Michigan @ IU, Game 2: Early run barrage beats Michigan, 11-2...

[ptrich]

This game is on BTN.

IU is in the position of having to win the last two games of the series. When you lose to a team in Game 1 that hit just .156 at the plate, you wonder if this team can even salvage the series. A lot of things would have to happen, but there is a scenario where IU could miss the B1G tournament, so they need at least one win in this series to avoid that slim possibility.

It's RHP Connor Foley on the mound for IU with an ERA of 4.10 in 52.2 IP and a WHIP of 1.20 with an OBA of .158.

It's RHP Chase Allen on the mound for Michigan and he had an ERA of 6.52 in 58.0 IP and a WHIP of 1.66 with an OBA of .304.

1st inning:

T1st:

Foley got the leadoff hitter on a grounder. Foley then walked a batter on a full count. With the next batter having a full count, the runner stole 2nd.

Foley then walked another batter on a full count to put runners on 1sat and 2nd.

Foley gets a grounder with the batter reaching 1st on a FC with the runner out at 2nd and the lead runner taking 3rd and two outs and runners on the corners.

Foley has thrown a lot of pitches in the inning, and he went to another full count on a batter, but he got the hitter on a shallow pop out to retire the side with runners stranded on the corners.

B1st:

Taylor walked on a full count to lead off. Pyne flied out and Mitchell was hit by a pitch to put two on and one out.

Cerny doubled to score Taylor to give IU another early lead at 1-0 and runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out. Brenczewski hit a SAC fly to score Mitchell to give IU an early crooked number for what seems like forever.

Cerny was at 3rd with two outs. Tibbitts hit a double while taking 3rd on an error and IU was up 3-0.

Mathison was up with two outs and Tibbitts at 3rd. Mathison beat out an infield grounder for a single and Cerny scoring to make it 4-0 IU. Three of the IU runs were earned. Stadler flied out to end the inning.

End of 1st: IU 4 Michigan 0

 

[ptrich]

2nd inning:

T2nd:

Foley got the leadoff hitter for the first out. Foley then got a pop up to Tibbitts for the 2nd out. Foley then walked a batter on four pitches and Foley already has three walks in the game. Foley went 2-0 to the next batter before getting the batter on a sky high pop up to Cerny to retire the side.

B2nd:

It's the 9 thru 2 hitters up for IU with Oliver leading off. Oliver hit a liner for a single and we were at the top of the order in Taylor.

Taylor crushed a two-run homer to RF to give IU a 6-0 lead and no outs with Pyne up. Pyne flied out for the first out. Mitchell grounded out for the 2nd out with UM's bullpen active. Cerny hit a routine flyout to end the inning.

End of 2nd: IU 6 Michigan 0

 

[ptrich]

3rd inning:

T3rd:

It was the top of the order up for UM and the leadoff hitter doubled to left center for the Wolverines first hit of the game.

Foley then walked a batter on a 3-1 count for his fourth walk of the game and runners at 1st and 2nd with no outs.

A flyout to CF was shallow enough to keep the runner at 2nd from taking 3rd and the runners were at 1st and 2nd and one out.

On a 3-1 count, another high pop up that barely left the infield was caught by Taylor for the 2nd out. Another high pop up to mid CF retired the side.

B3rd:

It was the 5 thru 7 hitters up with Brenczewski leading off.

Brenczewski led off with a single. A WP moved Brenczewski to 2nd. Tibbitts walked on four pitches with another WP on ball four moving Brenczewski to 3rd and there were runners on the corners with no outs, and that chased the Michigan starter.

UM brought in RHP Eamon Horwedel with an ERA of 7.50 in 12.0 IP and a WHIP of 2.08.

Mathison hit a SAC fly to score Brenczewski and there was one out and Tibbitts at 1st.

Stadler flied out for the 2nd out.

Oliver doubled to right center to score Tibbitts to make it 8-0 with two outs and the top of the order up with Oliver at 2nd.

Taylor hit a single which ended up putting him at 2nd on an error in RF with Oliver scoring to make it 9-0 IU.

Pyne singled to score Taylor to make it 10-0 IU with still two outs.

Mitchell flied out to end the inning.

End of 3rd: IU 10 Michigan 0

 

[ptrich]

4th inning:

T4th:

Foley faced the 6 thru 8 hitters and Foley was at 53 pitches.

Foley walked the leadoff hitter on a full count for his 5th walk of the game and he has no Ks, but he has kept UM from plating a run so far.

