IU@Michigan, Game 1: UM 8 IU 4. IU falters late to lose it...

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Jack Perkins is on the mound for IU and he has an ERA of 4.28 in 61 IP, while LHP Connor O'Halloran, a Canadian, is on the mound for UM with an ERA of 4.21 in 62 IP.

In the 1st, Whalen strikes out to lead off the game. Jesse then singles for the game first hit with one out. Pyne strikes out looking on a 3-2 count for two outs. Jessee is caught stealing and may have hurt himself sliding into 2nd.

In UM's 1st, Perkins gets the leadoff batter, UM's top hitter, on a K. He then hits a batter to put a runner on. With the runner moving, the next batter hits a double to score the hit batter to make it 1-0. Perkins gets a flyout for the 2nd out with the runner still on 2nd. A walk puts runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. A ground out ends the inning with the pitching mistake costing IU a run.

 

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In the 2nd, Mathison grounds out to open the inning. Tibbetts strikes out for the 2nd out. Matthew Ellis then clubs his 15th homer to left CF to tie the game. Doanes just misses on a homer as the ball hits the top of the RF wall and stays in play for a 2-out double. Goforth grounds out to end IU's 2nd as a few inches kept IU from taking the lead.

In UM's 2nd, UM is at the bottom of their order. Perkins walks the leadoff man on a 3-2 count. Perkins then gets the No. 8 and 9 hitters on Ks for two outs and a runner on, and we are at the top of the order with UM's best hitter up. The runner steals 2nd with two outs. A line out to Doanes ends the inning.

 

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In the T3rd, IU is at the No. 9, 1, and 2 hitters and Murrison strikes out and Whalen grounds out for two outs. Jessee then clubs a deep homer well past the RF fence to give IU the lead at 2-1 with two outs. Pyne grounds out to end IU's half of the 3rd.

In the B3rd, Perkins has had a few full counts and has thrown 44 pitches through 2 IP. Perkins gets the leadoff man on a K, his 4th of the game. He gets the 2nd out on a fly. A hard hit ball goes off Goforth's glove at short for an error and puts a runner on with two outs. A ground out ends the inning and this was Perkins most efficient inning so far.

 

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In the T4th, Mathison leads off with a K. Tibbetts walks after getting down 0-2 to put a runner on with one out. Ellis then strikes out for the 2nd out with a runner on 1st. Doanes grounds out to end IU's half of the inning. The UM pitcher has a PC of 70 after this inning.

In UM's 4th, Perkins gets the leadoff hitter on a K. Jesse then catches a deep ball at the wall in a leaping catch for the 2nd out and we are at the No. 8 hitter. Perkins has another efficient inning as he ends the inning with a K and Perkins appears to be getting stronger as the game progresses.

 

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In the T5th, Goforth leads off with a walk after getting down 0-2. Murrison strikes out for the 1st out with a runner on 1st. Whalen flies out for the 2nd out, but Jessee notches his third hit of the game, a double, to score Goforth to make it 3-1. Pyne strikes out to end IU's 5th. Jessee is a triple away from the cycle.

In the B5th, Perkins gives up just his 2nd hit of the game to the leadoff hitter and we are at the top of the order with a man on 1st. A single by UM's best hitter puts runners on the corners with no outs. A SAC fly scores the runner from 3rd to make it 3-2 with the runner having to hold at 1st with an out. A ground out moves the runner to 2nd with two outs. A single ties the game at 3-3 with a runner on 1st and still two outs, and the No. 9 thru 4 hitters in the order do the damage in this inning. A flyout ends the inning with the game tied.

 

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In the T6th, the UM pitcher is at 88 pitches. Mathison leads off with a homer to give IU the lead back at 4-3, and Mathison ties Alex Dickerson for the most homers by a freshman in a season with 14. The UM pitcher has reached 102 pitches and walks Tibbetts to put a man on with no outs. A foul out by Ellis to the catcher results in the first out with a runner on first, and UM goes to the bullpen, and like IU, Michigan has a suspect bullpen that is up and down on the season. UM brings in RHP Willie Weiss with an ERA of 6.98 in 19.1 IP and he faces Doanes. Tibbetts steals 2nd with one out. Doanes strikes out for the 2nd out. Goforth is then hit by a pitch to put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs and the No. 9 hitter in Murrison is up. A ground out ends the 6th for IU.

In the B6th, UM has their 6th thru 8 hitters up. Perkins gets off to a good start by striking out the leadoff hitter. Perkins gets the next hitter on a ground out for two outs. A ball gets past Jessee for a double with two outs and we are at the No. 9 hitter. A flyout ends the inning as IU avoids having to pitch to one of the best hitters in the B1G in Clark Elliott who is hitting .359 in the leadoff spot. Perkins is at 101 pitches, but he has gone as high as 128 pitches in a game.

 

[mk30]

Sure would be nice if Perkins could get thru the 6th and 7th. Makes me nervous thinking about trying to get too many outs with our bullpen.

