Ohio @ IU, Game 1: IU survives error plagued 9th, 9-8...

[ptrich]

It's RHP Brooks Ey on the mound for IU with an ERA of 7.41 in 17 IP. It's Serruto behind the plate with Taylor the DH today and Mathison in LF. I assume Ellis is still out with the wrist injury. There has been no change to the batting order.

It's RHP Luke Olsen on the mound for the Bobcats with an ERA of 5.80 in 49.2 IP.

It's not raining right now but there is rain moving in this general direction out of the south. It's calm with the temp at 52 to start the game.

T1st:

The leadoff hitter reached on a single and the Bobcats hit .297 as a team. The runner reached 2nd on a stolen base with no outs.

A foul out to 3B kept the runner at 2nd with one out.

A bad luck high chopper allowed the next hitter to reach on an infield hit to put runners on the corners with one out.

A SF scored the runner from 3rd with a runner at 1st and two outs.

Cerny committed an error on a grounder to put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs.

Another infield single loaded the bases with two outs. A GO retired the side.

Ohio did not hit the ball hard at all but a leadoff single, a stolen base, an infield single and a SF manufactured a run.

B2nd:

Glasser grounded out to lead off.

Whalen reached on a single with one out.

Taylor then clubbed his 10th homer of the season with a ball that was tattooed to RF in which the right fielder didn't bother to move, and it was put at 464 feet. IU up 2-1.

Tibbitts K'd for the 2nd out. Mathison flied out to end the inning.

IU 2 Ohio 1

 

[ptrich]

2nd Inning:

T2nd:

Ey gets the leadoff hitter on a GO. An infield hit puts a runner on with one out and 3 of the 4 Bobcat hits have been infield hits so far, which is nothing but bad luck for IU and Ey.

A pop out to 2B leaves the runner at 1st and two outs. The runner on 1st stole 2nd. A double scored the runner from 2nd to tie the game at 2-2. A GO retired the side.

B2nd:

It's the 6-8 hitters up for IU with Pyne leading off. Pyne flied out for the first out.

Jessee then reached on an infield single. Cerny walked on four pitches to put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out.

A pop up was dropped but fell under the infield fly rule resulting in the 2nd out with Jessee reaching 3rd and Cerny 2nd.

Glasser doubled down the LF line to score both Jessee and Cerny to give IU a 4-2 lead.

Whalen grounded out to end the inning.

IU 4 Ohio 2

 

[ptrich]

3rd Inning:

T3rd:

It's the 4-6 hitters up and Ey put then down in order with a K mixed in.

B3rd:

It's the 3 thru 5 hitters up for IU with Taylor leading off. After hitting the 464 ft homer in his last at bat, Taylor was walked on four pitches.

Tibbitts was walked on a full count to put runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs.

A error on the SS on a potential DP ball loaded the bases with no outs and Mathison on 1st and brought Pyne to the plate.

A FC scored Taylor to make it 5-2 with Mathison out at 2nd for the first out and runners on the corners.

A good play by 2B got Jessee at 1st for the 2nd out with Tibbitts scoring to make it 6-2 IU.

Cerny flied out to end the inning and the Bobcat pitcher is over 60 pitches right now.

IU 6 Ohio 2

 

[ptrich]

4th Inning:

T4th:

Ey is back out there to face the bottom of the order, and the leadoff hitter reached on a triple, but after a discussion, it was changed to a ground-rule double.

A single put runners on the corners with no outs. Ey then got a K for the first out and the top of the order up for the Bobcats.

Ey then gave up a walk on four pitches to load the bases and one out. The Bobcats hit their 4th infield single of the game to score a run with the bases still loaded and one out and the score 6-3.

A WP scored another run to make it 6-4 with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out, and Mercer pulls Ey.

Mercer brought in LHP Ryan Kraft with an ERA of 0.75 in 36 IP.

Kraft faced the No. 3 hitter in the order with one out and two runners in scoring position.

Kraft got a big K for the 2nd out with the runners still in scoring position.

A GO retired the side and Kraft quickly got things back in order with no further damage done.

B4th:

It's the 9, 1 and 2 hitters up with Serruto leading off. It looked like Serruto beat out a grounder but he was ruled out for the first out.

Glasser flied out for the 2nd out. Whalen then reached on an infield hit. Taylor then K'd to end the inning.

IU 6 Ohio 4

 

[ptrich]

5th Inning:

T5th:

Kraft was back out there to face the 5-7 hitters, and he got the leadoff man on a GO.

Kraft then gave up a two-out double and the Bobcats then got yet another infield hit to put runners on the corners and two outs. Five of the 10 Bobcat hits have not left the infield and have been of the infield variety.

Kraft bears down and got a K to retire the side.

