Xavier@IU, Game 4: IU loses the game and the series, 13-7...

[ptrich]

In the 1st, Xaiver chased IU starter Ryan Kraft after he went 0.2 IP as he had control problems giving up 2 hits and four ERs with 3 BB and a WP and a K. He also hit two batters. Grant Holderfield came out of the bullpen to get the final out. At least this happened early and there are plenty of innings to come back in and we have hit Xavier pitching hard today so far.

IU went down in order in the the B1st.

 

[ptrich]

In the T2nd, Xavier got a leadoff single, but Holderfield got the next three batters on two flyouts and a ground out.

In IU's 2nd, Ellis walked to leadoff and Tibbetts flied out. Pyne then hit into a DP to end the inning. The DP is Xavier's 5th of the day since they had four of them in the 1st game. The Xavier starting pitcher is a bullpen pitcher who had an ERA of over 12.00 going into the game, but IU has yet to get a hit through the first two innings.

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

In the 1st, Xaiver chased IU starter Ryan Kraft after he went 0.2 IP as he had control problems giving up 2 hits and four ERs with 3 BB and a WP and a K. Grant Holderfield came out of the bullpen to get the final out. At least this happened early and there are plenty of innings to come back in and we have hit Xavier pitching hard today so far.

IU went down in order in the the B1st.

Our pitching sucks

 

[ptrich]

In the 3rd, Holderfield who has looked sharp coming out of the bullpen this season, put them down in order on two Ks and a ground out.

In IU's 3rd, Mathison struck out. Jesses reached on a throwing error and was able to advance to 2nd with one out. Jessee was tagged out at 3rd while Murrison reached 1st on a fielder's choice. Doanes then walked to put men on 1st and 2nd with two outs, but Glasser grounded out to end the inning. The Xavier pitcher Flamm came into the game with bad numbers, but we have yet to get a hit off him through 3 innings.

Our pitching sucks

I edited that post to reflect that Kraft also hit two batters.

 

[ptrich]

In the 4th, Holderfield got the first two batters on a flyout and a ground out. He gave up a single to put a man on with two outs. Another single to CF put runners on the corners with two outs as we are at the strength of the Xavier batting order. A 3-run homer gave Xavier a 7-0 lead with all three runs coming after we had two outs in the inning. We can hit this team but we certainly have our work cut out now in getting back in this game. I don't know how many runs we have given up after two outs this season, but it's been a bunch.

In IU's 4th, Whalen flied out and Ellis walked to put a man on with one out. A fielder's choice put a man on 1st with two outs. Pyne then singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. Mathison then clubbed a 3-run homer to left CF to cancel out the 3-run homer by Xavier in the top of the inning and we are back to a four-run deficit to be made up. A ground out by Jessee ended the inning.

 

[ptrich]

In the 5th, Xavier got a leadoff walk. A double by a .105 hitter scored the walk as Xavier takes an 8-3 lead. Holderfield got the first out with a K with a runner still on 2nd. Mercer went to the bullpen to bring in Reese Sharp who has been ineffective coming out the bullpen with an ERA of 9.00 in 17 IP. Sharp has been up and down this season with a good outing against Troy and a bad outing in an earlier game against Xavier. Sharp struck out his first batter to make it two outs with a man on 2nd. However, two back-to-back walks have loaded the bases with two outs. Xavier's home run leader then cranked a grand slam homer to make it 12-3 as it looks like IU is going to drop the series if they don't find some serious offense over the latter part of the game while holding Xavier down the rest of the way.

In IU's 5th, a flyout and a single put Doanes on 1st with one out. A walk to Glasser put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Whalen then struck out for the 2nd out. A single by Ellis scored Doanes with Glasser taking third and Ellis advancing to 2nd. Tibbetts then doubled to the left center wall to score Glasser and Ellis. Pyne then singled to score Tibbetts as IU makes the score 12-7. Mathison flied out to end the inning, but IU cut into the deficit and has a chance to come back in this game if the pitching can hold Xavier down and that's a big if.

 

[ptrich]

In the 6th, XU got a leadoff single and the next batter popped out to Sharp. Sharp got a K for the 2nd out with a man still on 1st. A single through the left side of the infield put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs, and here we go again with runners on and two outs. A WP moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd, but Sharp got a K to end XU's half of the inning.

In IU's 6th, Jessee popped up for the 1st out and Xavier went to their bullpen to bring in RHP Jared Gladd with an ERA of 4.80 in 15 IP. Murrison singled to put a runner on with one out and we are at the top of the order with Doanes up. Doanes reached on a fielder's choice with two outs. Glasser then singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. Whalen grounded out to end the inning as IU missed out on a big chance to cut in to that lead.

 

[ptrich]

In the 7th, Sharp is still on the mound as the top of the order is up for Xavier and the first five batters in the order have killed us in this game so far. The leadoff hitter popped out to the SS for the first out. A walk put a runner on 1st with one out. A flyout got the 2nd out and Mercer went to the bullpen to bring in Modugno who has an ERA of 10.34 in 21 IP. The runner on 1st stole 2nd and a K ended Xavier's 7th.

In IU's 7th, we go down in order and are running out of time to come back in this game.

 

[ptrich]

In the 8th, Modugno put them down in order on a ground out, line out and a K.

In IU's 8th, we are at the bottom of the order. Mathison reaches 1st on a throwing error by 3B. Shank struck out for the 1st out. Murrison reaches on a fielder's choice with a man on 1st and two outs. Doanes grounded out to end the inning and IU is down to their last three outs as they will have to have a huge 9th to salvage the series.

 

[ptrich]

In the 9th, the leadoff batter reached for Xavier on a single. Xavier is hitting .316 with runners on in this game at this point. The runner stole 2nd and went to 3rd on a SAC bunt with one out. The runner from 3rd was thrown out at the plate with hitter reaching 1st. In a Keystone Cops routine, Modugno made a bad throw on a pickoff attempt at first and the runner reached 3rd, and then came home on another throwing error by Tibbetts at first, so a run scores from first on two errors on the same play.

IU led off their 9th with a double by Glasser who moved to 3rd on a ground out by Whalen. Ellis struck out and a ground out ended the game as IU loses the series.

 

[ptrich]

Xavier, a team that came into the series with a 5-12 record, leaves after taking 3 of 4 from us, and it was caused by a mostly ineffective pitching staff. We got a good start by Perkins in Game 1 who gave up 2 runs in 6 innings pitched but lost it when we went to the bullpen. In Game 2, we gave up 12 ER in the first 5.2 IP by three pitchers with Tucker starting that game. We got a good game out of Brehmer who went 7 full innings for our only win in Game 3, and in the Game 4, Ryan Kraft couldn't even get out of the 1st inning as he went 0.2 IP before getting pulled and he was all over the place in that inning. We scored 37 runs in those four games which is an average of a little over 9 runs a game, and we lose three of those four games? Gimme a break.

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

I’ve got season tickets behind the plate. Haven’t been to a game yet. May not bother.

 

[ptrich]

Here is the link to the box score.

Baseball vs Xavier (DH) on 3/20/2022 - Box Score - Indiana University Athletics

The official box score of Baseball vs Xavier (DH) on 3/20/2022

iuhoosiers.com

 

[biglewexpress]

Oooooff, that’s 3 bad losses at home. RPI killers.

 

[rcaulfie]

Oooooff, that’s 3 bad losses at home. RPI killers.

Just looked.....157.....very disappointing year, thus far. I don't see it getting any better with our pitching.