Live Game Thread: Indiana vs. Michigan

[MatthewByrne5]

Starting Lineups:

IU:

1. LF Drew Ashley
2. 2B Paul Toetz
3. CF Grant Richardson
4. 3B Cole Barr
5. 1B Kip Fougerousse
6. RF Morgan Colopy
7. DH Tyler Van Pelt
8. C Collin Hopkins
9. SS Jeremy Houston

SP: RHP Gabe Bierman

MICH:

1. 3B Christian Molfetta
2. RF Clark Elliott
3. DH Jimmy Obertop
4. SS Benjamin Sems
5. 2B Ted Burton
6. C Griffin Mazur
7. 1B Tito Flores
8. CF Jordan Rogers
9. LF Danny Zimmerman

SP: LHP Jacob Denner

 

[MatthewByrne5]

T1:

Indiana strands one runner in scoring position.

Ashley flied out to left field and then Toetz singled through the left side. Richardson grounded out to first base unassisted and Toetz moved to second. Next up to bat, Barr grounded out to second base toward the middle.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Heading into B1 --> The game is tied 0-0.

Due Up:

1. Molfetta
2. Elliott
3. Obertop

 

[MatthewByrne5]

B1:

Michigan goes down 1-2-3.

Molfetta struck out swinging, Elliott grounded out to first base unassisted and Obertop struck out swinging.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Heading into T2 --> The game is tied 0-0.

Due Up:

5. Fougerousse
6. Colopy
7. Van Pelt

 

[76-1]

What's with the pro MIchigan announcers? 😣

Granted it's early in the ballgame but the way these two jokers are gushing about Michigan you'd think they had relatives playing or coaching for them... 😡

 

[MatthewByrne5]

T2:

Indiana goes down in order.

Fougerousse struck out swinging, Colopy struck out swinging and Van Pelt struck out looking.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Heading into B2 --> The game is tied 0-0.

Due Up:

4. Sems
5. Burton
6. Mazur

 

[MatthewByrne5]

B2:

Michigan takes a 2-0 lead.

Sems singled up the middle and moved to third after Buron singled to left field. Mazur then hit a sacrifice fly to right field and Sems scored to give Michigan a 1-0 lead. Next up to bat, Flores doubled to left field and Burton scored to extend the lead to 2-0.

Rogers then grounded out to shortstop and Flores moved to third. Zimmerman walked, which put runners on the corners and then Molfetta lined out to right field to end the inning.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Heading into T3 --> Michigan leads 2-0.

Due Up:

8. Hopkins
9. Houston
1. Ashley

 

[ptrich]

Tough inning, but it could have been worse. There's still a lot of baseball left.

 

[hookyIU1990]

We chase some tough pitches.

 

[MatthewByrne5]

T3:

Indiana strands one runner on base.

Hopkins flied out to left-center and Houston struck out for the first two outs. Ashley then walked, but Toetz grounded to Michigan's second baseman, who flipped to second base for the force out to end the frame.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Heading into B3 --> Michigan leads 2-0.

Due Up:

2. Elliott
3. Obertop
4. Sems

 

[MatthewByrne5]

B3:

Michigan goes down in order.

Elliott popped out to Houston in shallow left, Obertop struck out swinging and Sems grounded out to short to end the inning.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Heading into T4 --> Michigan leads 2-0.

Due Up:

3. Richardson
4. Barr
5. Fougerousse

 

[MatthewByrne5]

T4:

Indiana goes 1-2-3.

Richardson grounded out to third, Barr popped out to shortstop and Fougerousse struck out swinging for the third out.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Heading into B4 --> Michigan leads 2-0.

Due Up:

5. Burton
6. Mazur
7. Flores

 

[ptrich]

So far, this game is going the opposite of what I expected. Bierman with much better stats than the UM starter coming in is not fooling their hitters much so far, while the UM pitcher seems to be extremely sharp and has confused us some, and his stats coming in are the least impressive of the three normal starters for them.

 

[MatthewByrne5]

B4:

Michigan adds another run and takes a 3-0 lead.

