Ohio St. @ IU, Game 1: Down 6 runs in the 1st, IU rolls in B1G opener, 14-6......

[ptrich]

It will be RHP Evan Whiteaker on the mound for IU with an ERA of 1.38 in 13 IP.

LHP Isaiah Coupet will be on the mound for OSU with an ERA of 1.08 in 25 IP.

Mathison is the DH with Ellis behind the plate.

It's 46 degrees at game time with the high to reach 54, and it's windy with a wind at 22 mph out of the west.

1st Inning:

T1st:

Whiteaker opened the game by walking the first four batters faced to walk in a run with no outs and the bases still loaded.

Whiteaker lasted just the four batters and he threw just four strikes in 20 pitches and Mercer went to the bullpen to bring in RHP Gabe Levy, who has struggled this season with an ERA of 8.31 in 8.2 IP.

Levy walked the first batter he faced on a 3-1 count to walk in another run and IU has walked the first 5 batters faced. Levy almost walked another batter but got a pop out to 2B on a full count for the first out.

A single that hit off the pitchers mound went into CF to score 2 runs to make it 4-0. Another single scored a run to make it 5-0 and all of the walks have scored. IU tried to turn a DP but after Cerny got the runner at 2nd, he committed an error on the throw to 1st and another run scored which was unearned to make it 6-0. A GO ended the inning.

B1st:

It's going to be difficult to come back in this game against one of the best pitchers in the B1G who has an ERA of 1.08 in 25 IP and IU may have given away the B1G season opener in the first inning.

IU goes down in order.

OSU 6 IU 0

 

[ptrich]

2nd Inning:

T2nd:

Levy put them down in order.

B2nd:

Tibbitts led off with a solo homer. Mathison then singled and Cerny doubled to make it 6-2, OSU.

Ellis K'd for the 1st out. Cerny then stole 3rd with one out. Whalen grounded out with Cerny scoring to make it 6-3 and two outs. Jessee K'd to end the inning and IU just about doubled Coupet's ERA in this inning.

OSU 6 IU 3

 

[Dude Where Is My Car]

And yes I know IU has a top offense as evidence by scoring a few off an elite pitcher. However, as long as Glant is here you are putting a ton of pressure on the offense and not giving team best chance to succeed on mound which is important part.

 

[ptrich]

3rd Inning:

T3rd:

Levy put them down in order again for the 2nd straight inning, and after giving up a walk and two singles in relief of Whiteaker in the 1st, he has settled down to pitch pretty well.

B3rd:

It's the top of the order up for IU. Glasser popped up to the SS.

Pyne singled to put a runner on with one out. Taylor then got a little bloop single to CF with Pyne taking 3rd to put runners on the corners with one out.

Tibbitts gets his 2nd hit of the game to score Pyne to make it 6-4 with runners on 1st and 2nd and one out.

Mathison K'd and Cerny grounded out to end the inning>

OSU 6 IU 4

 

[ptrich]

4th Inning:

T4th:

It's the 8, 9, and 1 hitters up and the leadoff hitter doubled to the wall in left center.

A ground out to 3B kept the runner at 2nd with one out and OSU is at the top of the order.

A K and another GO retired the side and after giving up the leadoff double, Levy stranded the runner at 2nd.

B4th:

It's the bottom of the order up and Ellis grounded out to lead off.

Whalen got a one-out single to put a runner on and Jessee was then hit by a pitch to put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out and the top of the order in Glasser.

Glasser walked to load the bases with one out and Pyne up, and Coupet came into this game with the 12th best WHIP in the country.

Pyne was hit by a pitch to score Whalen to make it 6-5.

Taylor then singled thru the infield to score Jessee and Glasser.

Tibbitts then scored a run on a SF.

Mathison fouled out to end the inning.

IU 8 OSU 6

 

[ptrich]

5th Inning:

T5th:

Levy walked the leadoff hitter and Mercer immediately went to the bullpen to bring in LHP Ryan Kraft with and ERA of 1.62 in 16.2 IP.

Kraft got a GO with the runner taking 2nd. Kraft then got a K for the 2nd out but issued a walk to put runners on 1st and 2nd.

A single loaded the bases with two outs and Kraft got a GO to retire the side with no damage done.

B5th:

It's the 6 thru 8 hitters up for IU and Cerny and Ellis both homered to leadoff the inning to make it 10-6 IU, and the Buckeye's starter's gaudy ERA has taken a beating in this game, and OSU goes to the bullpen.

OSU brought in RHP Nolan Clegg with an ERA of 3.21 in 14 IP, and Clegg put down three straight Hoosiers to end the inning.

IU 10 OSU 6

 

[ptrich]

6th Inning:

T1st:

Kraft faced the 9, 1, and 2 hitters and he got the leadoff batter on a flyout.

Kraft then gave up and single, but a DP ended retired the side.

2nd:

It's the 2-4 hitters up and OSU went to the bullpen again to bring in RHP Jamison Campbell with an ERA of 6.35 in 5.2 IP.

Pyne and Taylor both walked to lead off. Tibbitts popped up to shallow CF which left the batters on 1st and 2nd.

Pyne got himself picked off on 2nd and then a GO ended the inning.

IU 10 OSU 6

 

[ptrich]

7th Inning:

T7th:

Kraft faced the 3 thru 5 hitters and Kraft walked the leadoff batter and IU pitching had given up 8 BBs up to this point in the game.

After the leadoff walk, Kraft got the next two batter on flyouts, but then walked his 2nd batter of the inning to put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. Another flyout retired the side and it's to the 7th inning stretch.

B7th:

It's the 6 thru 8 hitters up with Cerny leading off. OSU went to the bullpen again to bring in RHP Wyatt Loncar with an ERA of 7.27 in 8.1 IP.

IU goes down in order to end the inning.