B5th:

It's the 4-6 hitters up with Tibbitts leading off. Tibbitts popped up to CF for the first out. Mathison grounded out for the 2nd out.

Pyne got a two-out double to put a runner in scoring position.

Ohio went to the bullpen and brought in LHP Jacob Tate with an ERA of 3.86 in 28 IP and he faced Jessee.

Jessee grounded out to end the inning.

IU 6 Ohio 4

 

[ptrich]

6th Inning:

T6th:

Kraft was back out there to face the top of the order and he gave up a double to the leadoff hitter. Ohio came into the game as a very good hitting team and they have done that so far in this game.

Kraft then hit a batter and that was the first time this season that Kraft hit a batter. That put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs.

Kraft then got a big K for the first out to leave the runners at 1st and 2nd.

Kraft then gave up a single to score a run to make it 6-5 IU with runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. It was the first earned run given up by Kraft in the last 34 innings.

Kraft then got another K for the 2nd out and then retired the side with a flyout.

The Bobcats keep chipping away at the IU lead.

B6th:

It's the 8, 9, and 1 hitters up for IU and IU opened with three straight singles to score Cerny to make it 7-5.

It was Serruto and Glasser at 1st and 2nd with not outs and Whalen up.

Whalen singled to the pitcher and the pitcher committed a throwing error to score Serruto and put Glasser at 3rd and Whalen at 2nd and no outs.

Taylor popped out for the 1st out.

A SF by Tibbitts scored Glasser as an unearned run to make it 9-5 IU with two outs and Whalen at 2nd.

Mathison walked on a full count to put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs and Pyne up.

Pyne walked on five pitches to bring up Jessee with the bases loaded and two outs.

Jessee hit a roller and was tagged out running down the line to end a productive inning for IU.

IU 9 Ohio 5

 

[ptrich]

7th Inning:

T7th:

Kraft is back out there to face the bottom of the order. The Bobcats good hitting continued with the leadoff hitter reaching on a single.

Kraft then walked a batter to put runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs.

A SAC bunt moved runners to 2nd and 3rd with one out. A FC got the runner at 1st and scored a run.

With a runner on 2nd and two outs, Kraft hit another batter to put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs, and Kraft had not hit a batter this season until this game and he has hit two batters in back-to-back innings.

A flyout retired the side with it 9-6 IU.

B7th:

It's the 8, 9, and 1 hitters up for IU and they go down in order.

IU 9 Ohio 6

 

[ptrich]

8th Inning:

T8th:

It's the 4-6 hitters up for the Bobcats and Kraft got the leadoff hitter on a GO.

Kraft then gave up a one-out single, but got the next batter on a flyout for two outs and a runner on 1st.

A K retired the inning and the Bobcats are down to their last three out.

B8th:

It's the 2 thru 4 hitters up with Whalen leading off. Whalen and Taylor both grounded out for two outs.

Tibbitts doubled to put a runner in scoring position with two outs and Colopy hitting for Mathison.

Colopy K'd to end the inning.

IU 9 Ohio 6

 

[ptrich]

9th Inning:

T9th:

Kraft is out there to close it out and he faced the 8, 9, and 1 hitters. The 8, 9, and 1 hitters are 5 for 10 in this game right now.

Kraft gave up a leadoff homer to the No. 8 hitter and after 34 straight innings without giving up an earned run, he has given up three earned runs in this game, and after not hitting a batter this season, he hit two in this game.

Back-to-back errors, the first with a ball off Colopy's glove that allowed a runner to reach 2nd and then an error on Cerny, his 2nd error of the game, scored the runner from 2nd with a runner on 1st with the score 9-8,

A single put runners on 1st and 2nd with still no outs and IU pulled Kraft who was at a 95 PC and having an off game which wasn't helped by two 9th inning errors.

IU brought in RHP Connor Foley with an ERA of 4.97 in 12.2 IP.

Foley got a huge K for the 1st out. Foley then hit a batter in the helmet to load the bases with one out.

Foley then got another big K for the 2nd out and Foley has been throwing in the low to mid 90s.

Foley then got a pop up to end a nail biter game.

IU 9 Ohio 8 (Final)

 

[82IU]

One word.... WHEW!!
LOL.
A win is a win. The Bobcats were hitting us like we were pitching batting practice!
Let's not make it this interesting tomorrow!!
Go Hoosiers!!!
82

 

[Orford]

Well we’re still winning games

 

[Dude Where Is My Car]

Again no different managing the pitching staff correctly. I love Kraft as much as anyone but he had clearly hit the end of the line and should have been pulled after the solo HR. Even Austin Render was imploring Mercer to take him out.