Burton hit a leadoff double off the center-field wall and then moved to third after Mazur grounded out to second base. Burton scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0.

Flores walked and then stole second. He went to third after Rogers grounded out to shortstop, but Zimmerman grounded out to third down the line for the final out of the inning.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Heading into T5 --> Michigan leads 3-0.

Due Up:

6. Colopy
7. Van Pelt
8. Hopkins

 

[MatthewByrne5]

T5:

Indiana scores one and makes it 3-1.

Colopy led off and hit a solo home run to right field to cut the deficit to 3-1. Van Pelt then grounded out to second base and Hopkins struck out swinging for the second out. Houston singled to right-center, but Ashley grounded out to second to end the frame.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Heading into B5 --> Michigan leads 3-1.

Due Up:

1. Molfetta
2. Elliott
3. Obertop

 

[ptrich]

Denner's pitch count is at 90 after five innings on the mound, while Bierman is at 57 in the 5th as I post this.

 

[hookyIU1990]

Denner's pitch count is at 90 after five innings on the mound, while Bierman is at 57 in the 5th as I post this.

They're making Denner work for it. Hopefully it won't be too late when he gets pulled.

 

[MatthewByrne5]

B5:

Michigan goes down in order.

Molfetta lined out down the right-field line, Elliott grounded out to first base unassisted and Obertop flied out to right field.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Heading into T6 --> Michigan leads 3-1.

Due Up:

2. Toetz
3. Richardson
4. Barr

 

[MatthewByrne5]

It would be nice if Bierman can keep going to put less pressure on the bullpen, maybe. Have to remember that there is a game to be played on Tuesday.

 

[hookyIU1990]

It would be nice if Bierman can keep going to put less pressure on the bullpen, maybe. Have to remember that there is a game to be played on Tuesday.

3 runs on 4 hits is a tough pill to swallow.

 

[MatthewByrne5]

T6:

Indiana goes down in order.

Toetz flied out to right field, Richardson grounded out to second and Barr fouled out to first base for the final out.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Heading into B6 --> Michigan leads 3-1.

Due Up:

4. Sems
5. Burton
6. Mazur

 

[ptrich]

It would be nice if Bierman can keep going to put less pressure on the bullpen, maybe. Have to remember that there is a game to be played on Tuesday.

Yeah, I forgot about the Tues makeup game with Illinois. We also have to have four starters for next weekend when we host the pod with Neb and OSU.

 

[MatthewByrne5]

3 runs on 4 hits is a tough pill to swallow.

It is a tough pill to swallow, I agree. If Bierman starts to struggle a lot, then yes, Mercer should pull him from the game. However, he had a 1-2-3 inning last inning, so hopefully, he can keep rolling.

The best aspect of Illinois is arguably its hitting. Then, IU has to play a four-game series against Ohio State and Nebraska. It would be huge if Bierman can push a little more and ease the pressure on the bullpen.

 

[mk23]

Just tuned in so not sure the announcers said anything about it, but today is the 2 year anniversary of Gabe’s father passing. Gotta believe he’ll battle his butt off to try to get a late win.

 

[MatthewByrne5]

B6:

Sems grounded out to first base unassisted and Burton struck out swinging for the first two outs. Mazur walked, but Flores hit a ground ball to Houston, who stepped on second base for the force out to end the inning.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Heading into T7 --> Michigan leads 3-1.

Due Up:

5. Fougerousse
6. Colopy
7. Van Pelt

 

[ptrich]

I thought that double would chase Denner since he was already over 100 pitches. We are in their bullpen and hopefully with better results. The pitcher coming in has an ERA of 7.77.

 

[hookyIU1990]

It is a tough pill to swallow, I agree. If Bierman starts to struggle a lot, then yes, Mercer should pull him from the game. However, he had a 1-2-3 inning last inning, so hopefully, he can keep rolling.

The best aspect of Illinois is arguably its hitting. Then, IU has to play a four-game series against Ohio State and Nebraska. It would be huge if Bierman can push a little more and ease the pressure on the bullpen.

I agree. It sucks that they've been able to make so much hay off 4 lousy hits.

