IU Baseball vs. Minnesota: Massive Series

[Brass Cannon 24,064]

1 minute ago, Aaron said:

Milto was left in to long but given that he already had given up 4 as I said this showing tonight 100% on him and will get you nowhere in postseason against aces. Hmielewski absolutely owned Milto tonight. If we want to finish strong need Milto to pitch like an ace and he was not close tonight. 

I understand that but it wasn’t like it was a 4 run deficit it was a two run deficit. That’s a very doable comeback. I don’t think you throw in the towel and save the bull pen with a 2 run deficit and 4 innings to go. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart 80,958]

With rain in the forecast later in the day, Saturday’s game has been moved to a 12:05 p.m. start.

[Aaron 4,147]

As I said Milto was just not good enough tonight. He was definitely left in to long in the 8th but 4 is already to many against an ace on Friday if you want a chance to win. The reality is while the offense struck out way to much we staked Milto to a lead twice and both times he gave it up. That 5th inning where they hit him all over the park was the turning point and unacceptable for an ace. 

All year Milto has been good and the offense let him down. Tonight the offense while not great, was good enough and 3 runs against an ace like Max Meyer who has a sub 2 ERA has to be enough. As my coaches taught me, in a Friday night match up your ace needs to give up 2 runs or less to give you a chance and Milto was not close to that after getting banged around in that 5th inning. 

The good news is the rest of Minny's pitchers have not been good so even if Gordon and Saalfrank give up 4 (hopefully less) like Milto did tonight before running out of gas that should be enough. We have not been a good Friday team but are a good weekend team so hopefully we can get the next 2 which is what I hoped for out of this series given Minny's talent. From the 1st inning it was clear this is most talented team we have faced since Iowa and Milto didn't bring his A stuff tonight. 

[Aaron 4,147]

2 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

With rain in the forecast later in the day, Saturday’s game has been moved to a 12:05 p.m. start.

I will not be there then as I am busy in morning but will also be unable to post during game since I will be in middle of something that does not allow that. I will be on board Sunday and watching on ESPNU. 

[ccgeneral 38,084]

Michigan won last night and Nebraska lost.

Michigan     9-3     
Indiana        9-4     
Nebraska  11-5    
Iowa          10-6     
Minnesota  8-5     
Illinois         7-6   
Maryland    7-6  
Rutgers       7-6

[btownqb 8,253]

Omfggggggggg!!!!

We are down 6-1!!!

Comeback... 6-4 B9.. draw 2 walks... Lloyd hits a 3 run HR to walkoff!!!!! We win 7-6!!!

[btownqb 8,253]

Omfggggggggg!!!!

We are down 6-1!!!

Comeback... 6-4 B9.. draw 2 walks... 3-2 count...Lloyd hits a 3 run HR to walkoff!!!!! We win 7-6!!! 

Absolutely crushed it

[Class of '66 Old Fart 80,958]

We pulled one out of our arse today on a Matt Lloyd 3-run homer in the bottom of the 9th for a 7-6 IU win.  We jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning but Minny scored  in the next 4 innings to take a 6-1 lead.  We got 2 back in the bottom of the 7th and Lloyd's round tripper saves the day.  Alex Franklin gets the win in relief.  Gordon started and pitched 5 innings allowing 4 runs.  Scott came in for 2/3 of an inning and allowed 2 more runs.  Sloan came in and faced 4 batters striking out 3.  Franklin pitched the final 2 innings.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 80,958]

Lloyd's 14th homer on the season for the win.

 

[btownqb 8,253]

15 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

We pulled one out of our arse today on a Matt Lloyd 3-run homer in the bottom of the 9th for a 7-6 IU win.  We jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning but Minny scored  in the next 4 innings to take a 6-1 lead.  We got 2 back in the bottom of the 7th and Lloyd's round tripper saves the day.  Alex Franklin gets the win in relief.  Gordon started and pitched 5 innings allowing 4 runs.  Scott came in for 2/3 of an inning and allowed 2 more runs.  Sloan came in and faced 4 batters striking out 3.  Franklin pitched the final 2 innings.

Not really sure why the box score is wrong.. but Tommy Sommer pitched the top of the 9th for us striking out all 3 and he got the win. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart 80,958]

1 minute ago, btownqb said:

Not really sure why the box score is wrong.. but Tommy Sommer pitched the top of the 9th for us striking out all 3 and he got the win. 