Foley got a flyout for the first out with the runner still at 1st. Another flyout got the 2nd out. A deep fly to LF was caught by Taylor at the wall to retire the side with no damage done on the leadoff walk.

B4th:

It was the middle of the order up with Cerny leading off.

Michigan went to the bullpen and brought in RHP Brandon Mann with an ERA of 7.50 in 12.0 IP and a WHIP of 2.08. Cerny flied out for the first out.

Brenczewski walked on four pitches to put a runner on with one out. Tibbitts flied out for the 2nd out

Brenczewski stole 2nd. Mathison fouled out to 3B to end the inning.

End of 4th: IU 10 Michigan 0

 

[ptrich]

5th inning:

T5th:

RHP Julian Tonghini relieved Foley and he had an ERA of 5.40 in 26.2 IP and a WHIP of 1.73.

Tonghini faced the top of the order. He Kd the leadoff hitter looking on a 3-2 count. It was the first K of the game by either team. Foley didn't have the best of control in this game but he kept them from plating a run.

Tonghini then hit a batter to put a runner on with one out. A WP moved the runner to 2nd.

Tonghini then got a K swinging for the 2nd out and the runner at 2nd.

A two-out, two-run homer made it 10-2. This game was early enough that IU shouldn't get too complacent.

A flyout retired the side.

B5th:

It's the 8 thru 1 hitters up with Stadler leading off. Stadler Kd and Oliver flied out for two outs and the top of the order up in Taylor.

Taylor hit a two-out double and he has had a huge day in both games.

An infield hit by Pyne put runners on the corners with two outs. A WP scored Taylor with Pyne taking 2nd.

Mitchell was hit by a pitch to put runners at 1st and 2nd and two outs with Cerny up. Cerny flied out to end the inning.

End of 5th: IU 11 Michigan 2

 

[ptrich]

6th inning:

T6th:

Tonghini faced the 6 thru 8 hitters. After having a 3-0 count on the leadoff hitter, Tonghini Kd him swinging.

Tonghini went 3-0 again and he walked the batter this time on four pitches.

The next batter reached on a FC with the runner out at 2nd for two outs. A K retired the side.

B6th:

It was the 5 thru 7 hitters up with Brenczewski leading off. LHP Wyatt Novara relieved Mann for UM and he had an ERA of 7.21.31 in 4.1 IP. With a game left in the series, the Wolverines were going to the bottom of the bullpen.

Brenczewski grounded out and Tibbitts singled to put a runner on with one out. Mathison Kd for the 2nd out.

Stadler walked on four pitches to put runners a 1st and 2nd and two outs. Oliver grounded out to end the inning.

End of 6th: IU 11 Michigan 2

 

[ptrich]

7th inning:

T7th:

Tonghini faced the top of the order for Michigan. He Kd the first two batters. An infield single put a runner on. A lineout to Mathison retired the side.

B7th:

It was the top of the order up and Taylor had a shot for the cycle if he can come up with a triple. Taylor grounded out for the first out and Pyne up.

Pyne was barely out at 1st on a grounder for the 2nd out. Mitchell Kd swinging with IU going down in order.

End of 7th: IU 11 Michigan 2

 

[ptrich]

8th inning:

T8th:

Tonghini faced the 5 thru 7 hitters with Schuyler behind the plate. Tonghini Kd the leadoff hitter with Michigan starting to unload their bench with pinch hitters. A groundout got the 2nd out.

A pinch hit double put a runner in scoring position with two outs. Tonghini got his season high 8th K to retire the side.

B8th:

It was the middle of the order up with Cerny leading off. Michigan went with RHP Alexander Ogg with an ERA of 15.43 in 4.2 IP and a WHIP of 2.79. Cerny Kd swinging for the first out. Wiggins came in to pinch hit for Brenczewski and he grounded out for two outs.

Tibbitts walked on four pitches. A WP moved Tibbitts to 2nd with Mathison up. Mathison walked on four pitches to put two on. With a new pitcher on the mound, Schuyler walked on a 3-2 count to load the bases with two outs. Sefcik came in to pinch hit and he fouled out to the catcher to end the inning.

End of 8th: IU 11 Michigan 2

 

[ptrich]

9th inning:

T9th:

RHP Ethan Phillips came in to close it out and he had an ERA of 6.18 in 27.2 IP and a WHIP of 1.77, and he faced the 9 thru 2 batters. He Kd the first two batters. A shallow flyout ended the game.