 

[mk23]

It defies logic that our DH hits .190

 

[MatthewByrne5]

T7:

Indiana strands two runners on base and one in scoring position.

Fougerousse lined out to right field and then Colopy doubled to right field.

RHP Blake Beers replaced LHP Jacob Denner

Van Pelt struck out looking for the second out. Hopkins then hit a ground ball up the middle headed toward center field and Michigan's second baseman gloved it and threw to first. Hopkins was safe and Colopy moved to third. Houston then hit a ground ball to Michigan's shortstop, who stepped on second for the third out.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Heading into B7 --> Michigan leads 3-1.

Due Up:

8. Rogers
9. Zimmerman
1. Molfetta

 

[ptrich]

It defies logic that our DH hits .190

The bottom of our batting order has to be one of the weaker hitting units in the B1G. While Houston did get a hit earlier, I was hoping he would get on with a walk or maybe a HBP so we could give the top of our order a shot at it. We do see the top of the order up in the 8th, and they may bring in another pitcher.

 

[MatthewByrne5]

B7:

Michigan strands one runner in scoring position.

Rogers grounded out to shortstop and then Zimmerman walked. Pinch-runner Marti stole second and then Molfetta struck out swinging. Elliott hit a ground ball to first base and Fougerousse flipped to Bierman for the third out.

Bierman was fired up and yelled with excitement as he went towards the dugout. Powerful moment to watch. We'll see if his energy can fire up Indiana and get the bats going in the top of the eighth.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Heading into T8 --> Michigan leads 3-1.

Due Up:

1. Ashley
2. Toetz
3. Richardson

 

[ptrich]

That's two innings in a row where we had runners in scoring position and couldn't get that clutch hit. Considering we are moving into the bottom of the order in the 9th, I'm not optimistic about this one.

 

[MatthewByrne5]

T8:

Indiana strands two in scoring position.

RHP Willie Weiss replaced RHP Blake Beers

Ashley struck out looking and was not happy about the inside strike call. Toetz and Richardson then walked to put runners on first and second.

RHP Will Proctor replaced RHP Willie Weiss

Barr grounded out to third base and Toetz and Richardson advanced to third and second respectively. Fougerousse then grounded out to short to end the frame.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Heading into B8 --> Michigan leads 3-1.

Due Up:

3. Obertop
4. Sems
5. Burton

 

[ptrich]

Bierman pitched well enough to win this game, but we just didn't generate much offense for him to work with.

 

[hookyIU1990]

Poor fielding is gonna do us in.

 

[mk23]

That's two innings in a row where we had runners in scoring position and couldn't get that clutch hit. Considering we are moving into the bottom of the order in the 9th, I'm not optimistic about this one.

The home plate ump has been a little sketchy on quite a few strike calls. It’s a good way to spoil an at bat.

 

[ptrich]

Grrr. They pick up a crappy run to kind of put the icing on this cake for them. Then we give them two more unearned runs on an error. Time to head for the showers.

 

[mk23]

Second baseman single handedly killing any chance. Lord.

 

[hookyIU1990]

Let's build on that error and get 6.

 

[MatthewByrne5]

B8:


Michigan takes a 6-1 lead.

Obertop struck out swinging and Sems singled up the middle.

RHP Grant Macciocchi replaced RHP Gabe Bierman

Burton hit a ground ball toward center that was knocked down by Toetz, but there was no play and Sems moved to second safely. Mazur flied out to right field for the second out. Flores then hit a pop fly to shallow center field and Toetz dropped it. Flores went to second, Burton went to third and Sems scored to make it 4-1. Next up to bat, Rogers hit a ground ball to second and reached on a throwing error by Toetz. Both Flores and Burton scored to extend the lead to 6-1. Marti grounded out to third to end the inning.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Heading into T9 --> Michigan leads 6-1.

Due Up:

6. Colopy
7. Van Pelt
8. Hopkins

 

[mobilehoosier]

The home plate ump has been a little sketchy on quite a few strike calls. It’s a good way to spoil an at bat.

Glad someone else saw that. Home team got some very low strikes early. Hard to hit when strike zone is inconsistent. No excuse. Part of the game.