IU@Louisville: UofL 7 IU 2. IU drops a midweek game to No. 7 Louisville.

[ptrich]

LHP Ty Bothwell is on the mound for IU with an ERA of 4.59 in 33.1 IP, while RHP Ben Wiegman is on the mound for the Cards with an ERA of 6.97 in 10.1 IP.

In the 1st, Whalen leads off with a single to open the game. Jessee flies out with the runner holding at 1st. Tibbetts walks to put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Mathison reaches on a fielder's choice with Tibbetts forced at 2nd to put runners on the corners with two outs. Ellis then singles through the infield to score Whalen to make it 1-0 and Mathison reaches 3rd, but a ground out by Doanes ends IU's 1st.

In the Cards 1st, the Cards have just one player in the lineup with a weak batting average at .208 with everyone else over .300 or close to it, and like with IU, they have a balance of left and right hand hitters in the lineup. Bothwell gets the leadoff hitter on a foul out. Bothwell then walks the next batter to put a man on with one out. Bothwell then gets a K for the 2nd out with the runner still on 1st. A K ends the inning.

 

[ptrich]

In the 2nd, IU goes down in order and we will be at the top of the order next inning.

In the Cards 2nd, what's an IU game without a hit batter and Bothwell hits the leadoff man and then hits the next batter, IU's 92nd hit batter on the season, to put two on and no outs. A SAC bunt puts the runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. Bothwell then gets a big K for two outs and the runners still on 2nd and 3rd. A ground out ends the inning and Bothwell strands the hit batters. OSHA will probably notify IU after the season that their pitching staff will be under investigation as a safety hazard.

 

[ptrich]

In the 3rd, IU is at the top of the order and they go down in order for the 2nd straight inning.

In the Cards 3rd, they are also at the top of the order. Bothwell gets the leadoff man on a K, his 4th of the game. Bothwell then walks the next batter to put a man on with one out. Both of Bothwell's walks have been to Jack Payton, the Cards leading hitter. Bothwell then gives up a 2-run homer, the first hit of the game for them, to give the Cards the lead at 2-1. Mercer goes to the bullpen and brings in RHP Nathan Stahl with an ERA of 10.02 in 20.2 IP. Stahl gets a line out for the 2nd out. Stahl then walks the next batter to put a man on with two outs and he walked the guy who leads the Cards in steals and he immediately steals 2nd. Stahl then gets a K to end the inning.

 

[ptrich]

In the 4th, IU has their 4 thru 6 hitters up. I missed it, but the Cards had gone to their bullpen and they have RHP Carson Liggett on the mound and he has an ERA of 5.68 in 12.2 IP. Mathison walks to lead off the inning for IU, IU's first base runner since the 1st. Ellis flies out with Mathison holding at 1st. Mathison takes 2nd on a WP with one out. Doanes grounds out with Mathison holding at 2nd for two outs. Goforth strikes out looking to strand the runner at 2nd.

In the Cards 4th, a ground out, a single, and a K put a man on with two outs. A WP by Stahl puts the runner on 2nd with two outs. A triple off the wall scores the man from 2nd who would have scored without the WP to make it 3-1. A ground out ends the inning.

 

[ptrich]

In the 5th, IU is at the 8, 9, and 1 hitters and things have been quiet at the plate since the 1st. The Cards go to the bullpen again and bring in RHP Kade Grundy with an ERA of 3.46 in 13 IP. Serruto reaches 1st on a throwing error by the SS. Johnson flies out with Serruto holding at 1st for one out and we are at the top of the order in Whalen. After a long at bat by Whalen, he hits into a DP to end IU's 5th, and IU has not had a hit since the 1st.

In the B5th, IU brings in LHP Ryan Kraft with an ERA of 11.57 in 30.2 IP. Kraft immediately hits the leadoff man, IU's third hit batter of the game. An attempted bunt is a pop out for the 1st out with the runner on 1st. Kraft, who faced two batters in game 3 at Michigan and struck them both out, gets a K for the 2nd out and a man on 1st. A single through the infield puts runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. A deep fly ball is tracked down by Jessee stranding both runners and ending the inning.

 

[ptrich]

In the 6th, IU is at the 2 thru 4 hitters and IU batters have been on vacation since the 1st inning. Jessee must have heard me and gets a leadoff single, IU's first hit since the 1st. Tibbetts reaches on an infield hit to put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Mathison then singles to score Jessee to make it 3-2 Cards with runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs. After giving up three straight singles to start the inning, the Cards go to the bullpen to bring in LHP Garrett Schmeltz with an ERA of 4.63 in 11.1 IP. A balk moves both runners to 2nd and 3rd with Ellis at the plate. Ellis and Doanes both strike out for two outs, and with runners on 2nd and 3rd you have to put the ball in play and they couldn't do that. Goforth then ends IU's 6th with another K and with runners on 2nd and 3rd and no outs, IU blew a big chance to at least tie the game, and the pitcher that came in wasn't a big strike out pitcher, but he got three straight Ks.

In the Cards 6th, the leadoff hitter gets on with a little blooper that fell between players, but the runner was thrown out by Serruto attempting to steal 2nd for the first out. Kraft then gets a K for the 2nd out. Another two-out homer for the Cards gives them a 4-2 lead. Kraft then gets a K to end the inning.

 

[ptrich]

In the 7th, Serruto, with a .127 average, gets a leadoff single, but Ellis, Doanes and Goforth couldn't get a bat on the ball in the 6th. Johnson then hits into DP, the Cards 2nd of the game, for two outs and we are at the top of the order in Whalen, and he strikes out to end IU's 7th.