I saw Sommer's name in a number of tweets but Sloan apparently got box score credit.   Thanks for clarifying.

[btownqb 8,253]

6 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

I saw Sommer's name in a number of tweets but Sloan apparently got box score credit.   Thanks for clarifying.

Sloan pitched too. Franklin pitched one inning. 

[Brass Cannon 24,064]

Great to get the win today. We still control our own destiny luckily.  Looks like we will still be second in the standings after today. 

That series against Michigan is looming large. 

Assuming Michigan wins today that would leave 4 more games each before our series. We without a doubt have to match whatever they do in that span. 

[btownqb 8,253]

17 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

Great to get the win today. We still control our own destiny luckily.  Looks like we will still be second in the standings after today. 

That series against Michigan is looming large. 

Assuming Michigan wins today that would leave 4 more games each before our series. We without a doubt have to match whatever they do in that span. 

They are @NEB last 3 games too. 

Looks like I'll be at 2 games at ILL and all three at UM. 

[Brass Cannon 24,064]

5 minutes ago, btownqb said:

They are @NEB last 3 games too. 

Looks like I'll be at 2 games at ILL and all three at UM. 

I figure if we match them the next 4. We could theoretically lose our series against them 1-2. 

That would put them 2 fewer losses 1 fewer win Than us. We would have a punchers chance still winning if Nebraska and IU can combine for 5 wins in our final series. 

Obviously we need to take care of business and win the series. First step our SPers have to give us more. 

[Aaron 4,147]

Wanted for Robbery: A bunch of guys in white shirts with red numerals that say "Indiana" on them. LOL

In all seriousness we flat out stole that game and had no business winning it. We again were to much feast or famine with either strikeouts or HR's but we got just enough of them late for an improbable win. I started watching only in the top of the 9th but saw the biggest part obviously. Also the second straight game our starter got banged around. Like with Milto, Gordon has been great lately but not today. 

A big part of it is Minnesota is a lot better than their record and a desperate team that is very talented. With that said this is the type of competition we will be facing the rest of the year and need to be better ready. We are pretty much certain too go to the NCAA tournament but would love a shot at the conference crown and to do that we need to keep winning.

Its not like we are making a ton of errors and mental mistakes. We were just solidly knocked around the first 15 innings of this series fair and square. We need to stop striking out though although to me that is least concerning of our bugaboos.

I'll be on board all day watching tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AkjV7k1RUE 

[btownqb 8,253]

39 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

I figure if we match them the next 4. We could theoretically lose our series against them 1-2. 

That would put them 2 fewer losses 1 fewer win Than us. We would have a punchers chance still winning if Nebraska and IU can combine for 5 wins in our final series. 

Obviously we need to take care of business and win the series. First step our SPers have to give us more. 

SP is the last of my worries. 

[btownqb 8,253]

14 minutes ago, Aaron said:

Wanted for Robbery: A bunch of guys in white shirts with red numerals that say "Indiana" on them. LOL

In all seriousness we flat out stole that game and had no business winning it. We again were to much feast or famine with either strikeouts or HR's but we got just enough of them late for an improbable win. I started watching only in the top of the 9th but saw the biggest part obviously. Also the second straight game our starter got banged around. Like with Milto, Gordon has been great lately but not today. 

A big part of it is Minnesota is a lot better than their record and a desperate team that is very talented. With that said this is the type of competition we will be facing the rest of the year and need to be better ready. We are pretty much certain too go to the NCAA tournament but would love a shot at the conference crown and to do that we need to keep winning.

Its not like we are making a ton of errors and mental mistakes. We were just solidly knocked around the first 15 innings of this series fair and square. We need to stop striking out though although to me that is least concerning of our bugaboos.

I'll be on board all day watching tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AkjV7k1RUE 

For some reason... a lot of those hits the last two days have been on 0-2, 1-2 counts. Frustrating. 

[Brass Cannon 24,064]

19 minutes ago, btownqb said:

SP is the last of my worries. 

Our starting pitchers have like an 8.25 ERA the last 2 games. 

[btownqb 8,253]

21 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

Our starting pitchers have like an 8.25 ERA the last 2 games. 

Ok.. and before that? 2 starts dont define anything and plenty of that was Mercer making a mistake and leaving Pauley in too long.