Middle Tennessee State @ IU: Homers help propel IU to a 12-5 win...

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It's RHP Ty Rybarczyk on the mound for IU with an ERA of 3.00 and a WHIP of 1.00 with an OBA of .231. Tibbitts will be behind the plate with Brenczewski at 1st and Mitchell will be the DH with Colopy in RF.

MTSU will have RHP Bryant Beranek on the mound with an ERA of 8.03 and a WHIP of 2.11 with an OBA of .375. MTSU is hitting .314 as a team and their top of the order batting averages are .394, .354, and .446. Their No. 3 batter in the order, c Briggs Rutter, has the .446 average and has hit 7 homers on the season and has a slugging pct of .831.

It's 56 degrees at the start of the game and partly cloudy. The wind is around 10-15 mph and is blowing out to RF.

1st inning:

T1st:

Rybarczyk retired the side with all on flyouts as he got through the most dangerous part of the lineup.

B1st:

Mathison, Cerny and Taylor are at the top of the order. Mathison and Cerny grounded out to open the game for IU.

Taylor reached on a two-out single. Tibbitts then singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd with Mitchell up.

Mitchell doubled to score Taylor with Tibbitts taking 3rd. Pyne lined out to end the inning.

End of 1st: IU 1 MTSU 0

 

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2nd inning:

T2nd:

It's the middle of the order up for the Blue Raiders. Rybarczyk got the leadoff hitter on another flyout and that's four flyouts in a row to start the game. Rybarczyk then got back-to-back Ks to retire the side.

B2nd:

It's the bottom of the order up for IU with Brenczewski leading off. Brenczewski grounded out for the first out.

Oliver singled to put a runner on with one out. Colopy Kd looking for the 2nd out and the top of the order up in Mathison.

Mathison singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. Cerny reached on a FC and IU challenged the call at 2nd on the force out of Mathison.

The umps overturned the call and the bases were loaded with two outs and Taylor up.

Taylor got an RBI-walk on a 3-1 count to make it 2-0 and Tibbitts up.

Tibbitts hit a 2-RBI single and took 2nd on the throw to put runners on 2nd and 3rd and two outs.

That chased the Blue Raider starter and they brought in RHP Turner Junkins with an ERA of 16.50 in 6.0 IP and a WHIP of 3.17.

Mitchell faced Junkins with runners at 2nd and 3rd and two outs. Mitchell Kd looking to end the inning.

End of 2nd: IU 4 MTSU 0

 

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3rd inning:

T3rd:

Rybarczyk faced the bottom of the order and put them down in order to include two Ks.

B3rd:

It's the 6 thru 8 hitters up with Pyne leading off. Pyne was in a 2 for 19 slump. Pyne grounded out for the first out. Brenczewski ground out for the 2nd out.

Oliver then got a two-out solo homer to make it 5-0 and homers are something that have been a rarity for IU of late. Colopy Kd to end the inning:

End of 3rd: IU 5 MTSU 0

 

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4th inning:

T4th:

Rybarczyk faced the dangerous top of the order. After retiring the first nine hitters of the game, Rybarczyk gave up a leadoff single. A throwing error on Tibbitts on a pickoff attempt put the runner on 2nd and no outs.

A flyout got the first out with the runner holding at 2nd. A base hit scored the runner from 2nd. An infield single put runners on the corners with one out.

Another infield single scored a run with runners on 1st and 2nd and one out with the score 5-2 and IU went to the bullpen to bring in RHP Drew Buhr with an ERA of 5.40 in 8.1 IP and a WHIP of 2.16. An error and two infield hits have been a killer so far in this inning.

Buhr got a K for the 2nd out and runners still at 1st and 2nd. A FC retired the side.

B4th:

It's the top of the order up for IU. Mathison popped out to lead off. Cerny flied out and Taylor walked on four pitches to put a runner on with two outs.

Tibbitts doubled to the LF wall to score Taylor. The Blue Raiders went to the bullpen and brought in RHP Dylan Alonso with an ERA of 18.00 in 1 IP.

Mitchell walked with Tibbitts stealing 3rd. Mitchell took 2nd to put both runners in scoring position.

Pyne slump continued as he fouled out to end the inning.

End of 4th: IU 6 MTSU 2

 

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5th inning:

T5th:

Buhr was back out there to face the 8 thru 1 hitters. Buhr got the leadoff hitter on a K. He then gave up a single to put a runner on. A pop out got the 2nd out with the runner still on 1st. Buhr got another K to retire the side.

B5th:

It's the bottom of the order up for IU with Brenczewski leading off. Brenczewski grounded out to lead off.

Oliver got his third hit of the game with a single to put a runner on and one out. Colopy Kd for the third time in the game for the 2nd out and it was the top of the order up. Mathison flied out to the wall to end the inning.

End of 5th: IU 6 MTSU 2

 

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6th inning:

T6th:

RHP Ethan Phillips came in for Buhr and he had an ERA of 4.74 in 19 IP and a WHIP of 1.63.

Phillips faced the 3 thru 5 hitters. He Kd the first two batters on full counts and then walked a batter.

Phillips then gave up a two-out, two-run homer to a batter that was 3 for 17 on the season and all of a sudden it was 6-4 IU. Phillips then got a K to retire the side.

B6th:

It was the 2 thru 4 hitters up for IU and the Blue Raiders went to the bullpen to bring in RHP Justin Lee with a 5.40 ERA in 6.2 IP and a WHIP of 1.80.

Cerny led off and was hit by a pitch and it was the first time today that IU got the leadoff hitter on base. A balk moved Cerny to 2nd base.