IU 10 OSU 6

 

[ptrich]

8th Inning:

T8th:

Kraft was back out there after pitching 3 scoreless innings and was at 49 pitches, and he faced the 8, 9, and 1 hitters.

Kraft got a GO for the first out, but then gave up a single to put a runner on. Kraft K'd the next batter for the 2nd out with the runner still at 1st.

Kraft then gave up a single that dropped in RF to put runners on the corners with two outs.

Kraft then K'd the next batter to retire the side with no damage done.

B8th:

It's the 9 thru 2 hitters up with Jessee leading off. Jessee reached on an infield hit.

Glasser then doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd and no outs.

Pyne walked to load the bases and no outs.

Taylor walked on a full count to drive in a run and now a GS can't beat IU in the 9th. Bases were still loaded with no outs.

Tibbitts, who is having a huge day at the plate, singled to drive in two more runs, although he got credit for just one RBI with the other run scored to an error when the ball juggled in the outfield.

OSU went to the bullpen to bring in RHP Logan Jones who was making his first appearance of the season for the Buckeyes. He gave up a SF to Mathison to bring in another run with one out.

Cerny K'd for the 2nd out. Ellis then singled and Whalen walked to load the bases, but Jessee reached on a FC with the out at 2nd to end the inning.

IU 14 OSU 6

 

[ptrich]

9th Inning:

T9th:

RHP Adrian Vega with an ERA of 7.56 in 8.1 came in to close it out.

Vega didn't get off to a good start giving up back-to-back singles to start the inning. A flyout moved a runner to 3rd with one out and runners at the corners. Vega then got back-to-back Ks to end the game.

IU 14 OSU 6 (Final)

 

[Orford]

Very good win considering two things: 1. 6 run deficit after 1 inning, and 2. And almost more important our hitters went after their ace and one of the better pitchers in conference and succeeded. Typically we are praying for the bullpen

 

[ptrich]

After the wretched 1st inning and considering that OSU had a top pitcher on the mound with an ERA of barely over 1.00 and the 12th best WHIP in the country, and that was in 25 IP going in, I had given this game up as a loss. The odds were against us holding OSU to that 6 runs the rest of the way, and the odds were that OSU's Coupet was going to hold IU hitters down. I even thought when Mercer brought in Levy to relieve Whiteaker in the 1st after Whiteaker failed to get an out, that Mercer might be waving the white flag since Levy has struggled this season also. Well, the odds ended up being in our favor and it was a huge win right out the gate in the conference season.

IU outhit the Buckeyes 14-9 and IU had three homers and two doubles. IU had four multi-hit players.

Tibbitts was 3 for 4 with 4 RBIs and a homer.
Taylor was 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs.
Cerny was 2 for 5 with 2 RBIs and a homer.
Ellis was 2 for 5 with a homer.

Both teams committed one error each.

Whiteaker started the game and had a good ERA coming in, but he saw that number balloon in this game since he couldn't find the strike zone and of his 20 pitches to start the game, only 4 were for strikes, and walked four straight before being pulled.

Levy replaced Whiteaker and also looked shaky to start when he immediately walked in a run with the first batter faced and then gave up two singles. It didn't help that Cerny committed an error in the 1st that compounded things. Fortunately, Levy recovered to pitch three really good innings after the 1st.

Kraft came in to relieve Levy in the 5th and OSU couldn't do much with him as he shut them out.

Here are the pitching numbers, and IU did give up 9 BBs today with 5 of those coming in the 1st. IU didn't hit any batters today, while OSU hit 2 batters.

Whiteaker - 0.0 IP, 4 runs all earned, 4 BBs.

Levy - 4.0 IP, 3 Hs (just 1 hit after the 1st), 2 runs with 1 run earned, 2 Ks, 2 BBs.

Kraft - 4.0 IP, 4 Hs, 0 runs, 3 Ks, 3 BBs.

Vega - 1.0 IP, 2 Hs, 2 Ks, no BBs.

 

[ptrich]

Here's the link to the box score:

https://static.iuhoosiers.com/custompages/stats/bb/2023/IU22.pdf

Link to game recap:

B1G Opening Comeback - Indiana University Athletics

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – After six Ohio State runs in the first inning, the Indiana baseball program scored the next 14 on its way to a 14-6 win in the Big Ten ...

iuhoosiers.com

 

[ptrich]

Today's game was a Q1 win and we are 3-6 right now in Q1 games. One of our Q2 losses was moved to a Q1 loss which is good for us. We are now 1-1 in Q2 games as of today.

 

[Orford]

Anyone notice a rarity today for IU… double play? Can’t recall inning but was late when we were up… if not the first can’t possibly be more than a handful this year as I’ve noticed a lot of blown ones that should have been including the error in t1 that contributed to 6-0 hole

 

[ptrich]

Anyone notice a rarity today for IU… double play? Can’t recall inning but was late when we were up… if not the first can’t possibly be more than a handful this year as I’ve noticed a lot of blown ones that should have been including the error in t1 that contributed to 6-0 hole

We have turned 7 DPs so far in this season to our opponents' 17. We had another chance today in an earlier inning to turn one but the exchange was slow and we just missed out on it and we have just missed on several of those so far in the season. Last season, we turned 33 DPs to our opponents' 55 DPs.

 

[Orford]

Thx thought I was watching a lot and most of games but interesting to see we are below opponents in this. I’m not enough of a baseball guy to know if that’s a more of an indictment on our defense or offense. When I’ve been watching and noticing seems defensive lack of execution

 

[82IU]

Two things of note:
1. Our infield is just average defensively imho, not the worst but definitely need to improve. Noticed a lot of infield singles.
2. We hit in to more double plays because we seem to have a lot of "swing from the heel guys" with underwhelming speed. VBG
82