 

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Sure would be nice if Perkins could get thru the 6th and 7th. Makes me nervous thinking about trying to get too many outs with our bullpen.

I added in the last post that he is at 101 pitches and has gone as high as 128 pitches, so I expect him out there in the B7th.

 

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In the T7th, Whalen leads off with his first hit of the game, a double. Jessee flies out with Whalen holding at 2nd. Whalen is the caught between 2nd and 3rd on a ground ball by Pyne and is out trying to get back to 2nd with Pyne on 1st and two outs. Pyne reaches 2nd on an error on a pickoff attempt. Mathison then walks to put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. A WP moves runners to 2nd and 3rd with two outs. Tibbets flies out to end IU's 7th and they miss out on a chance to add to their lead.

Well, what do I know as Mercer brings in Grant Holderfield for the 7th and he has an ERA of 4.97 in 38 IP and we are at the top of the order. Perkins pitched a good game and deserves to win this game. Holderfield gets the leadoff batter, the dangerous Clark Elliott for the 1st out on a ground out. An infield hit puts a runner on 1st with one out. The runner steals 2nd with one out and we are at the No. 3 and 4 hitters. A ground out to 3rd holds the runner at 2nd with two outs. The cleanup hitter then hits a two-out, two-run homer that hit off the top of the wall to give UM the lead at 5-4. Leaving those two runners on in the top of the inning looks big right now. Tucker is warming up in the bullpen. Holderfield then walks the next batter to put another runner on with two outs. Holderfield gets a critical K for the 3rd out to limit the damage. We leave two on in the top of the inning, while UM plated two runs with two outs in the bottom of the 7th, but we still have two innings to do something.

 

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In the T8th, UM goes to the bullpen again and bring in RHP Noah Rennard with an ERA of 4.19 in 43 IP. Ellis leads off with a K. Doanes grounds out and Goforth strikes out to end IU's 8th.

In UM's 8th, Holderfield gives up another homer to the leadoff batter who got just his 2nd homer of the season to make it 6-4. The two homers are the first ones given up by Holderfield in B1G play this season. Holderfield gets a K for the first out, but then walks the next batter to put a runner on and one out. IU never knows what they are going to get out of the bullpen and Holderfield is not having a good outing. Mercer chose to leave Holderfield, who was not having a good outing, out there to pitch to the most dangerous hitter in the lineup in Clark Elliott and he clubs a 2-run homer to make it 8-4 and probably ended any chance of IU coming back in the 9th. We still have just one out and Mercer goes to RHP Luke Hayden too late and he enters the game with an ERA of 5.95 with 19.2 IP. A ground out ends the inning with IU having just three outs to come up with four runs.

 

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IU manages to get two runners on in the 9th with two outs, but a grounder ends the game.

 

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Michigan outhit IU, 9 to 8, with the 7th and 8th innings doing most of the damage. With 101 pitches going into the 7th, I thought that Mercer was going to let Perkins pitch one more inning since he has gone as high as 128 pitches, but he went to the bullpen to bring in Holderfield who didn't have it tonight. I was surprised that after Holderfield had given up two homers already that Mercer kept him out there to face the top of the order in Clark Elliott who was UM's top hitter and he promptly hit a two-run homer which made a difficult situation even more difficult by going from two runs down to four runs down with IU down to their last three outs. Holderfield pitched 1.1 IP and gave up 4 hits of which 3 of those were homers and he gave up 2 BBs while being charged with 5 ERs. He did have two Ks. Why oh why did Mercer keep him out there to pitch to the most dangerous hitter in the lineup with the way he was pitching? As it turned out, when Michigan went up 5-4 that was all they needed, but we didn't know that and if we could have kept it to a two-run deficit going into the 9th we had a chance, and we did have two runners on in the 9th, but when you are down four runs, that is deflating. Jessee was the only multi-hit player we had as he went 3 for 5 with a homer and 2 RBIs. Ellis and Mathison each had a homer with Mathison's homer tying Alex Dickerson for the most homers in a season for a freshman at 14, and he almost certainly will break that mark. Perkins deserved to win this game, but it was not to be.

 

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They haven't posted the recap yet so here is the box score of the game.

Baseball vs Michigan on 5/6/2022 - Box Score - Indiana University Athletics

The official box score of Baseball vs Michigan on 5/6/2022

iuhoosiers.com

 

[mk30]

Is he making these crazy pitching decisions based on some new age analytics or something? It’s been abundantly clear he has very little “feel” for the game. I just don’t understand it.

 

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Is he making these crazy pitching decisions based on some new age analytics or something? It’s been abundantly clear he has very little “feel” for the game. I just don’t understand it.

I honestly don't get it. Against Illinois he showed a quick hook on pitchers which has been somewhat of a rarity this season, yet he keeps Holderfield in there against the best hitter in Michigan's lineup after two hitters had already gone yard on him and for one of those, it was just his second homer of the season, so they were seeing him well.