That is two games in a row Mercer nearly blew against bad teams in the ninth with horrible pitching decisions. Yes defense stunk today and gave up four free runs but that is an easy 9-7 win if Kraft was removed when he should have been.

I'll keep taking the wins but really fear a decision Mercer makes in postseason against an actual good team is going to be very costly. This is why I am critical of him. We keep winning but the in-game managing decisions are not up to standard.

Team has all the talent and will be back in postseason but down the line something bad is going to happen from a coaching perspective that costs the team a huge game in a big moment.

 

[TomEric4756]

Some game some where IU won’t out hit it’s errors … having the bats to do so is a blessing, today.

 

[ptrich]

The Bobcats came into the game with a team batting average of .297 which was almost the same as IU's .298. They showed they can hit the ball and outhit IU 16-11 and left 16 runners on base to IU's 8. Ohio was 16 for 44 for .364 on the game to IU's 11 of 35 for .314. The bottom of the order for the Bobcats were 7 of 13, while the first two batters in the top of the order were 5 of 9. So, you had five straight batters in the Bobcat lineup (7 thru 2 batters) that were a combined 12 of 22 and they accounted for all 8 runs scored for Ohio. Ohio also had a knack for getting on with infield hits early on and had five of them in the first few innings. Also, the Bobcats were aggressive on the bases early on and they stole 2nd twice in the first two innings with both runners scoring for the Bobcat's first two runs. Simply put, IU had difficulty keeping the Bobcats at arm-length in this game.

As I stated, IU had 11 hits and left 8 runners on. IU had just two multi-hit players in the game.

Glasser was 2 for 5 with a double and 3 RBIs, and he scored a run.
Whalen was 3 for 5 and he scored a run.
Taylor was 1 for 4 with a two-run homer, and he scored two runs.
Tibbitts was 1 for 3 with a double and 1 RI and he scored a run.
Pyne was 1 for 3 with a double and he had 1 RBI.
Cerny was 1 for 3 and he scored two runs.

It was not a good fielding day for both teams with a total of five errors on the game with IU having three errors with two of them in the 9th which almost sunk IU.

Pitching was an up and down affair in this game with the Bobcats seeming to see the ball well against both Ey and Kraft, before Foley came in throwing heat that they had trouble catching up with in the 9th. However, his hit batter (IU's 3rd hit batter on the game) loaded the bases with one out and almost put Ohio on the cusp of tying the game or taking the lead. But it didn't happen, and at the end of the season it will just look like an IU win and that's it. Kraft got the win and Foley got a save. Here are the pitching numbers.

Ey: 3.1 IP, 8 hits to include two doubles, 4 runs all earned, 2 Ks, 1 BB, and 1 WP.
Kraft: 4.2 IP, 8 hits to include 2 doubles and a homer, 4 runs with 3 runs earned, 5 Ks, 1 BB, and 2 hit batters.
Foley: 1.0 IP, no hits or runs, 2 Ks, and one hit batter.

 

[82IU]

Ohio seems to be a very dangerous team with their hitting capabilities. Hope we keep our hitting shoes on the rest of this series. Kind of spooky that our most consistent pitcher got rocked a little bit tonight. I am afraid we are in for a couple more "Slugfests" against this bunch! I hope I'm wrong and that Manase and Sinnard can slow them down!
Go Hoosiers!!
82

 

[ptrich]

Ohio seems to be a very dangerous team with their hitting capabilities. Hope we keep our hitting shoes on the rest of this series. Kind of spooky that our most consistent pitcher got rocked a little bit tonight. I am afraid we are in for a couple more "Slugfests" against this bunch! I hope I'm wrong and that Manase and Sinnard can slow them down!
Go Hoosiers!!
82

Kraft threw 95 pitches and I know he never came close to that this season and maybe not in his career here so far, and he certainly had an off game after going 34 innings without an earned run before tonight and hitting two batters which were the first of the season for him, but it happens to good pitchers. Iowa's top pitcher, Brecht, got rocked by Minnesota and they chased him in the 5th inning last Friday in a loss to the Gophers. I took a look at the Iowa/Nebraska box score tonight and Brecht lasted just 4 IP and he walked 7 batters and threw 4 WPs, and hit a batter, but the Hawkeyes still managed to win the game. After handcuffing IU in his Friday start in our series, Brecht has had two bad starts in a row, so go figure.

 

[ptrich]

Here's the box score link:

Baseball vs Ohio on 4/21/2023 - Box Score - Indiana University Athletics

The official box score of Baseball vs Ohio on 4/21/2023

iuhoosiers.com

Here's the link to the game recap:

Hoosiers Hold On for Series-Opening Win - Indiana University Athletics

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – With two runners on base in a one-run game, freshman Connor Foley entered on the mound and held the game-tying run at third base ...

iuhoosiers.com