Taylor walked on four pitches, his third walk of the game.

A WP moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Tibbitts was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs.

MTSU went to the bullpen again and brought in RHP Patrick Johnson with an ERA of 6.87 in 18.1 IP and a WHIP of 1.53 and he would face Mitchell with the bases loaded and no outs.

A SAC fly to RF by Mitchell scored Cerny with one out and runners on 1st and 2nd.

Pyne reached on a FC with Tibbitts out at 2nd and runners on the corners with two outs.

Brenczewski got a clutch two-out RBI-single to scored Taylor and runners still on the corners with two outs.

Oliver grounded out to end the inning.

End of 6th: IU 8 MTSU 4

 

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7th inning:

T7th:

LHP Ty Bothwell came in for Phillips with an ERA of 5.88 in 25.2 IP with a WHIP of 1.35.

Bothwell got the first two batters on Ks.

A two-out error by Oliver on a ball that popped out of his glove put a runner on 2nd.

A single scored the runner from 2nd and it was unearned because of the error.

A pickoff caught the runner off 1st and he was tagged out at 2nd for the final out to limit the damage of the error.

B7th:

It was the 9 thru 2 hitters up and Bode came in to pinch hit for Colopy who had a rough day at the plate.

Bode walked on four pitches and Murrison came in to pinch run for Bode and Murrison will probably go in RF in the 8th.

Mathison singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs.

Cerny walked on a 3-1 count to load the bases with no outs. It was the 2nd straight inning that IU has loaded the bases with no outs. Hopefully, IU will get more than just one run like they did in the previous inning.

Incredibly, Taylor fouled out on a pop up and Tibbitts lined out to the SS with Mathison caught off base for a DP and the end of the inning.

IU had the bases loaded in the last two innings and no outs and all they did was manufacture one run on a SAC fly.

End of 7th: IU 8 MTSU 5

 

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8th inning:

T8th:

RHP Brayden Risedorph replaced Bothwell and he had an ERA of 9.95 in 18.2 IP and a WHIP of 1.63.

Risedorph Kd the side on 12 pitches.

B8th:

It's the 5 thru 7 hitters up for IU with Pyne leading off. Mitchell flied out on an over-the-shoulder catch.

Pyne, who was in a major slump, Kd for the 2nd out. Brenczewski singled to put a runner on 1st and two outs.

Oliver then hit his 2nd homer of the day which was a two-run, two-out shot to make it 10-5 IU.

The Blue Raiders went to the bullpen and brought in RHP Ian Anderson and he had an ERA of 99.00 in 0 IP.

Sam Murrison then clubbed a huge shot over the scoreboard to make it 11-5. IU had three homers on the day and they were by players you wouldn't expect to be hitting them.

Mathison then clubbed a homer to LF to make it 12-5. Cerny flied out to end the inning.

End of 8th: IU 12 MTSU 5

 

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9th inning:

T9th:

Risedorph was back out there to close it out. He faced the 6-8 hitters and he gave up a leadoff double.

Risedorph then got two Ks with the runner taking 3rd on the first K. Risedorph then ended the game on another K and of the 7 batters he saw over the last two innings, he Kd six of them.

Final: IU 12 MTSU 5

 

[TomEric4756]

Let’s keep winning the games we’re supposed to win

 

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IU needed a game like this to try and kick-start their season back into some kind of relevance.
A four-game series against Butler starting on Thursday is another chance to get thing back in sync before the conference season resumes. We had another two errors with both errors figuring into the scoring by the Blue Raiders.

We outhit MTSU 15-8 and had four homers with three of them coming from players you don't ordinarily think of as power hitters. Oliver had a huge day with his two homers and Murrison also hit a homer that went over the scoreboard.

Oliver - 4 for 5 with two homers and 3 RBIs.

Tibbitts - 3 for 4 with a double and 3RBIs.

Mathison - 3 for 6 with a homer and one RBI.

Brenczewski - 2 for 5 with an RBI.

Taylor - 1 for 2 and he had 3 walks to go along with 1 RBI and 3 runs scored.

Mitchell - 1 for 3 with a double and 2 RBIs

Pitching was for the most part pretty good today and we needed a good day from the staff and they had 18 strikeouts on the day with only one BB. There were no WPs today. Rybarczyk had a great three innings and put nine straight batters down to open the game before running into some trouble in the 4th. He wasn't hit hard in the 4th, but a leadoff single along with a throwing error by Tibbitts as well as two infield singles ended his day with two runs scored. Buhr came in and got a big K and then a FC to end the inning with no further damage done.

Of the pitchers used today, Phillips was the other pitcher that had mixed results in the inning he pitched. Phillips got the first two batters on Ks before walking a batter and then giving up a two-run homer. He finished out the inning with his 3rd K of the inning.

Risedorph looked good for the two innings he pitched. In the two innings he pitched to close out the game, he struck out 6 of the 7 batters he faced.

Rybarczyk - 3.1 IP, 4 hits with 2 earned runs, 4 Ks, and no BBs.

Buhr - 1.2 IP, 1 hit and no earned runs, 3 Ks, and no BBs.

Phillips - 1.0 IP, 1 hit which was a homer and 2 earned runs, 3 Ks, and 1 BB.

Bothwell - 1.0 IP, 1 hit and no earned runs, 2 Ks, and no BBs.

Risedorph - 2.0 IP, 1 hit being a double with no earned runs, 6 Ks, and no BBs

 

[Bucket Getter]

Missed another one. Damn, I wanna care again. Let’s freaking go!