Stetson vs IU (Sat): Quiet day at the plate and ineffective pitching cost IU, 8-4...

[ptrich]

It will be RHP Cole Gilley on the mound for IU and he has pitched 10.1 IP with an ERA of 2.61 and a WHIP of 1.09. He has given up 2 earned runs so far with an OBA of .244. Schuyler will be behind the plate. I haven't seen a batting order/lineup as of yet. It looks like IU will be the visiting team with the host school obviously the home team.

Illness has hit the Hoosier squad with Brenczewski and Moore also out because of illness along with Stadler. Denny is back in RF and Malamazian is at 3B.

It's another great day for baseball with the temp at 74 and it's partly sunny. Not much wind with it being out of the W at 5 mph and not much gust at 9 mph.

T1st:

Wiggins led off to start the game. Wiggins flied out and Taylor grounded out for two outs to start the game. Dickerson grounded out as IU went down in order.

B1st:

Gilley got the first two batters on groundouts and a pop up made it a 1-2-3 inning for Gilley.

End of 1st: IU 0 Stetson 0

 

[ptrich]

T2nd:

It's the middle of the order up for IU with Hanley leading off. Hanley grounded out and Cerny flied out for two outs. Oliver grounded out to retire the side.

B2nd:

I's the middle of the order up for Gilley. Gilley got the leadoff hitter on a shot to the warning track in CF. A single put a man on with one out.

A WP moved the runner to 2nd and one out. A flyout moved the runner to 3rd and two outs.

A two-out single scored a run and Gilley's control issue in this inning came back to bite him. A flyout ended the inning.

End of 2nd: Stetson 1 IU 0

 

[ptrich]

T3rd:

It's the bottom of the order up with Denny leading off and he has really struggled at the plate so far this season.

Just as I posted that, Denny singled to lead off.

Malamazian Kd swinging for the first out and Schuyler up. Schuyler walked to put runners at 1st and 2nd with one out.

It was the top of the order up with Wiggins and a runner in scoring position.

Wiggins Kd swinging with Taylor up. Taylor grounded out and IU came up empty in that inning.

B3rd:

It's the 9 thru 2 batters up for Gilley. Gilley walked a .100 hitter on a full count to put a runner on with no outs.

We are at the top of the order. The leadoff walk is now causing a problem as a single put runners at 1st and 2nd and no outs.

My goodness, on a bunt to Gilley, he slipped down and couldn't make a play, and an error was charged with the bases loaded and no outs.

A FC got the runner at 2nd and a run scored with runners now on the corners and one out. Gilley walked a batter on a WP which scored another run to make it 3-0 and runners on 1st and 2nd and one out.

Gilley seems to have lost some of his composure with the way the inning has gone.

A DP ball on a good play by Malamazian at 3B ended what could have been a disastrous inning and the damage was limited to two runs.

End of 3rd: Stetson 3 IU 0

 

[ptrich]

T4th:

It was the 3 thru 5 hitters up with Dickerson leading off. Dickerson doubled to lead off.

Hanley grounded out with Dickerson moving to 3rd and one out.

A SAC fly by Cerny scored Dickerson with there being two outs and the bases empty.

Oliver flied out to retire the side.

B4th:

Gilley was back out there to face the 6 thru 8 hitters. Gilley walked the leadoff hitter on four pitches and that was it for him in his worst start to the season. LHP Anthony Gubitosi came in to replace him.

Gubitosi walked a batter on four pitches to put two on and no outs.

A SAC bunt moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd and one out.

A groundout scored a run to make it 4-1 with two outs. Another four-pitch walk put runners on the corners and two outs.

All three walks this inning have been on four pitches. A WP scored another run to make it 5-1. Pitching is not there today and IU's offense is going to need to get hot.

A single scored yet another run and Cerny is down with some kind of injury. There was a force out at 2nd which ended the inning what was not a good inning from a pitching standpoint.

End of 4th: Stetson 6 IU 1

 

[ptrich]

T5th:

After struggling at the plate, Denny homered to LF, his 2nd hit of the game, to chip away a little at the lead. Malamazian Kd looking on a highly questionable called strike for one out.

Schuyler Kd swinging and Wiggins grounded out to retire the side.

B5th:

Gubitosi faced the 3 thru 5 hitters. Gubitosi got the leadoff hitter on a lineout to Taylor.

A double put a runner in scoring position with one out.

Gubitosi worked around the leadoff off double to end the inning.

End of 5th: Stetson 6 IU 2

 

[ptrich]

T6th:

Taylor led off and he Kd swinging and Dickerson grounded out for two outs. Hanley grounded out and they went down in order quickly.

B6th:

LHP Ryan Kraft replaced Gubitosi and he has struggled so far out of the pen. Kraft walked the leadoff batter on a 3-1 count.

A single put runners at 1st and 2nd with no outs and Kraft is struggling again out of the pen. A SAC bunt sent the runners to 2nd and 3rd and one out.

Kraft got a much-needed K for the 2nd out and runners still at 2nd and 3rd. A single scored two more runs as Kraft couldn't get that third out.

Another single put runners at 1st and 2nd with two outs. A pitch out hit the runner at 1st with the runner on 2nd taking 3rd and an error was charged to Schuyler.

A flyout ended the inning.

End of 6th: Stetson 8 IU 2

 

[ptrich]

T7th:

Cerny led off the inning and he lined out on a hard-hit ball for the first out. Stetson's starter is still out there and he doesn't have overpowering stuff with pitches in the upper 80s, but he has kept IU hitters off balance and has gotten mostly ground balls.

