning as Grable rebounded from the previous two innings to put them down in order.

End of 4th: Iowa 6 IU 0

 

[ptrich]

T5th:

It's the 6 thru 8 hitters up with Cerny leading off. The call on Cerny was close and IU challenged the call and the call was upheld.

Malamazian Kd for the 2nd out. Wiggins grounded out to retire the side and if it wasn't for the review on the play at 1st, this would have been another very quick inning, saving the arm of the Iowa pitcher.

B5th:

RHP Jackson Yarberry replaced Grable and he had an ERA of 9.49 and a WHIP of 1.78 in 12.1 IP, and he faced the 3 thru 5 hitters. Good start for Yarberry as he Kd the leadoff hitter.

A lineout and flyout ended the inning as Yarberry put them down in order.

End of 5th: Iowa 6 IU 0

 

[ptrich]

T6th:

Schuyler led off with a flyout and we are at the top of the order which has done almost nothing today and the first four batters in the order are a combined 1 for 8 so far, which should sound familiar for this series as they have pretty much flailed away at early pitches.

As soon as I said that, Moore singled to put a man on. Taylor hit a hard-hit ball to RF but as usual it went right to an outfielder, while it seems the Iowa hits always find the gaps in the outfield. There are two outs with Moore on first.

Dickerson Kd to retire the side.

B6th:

Yarberry faced the 6 thru 8 hitters. It's the 5 thru 8 hitters for Iowa that have killed IU pitching so far in this game. Yarberry got the first two batter on groundouts for two outs.

A two-out solo homer made it 7-0 Iowa. A full count walk put a runner on.

An error by Cerny who bobbled a grounder put runners on 1st and 2nd and two outs. After no errors in the first two games by either team, both teams have an error in this game.

A two-out, three-run homer make it 10-0, and IU is going to get run-ruled for the 2nd straight game in the next inning if they can't come up with a run.

An infield foul out finally ended another disastrous inning.

End of 6th: Iowa 10 IU 0

 

[ptrich]

T7th:

It's the middle of the order that is up and will try to extend this game with Hanley leading off.

Iowa had gone to the bullpen for this inning and Hanley fouled out on the infield which is typical for this game.

Denny Kd for the 2nd out. Cerny grounded out and IU has been run-ruled two games in a row.

Final: Iowa 10 IU 0

 

[82IU]

What a lousy weekend in Iowa City! Three runs and only 14 hits in three games. You would have thought IU was playing against the Yankees. SMH.
I didn't expect to win the series but I didn't think our hitters would get shut down like they did. Iowa has got a real shot at getting to the College World Series with this team.
82

 

[jdwIUfan]

Appears to be time for a coaching change.

 

[ptrich]

IU fell apart in the last two games of this series after a great pitching effort in Game 1 which they had the opportunity to win, but couldn't come up with the clutch hits in that game.

I labeled this game as part of a poorly played series, but that was from a hitting standpoint as we got great pitching in Game 1. I can't help but feel that IU's team was already intimidated by Iowa's pitching stats before they even got off the bus in Iowa City as they often flailed away at early pitches in the last two games. They made Obermeuller work for his outs in the Game One and he left with about 110 pitches in a no-decision for him.

A tip of the hat to Iowa's veteran team which is made up mostly of upperclassmen and they have just two sophs in their lineup with all of their other players juniors or seniors. All three of their weekend starters are upperclassmen that are draft eligible, so if they are going to do anything in the post-season, it's this year, and they have the pitching to make quite a bit of noise in the post-season.

IU was outhit 8 to 3 and the first four batters in our batting order of Moore, Taylor, Dickerson, and Hanley, went 2 for 12 today and they were a combined 5 of 37 for the series. Outside of the first game of the series, they seemed to flail away at early pitches making it easy for the starting pitchers in the last two games of the series.

For the 2nd straight game, we couldn't find the holes in the infield while Iowa constantly did, and it seemed like every ball that Iowa weakly hit in the infield went for a hit after being beaten out. When Iowa did put runners on, an extra base hit to include doubles or homers often followed.

Mercer said that Buhr was ready to reenter the bullpen and would get an inning in this series, but that didn't happen. It will be nice to see Buhr and Vogel back into their roles of middle relievers at the same time, although it too late for this season unless IU can somehow take the B1G tournament. While IU is not guaranteed a spot in the conference tournament yet, they have won enough early B1G games to probably make it with series left against Purdue (at home), and at Michigan.

Both teams had an error today, which were the first errors of the series.

You have to wonder what this team's mindset will be with a road game at Evansville this coming week and a series in Texas against Abilene Christian.

No need to go over the hitting and pitching numbers since they just weren't there, so here is the box score.

Baseball vs Iowa on 4/27/2025 - Box Score - Indiana University Athletics

The official box score of Baseball vs Iowa on 4/27/2025

iuhoosiers.com