Final: IU 11 Michigan 2

 

[secondasky]

somebody tell me why Wiggins doesn't play more. don't really follow team that close.

 

[ptrich]

somebody tell me why Wiggins doesn't play more. don't really follow team that close.

IU has veteran outfielders this season and there was no way he was going to replace any of them in the starting lineup, barring injury. He's a freshman and it's a case of waiting his turn and he is extremely talented. He has seen some action as the DH and has seen some late inning action in games that have pretty much been decided.

 

[ptrich]

IU bats finally woke up in the early innings and IU coasted to an easy win. Michigan had just four hits on the game and counting the earlier game, they had just nine hits on the day, but they managed the split. With the win, IU guaranteed themselves a spot in the B1G tournament. It's now just a case of what their seeding is going to be.

Hopefully, IU wins the rubber match on Saturday. However, if they don't, it was explained that if they tie Iowa with a 14-10 record, that IU would win the tie breaker over Iowa and it would go down to the 3rd or 4th tie breaker which is RPI, and IU easily had the advantage there. We already know that we have the tie breaker with Purdue should they also tie at 14-10. There certainly an unlikely chance that Nebraska could fall to 14-10 which would require a sweep by MSU, and I wouldn't bet the farm on that happening, and the Huskers will have a higher seed than us regardless of where they fall after we lost the earlier game today. The teams below Iowa cannot move up. We can put all that to rest with a win on Saturday.

IU outhit MIchigan, 12-4, and was 12 of 34 for a team average of .353, while UM was 4 for 30 for an average of .129. IU had four players with multiple hits and Taylor, after getting both of IU's RBIs in the first game, had another big game and had a chance for the cycle in his last at-bat.

Taylor - 3 for 4 with a double and a homer and 3 RBIs.

Tibbitts - 2 for 3 with an RBI.

Oliver - 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI.

Pyne - 2 for 5 with an RBI.

Mathison - 1 for 3 with 2 RBIs.

Cerny had a double and an RBI, while Brenczewski had a hit and an RBI.


There were no errors by IU in either game, while Michigan had two errors in the late game.

Pitching was good again in this game although Foley had some control problems and didn't have his best stuff, but he didn't give up a run. He had several full counts and had just 29 strikes in 68 pitches. Tonghini gave up both of Michigan's runs, but he had a season high in strikeouts in his 4 IP. Phillips pitched extremely well in his one inning and needed just 11 pitches to put them down in order to close out the game.

Foley - 4.0 IP, 1 hit, a double, and no earned runs, no Ks, and 5 BBs.

Tonghini - 4.0 IP, 3 hits to include a double and homer and 2 earned runs, 8 Ks, 1 BB, 1 WP, and a hit batter.

Phillips - 1.0 IP. He put them down in order with 2 Ks on 11 pitches.

 

[ptrich]

Other B1G scores with all games final. I believe that with a win Saturday, IU has the 3-seed locked up. IU and Michigan have the one game left while everyone else still has two games left in their series.

NW 7 Minn 6 - The Gophers took a bad loss against the worst team in the B1G and their chance of squeezing into the conference tournament is on life support. I don't know what all of the tie breakers are at the bottom of the conference, but they are a game behind Maryland, PSU, and MSU that are tied for 8th place.

PSU 8 Maryland 4 - Any thoughts that the Terps had of getting an at-large bid with their very good RPI went out the window with this home loss, and they are in an 8th place tie and are battling just to make the conference tourney. Again, I don't know the tie breakers with the log jam for that last seed in the tournament.

Nebraska 2 MSU 1 - All of the scoring in this game was in the first three innings and the Huskers remained a game behind the Illini for 1st place. They are 2 1/2 games ahead of IU and Michigan and 3 games up on Purdue after today's action. MSU remains in a tie for 8th place with Maryland and PSU.

OSU 6 Rutgers 3 - It was a big road win for OSU as they stayed in 7th place, a game up on the log jam immediately below them.

Illinois 5 Purdue 4 - Illinois scored all 5 runs in the first two innings and led 5-0, but then had to hang on for the one-run win and stay a game ahead of Nebraska. Purdue is a half-game behind both IU and Michigan and has series losses to both those teams.

FIU 2 Iowa 1 - All runs in this game were scored in the first three innings with Iowa getting a home non-conference loss. Brecht got the loss and after he had four straight exceptional starts after a rocky stretch, he went just 1.0 IP and gave up no hits and had one K, but he walked four batters and gave up one earned run with the bullpen pitching the final eight innings.