He put IU down in order.

B7th:

Kraft was back out there to face the 5 thru 7 hitters. I guess with a 4th game to go, they didn't want to burn anymore pitchers, but Kraft did not have a good inning in the 6th.

Kraft got off to a good start to this inning with a leadoff K swinging but he then walked a batter on a full count, and IU has walked 7 batters so far and it has really hurt.

A flyout got the 2nd out with the runner still at 1st. The runner stole 2nd.

Kraft got a K to end the inning and even though he walked a batter, it was a good inning for him.

End of 7th: Stetson 8 IU 2

 

[ptrich]

T8th:

Finally, the Stetson starter is replaced by a pen pitcher. Malamazian led off and he singled to put a man on. Schuyler lined out for the first out and we are at the top of the order with Wiggins up. Wiggins was quiet today and Kd swinging for two outs.

Taylor clubbed a two-run homer to LF to make it 8-4 and two outs. Dickerson flied out to retire the side.

B8th:

RHP Will Eldridge, a transfer from Indiana Wesleyan, replaced Kraft, and Eldridge lone appearance on the season was a disaster but IU is not going to burn pitchers with another game to be played tomorrow.

Good start for Eldridge with a K of the leadoff hitter. He then walked a batter on a full count and it was IU's 8th walk of the game. Cole Decker had replaced Dickerson in CF.

Eldridge then hit a batter to put runners on 1st and 2nd and one out. Eldridge then got another big K for two outs.

A flyout got Eldridge out of the jam to end the inning.

End of 8th: Stetson 8 IU 4

 

[Bucket Getter]

Good lord. I’m starting to lose interest in this team on March 1st.

 

[ptrich]

T9th:

Hanley led off the inning and he Kd looking, while Cerny followed with a K swinging. Oliver flied out to end the game.

Final: Stetson 8 IU 4

 

[ptrich]

Not much you can say about this game. IU picked a day to have mostly quiet bats when the pitching was just not there and was ineffective. Stetson is a light hitting team that manufactures runs and IU helped them out today.

The only noise to speak of on the day was Taylor's two-run homer and that was pretty much it as Stetson outhit IU, 8-5. There's no need to mention the other four hits.

Gilley had his worst outing of the season and had some control problems. The rest of the staff was not all that effective and the lack of hitting by IU as well as the pitching just didn't hold up today. IU walked 8 batters today which certainly hurt the cause. I posted earlier that the Stetson starter doesn't have overpowering stuff but his pitches in the high 80s kept IU off balance and he got a lot of ground balls and went 7 IP.

IU committed two errors today, but one of those was a bad luck error when Gilley slipped off the mound while trying to field a bunt. IU's other error was on Schuyler when he hit a runner on a pickoff attempt. Stetson was error-free today.

It's an early game tomorrow with IU playing Mount St. Mary's at 11 a.m. ET. We will have to wait to see who the starter is.

 

[ptrich]

Not much you can say about this game. IU picked a day to have mostly quiet bats when the pitching was just not there and was ineffective. Stetson is a light hitting team that manufactures runs and IU helped them out today.

The only noise to speak of on the day was Taylor's two-run homer and that was pretty much it as Stetson outhit IU, 8-5. There's no need to mention the other four hits.

Gilley had his worst outing of the season and had some control problems. The rest of the staff was not all that effective and the lack of hitting by IU as well as the pitching just didn't hold up today. IU walked 8 batters today which certainly hurt the cause. I posted earlier that the Stetson starter doesn't have overpowering stuff but his pitches in the high 80s kept IU off balance and he got a lot of ground balls and went 7 IP.

IU committed two errors today, but one of those was a bad luck error when Gilley slipped off the mound while trying to field a bunt. IU's other error was on Schuyler when he hit a runner on a pickoff attempt. Stetson was error-free today.

It's an early game tomorrow with IU playing Mount St. Mary's at 11 a.m. ET. We will have to wait to see who the starter is.

I should have mentioned that Denny broke out of his season-long hitting slump, at least for this game, having two of IU's five hits to include a solo homer. Great to see.

 

[Bucket Getter]

I should have mentioned that Denny broke out of his season-long hitting slump, at least for this game, having two of IU's five hits to include a solo homer. Great to see.

Couple of things of note ptrich: Cerny will get it together in the field. And he’ll hammer. Denny will hit. And big. Kid is a true baller. No need to worry about him. And lastly, I don’t know if you tip, but I’d be totally inclined to ship you a nice bottle of bourbon for what you do here. Frankly, I’m not sure how you’re gonna make it through the season without it. 😳

 

[ptrich]

Couple of things of note ptrich: Cerny will get it together in the field. And he’ll hammer. Denny will hit. And big. Kid is a true baller. No need to worry about him. And lastly, I don’t know if you tip, but I’d be totally inclined to ship you a nice bottle of bourbon for what you do here. Frankly, I’m not sure how you’re gonna make it through the season without it. 😳

I hope you're right about Cerny. There was a short scare today that he might have injured himself on a play, but he shook it off.

Giving play-by-play updates helps keeping me involved with the game regardless of how it's going. Rather than giving just the highlights or lowlights of an inning, I like to show every at-bat to show how we or they got there. It's a long season so I'm hanging in there.

 

[Bucket Getter]

I hope you're right about Cerny. There was a short scare today that he might have injured himself on a play, but he shook it off.

Giving play-by-play updates helps keeping me involved with the game regardless of how it's going. Rather than giving just the highlights or lowlights of an inning, I like to show every at-bat to show how we or they got there. It's a long season so I'm hanging in there.

Thank you brother.