In the Cards 7th, Kraft gets the leadoff hitter with a K and Mercer goes to the bullpen to bring in RHP Luke Hayden with an ERA of 6.23 in 21.2. Hayden, like with other pitchers, has been up and down this season and I believe he leads the B1G in WPs. Hayden gets off to a good start with a K for the 2nd out. Hayden averages a walk an inning and he just gave up a two-out walk. The walk happened to be the Cards leading base stealer in Levi Usher who promptly steals 2nd, his 2nd stolen base of the game. IU catches Usher off the bag at 2nd and had him in a run-down but blew it and he managed to get back to 2nd. Usher then stole 3rd, but Kraft got the final out of the inning on a ground out.

 

[ptrich]

In the 8th, the Cards bring in LHP Tate Kuehner with an ERA of 4.24 in 51 IP and IU has their 2 thru 4 hitters up. Jessee goes down on a one-pitch ground out. Tibbetts then singles, his 2nd hit of the day, to reach with one out. A WP sends Tibbetts to 2nd with one out. A pop out results in the 2nd out with a runner on 2nd. Ellis grounds out to end IU's 8th.

In the Cards 8th, IU brings in LHP Grant Holderfield with an ERA of 5.95 in 39.1 IP. Holderfield gives up two straight singles to start the inning and he has really been struggling of late coming out of the bullpen. A throwing error by Serruto on a bunt ends up scoring the runner from 2nd and put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs and the Cards are threatening to blow this game wide open. Unlike IU in the 6th, the Cards don't leave runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs as they get another run on a SAC fly to make it 6-2 and IU is playing themselves out of having a chance in the 9th. The SAC fly also put a runner on 3rd with one out. Holderfield then walked a batter to put runners on the corners with one out. A ground out scores the runner from 3rd to make it 7-2 with two outs. The runner on 2nd steals 3rd, and I think this is their 4th stolen base of the game. Holderfield walks another batter, his 2nd of the inning to put runners on the corners with two outs. Holderfield finally gets out of the inning with a K, but those three runs given up in the inning probably eliminated any chance for IU to come back in the 9th.

 

[ptrich]

In the 9th, IU has their 6 thru 8 hitters up. The Cards bring in RHP Ryan Hawks with an ERA of 4.75 in 36 IP. Doanes reaches on an error by 2B. Goforth goes down on a K for the first out and Vecrumba pinch hits for Serruto and he goes down looking on a K. Schank pinched hit for Johnson and got a two-out walk to put runners on 1st and 2nd with the top of the order up in Whalen. A WP moves the runners to 2nd and 3rd with two outs. Whalen ends the game by striking out looking.

 

[ptrich]

IU has zero chance of getting an at-large bid to the NCAAs so this game didn't mean anything from that standpoint, but Louisville is a school we recruit against so it would have been nice to get the win. Two innings decided this game. In the 6th, IU had scored a run to make it 3-2 and had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs and three straight batters couldn't put the ball in play and struck out to end the inning. The other inning was the 8th when IU still had a chance by being down two runs, but another bad outing by Holderfield combined with a crucial throwing error by Serruto put this game pretty much out of reach as the Cards got three runs, two of them unearned because of the throwing error. Tibbetts was the only player to get multi-hits going 2 for 3. IU used five pitchers and I would say of the pitchers used, that Kraft had the best outing going 2.1 IP and giving up 3 hits and 1 ER while getting 4 Ks. Bothwell opened the game and gave up just one hit in 2.1 IP but that one hit was a 2-run homer and he also hit two batters while giving up two BBs. IU pitchers had 12 Ks on the day. IU hit three more batters and have 93 hit batters on the season and probably will break the century mark in that category before the season is over with. What matters is we have to take care of Minnesota this weekend and that is a must.

 

[ptrich]

The recap hadn't been posted yet so here is the box score;

Baseball vs Louisville on 5/10/2022 - Box Score - Indiana University Athletics

The official box score of Baseball vs Louisville on 5/10/2022

iuhoosiers.com

 

[hoosier roadtrips]

IU has zero chance of getting an at-large bid to the NCAAs so this game didn't mean anything from that standpoint, but Louisville is a school we recruit against so it would have been nice to get the win. Two innings decided this game. In the 6th, IU had scored a run to make it 3-2 and had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs and three straight batters couldn't put the ball in play and struck out to end the inning. The other inning was the 8th when IU still had a chance by being down two runs, but another bad outing by Holderfield combined with a crucial throwing error by Serruto put this game pretty much out of reach as the Cards got three runs, two of them unearned because of the throwing error. Tibbetts was the only player to get multi-hits going 2 for 3. IU used five pitchers and I would say of the pitchers used, that Kraft had the best outing going 2.1 IP and giving up 3 hits and 1 ER while getting 4 Ks. Bothwell opened the game and gave up just one hit in 2.1 IP but that one hit was a 2-run homer and he also hit two batters while giving up two BBs. IU pitchers had 12 Ks on the day. IU hit three more batters and have 93 hit batters on the season and probably will break the century mark in that category before the season is over with. What matters is we have to take care of Minnesota this weekend and that is a must.

Those were my thoughts as well, with the wasted scoring opportunity in the sixth, and then letting Louisville get away with three runs in the eighth. I wonder what has happened recently with Holderfield not being anywhere as successful as he was early in the season.

 

[mk30]

Missed this completely by deciding to go watch my nephews play a JV game instead. I honestly thought this one would be 17-1.

I despise Louisville and hate when we lose recruits to them. A few years ago, I thought we’d turned the corner on them and would start to beat them routinely. Boy was I wrong. 🤬

 

[Orford]

Anyone know:

1. Why Pyne wasn’t in lineup?
2. where doanes and Whalen bats are? I swear Tyler had to account for good chunk of last 4 games Lob

 

[MDS3]

Pyne is resting an sore groin