IU Baseball

[Aaron 4,544]

The Mercer quirk of struggling with mediocre pitching while pounding elite guys happened yesterday with all the mediocre ISU arms paraded out there. As I have said, these occasional losses and this issue could be overlooked if IU had its own pitching in order since this cancels out on offense.

Once again this loss in isolation is not awful, but given where team is at due to its own woes on mound, and overly hard pitching program (see above), yesterday was pretty much a must win and season is going down the tubes.

Larger picture, if all this talent enters the portal after season I would not blame them. Mercer's tenure going forward will likely rest on what he decides to do with Glant. Glant has become to Mercer what Darren Hiller did to Tom Allen and Mercer has a choice. If Mercer wants to, he can make the move Allen refused to on Glant and save his career here or fall off further and likely be fired in a couple of years.

Mercers legacy could either be like the Tom's (Allen and Crean) with some success and not a terrible coach but also too much of a roller coaster and gone. However, if he makes the move to the pitching that is needed, he could be here a decade or more similar to Moren and Yeagley with more ups then downs.  

[Class of '66 Old Fart 90,881]

On a season that just doesn't look like it's going anywhere our Hoosiers (20-17) (10-8) host Maryland (17-21) (4-11)    for a 3-game weekend series.  All 3 games televised on B1G+.  At this point in time, Mother Nature may have a say in the weekend schedule.  Friday's game looks good.  Temps in the upper 70's with a 15-20 mph SSW wind.  Saturday's game looks iffy with rain and thunderstorms predicted throughout the day.  Sunday's forecast calls for am showers with temps in the mid 70's and a 10-15 mph ESE breeze.

Friday @ 6:00

Saturday @ 2:00

Sunday @ 1:00

Radio

Live Stats

[Class of '66 Old Fart 90,881]

Will Moore with an rbi single in the bottom of the 9th for a 7-6 Hoosier win.  Ironically, it was Moore who scored the tying run in the bottom of the 8th.  Ryan Kraft pitched 4 innings in relief for his 76th career appearance moving into the top 5.  On the night, Hoosiers had 10 hits, Dickerson with 3 and Hanley with 2.  Denny and Malamazian each with 2 rbi.  Yarberry started but lasted just 2 innings allowing 4 runs on 2 hits but unfortunately 1 of them was a grand slam HR.  He walked 3.  That's when Kraft made his appearance and he was followed by Vogel and then Grable.

[WayneFleekHoosier 51,465]

Between the Hoosiers and the Cubs, wild day of baseball.  Kinda feel like we need the sweep and a run here at the end.  Hopefully this is a turning point but I’m not holding my breath. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart 90,881]

Hoosiers lose 17-4 in a run rule shortened game. Maryland used 5 Hoosier pitchers for batting practice banging out 15 hits that included 5 HR.  Ouch!  We managed just 6 hits but one was very memorable for Devin Taylor hitting his 48th career HR a new program record.

https://x.com/i/status/1913691361859039648

 

[Class of '66 Old Fart 90,881]

First pitch for Sunday's game has been moved up to noon.

[Aaron 4,544]

Glant has been teetering for a long time and the dam has finally broken this yr with no trust worthy pitchers. This year they clearly are not finding reliable arms down the stretch. 

Mercer has a choice. He can replace Glant after the season with a competent pitching coach and have a long career in Bloomington or he can do what Tom Allen did with Darren Hiller and sink with him. Its Mercers choice and will tell us a lot if he is a long term fixture here.

You have thrown away Devin Taylor's final year and would not blame these good young players if they enter portal if Mercer doesn't make some major changes to the pitching staff.

Huge offseason for program and we will see if Mercer is willing to make some tough changes. This year its to late to do anything now unless team wins Big Ten Tourney.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 90,881]

Paybacks are hell.  Just ask MD.  After pounding us 17-4 on Saturday, we returned the favor today with a 15-5 romp and take the weekend series 2-1.  We scored 15 runs and still left 11 runners on base.  We pounded out 17 hits; 10 of them for extra bases - 5 doubles and 5 HR that included #49 for Devin Taylor.  The top of our order accounted for 11 of our hits and 11 of our rbi total.  Taylor and Dickerson both had 4 rbi in the game.   It was a 3-1 IU lead after the 5th and then we broke it open scoring 5 runs in the 6th, 2 in the 7th and 5 in the 8th.

Next Wednesday evening at 6:00 we face Ball State at Victory Field in Indpls.  Next weekend a 3-game series at Iowa.

[Aaron 4,544]

Glad they won series but at point of Big Ten Tourney championship or bust.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 90,881]

Hoosiers will be at Victory Field in Indianapolis Wednesday evening for a 6:00 matchup with Ball State (29-12).  Weather should be gorgeous.  

Stream

Radio

Live Stats

 

[Class of '66 Old Fart 90,881]

Hoosiers took batting practice against Cardinal pitchers pounding out 11 hits and scoring 14 runs in a 14-4 run rule shortened game.  BSU helped us by putting another 10 IU runners on base via walks.  4 Hoosier batters each with 2 hits.  Taylor led with 3 RBI; Moore and Schuyler each had 2.  8 Hoosier pitchers held BSU to just 3 hits.

This weekend we're on the road to face Iowa (28-12) (17-4).

[Class of '66 Old Fart 90,881]

Hoosiers (23-18) (12-9) on the road at Iowa City to face the Hawkeyes (28-12) (17-4).  All 3 games televised on B1G+.

• Friday @ 7:02 ET
• Saturday @ 3:02 ET
• Sunday @ 2:02 ET

Radio

Live Stats

 

[Class of '66 Old Fart 90,881]

Hoosiers only mustered 4 hits and lose the Friday opener 2-1 in 10 innings.  Our lone run came in the 1st inning.  4 Hoosier pitchers gave up 9 hits and 5 BB.  

[Class of '66 Old Fart 90,881]

We lose game #2 of the weekend 13-2 in a run rule shortened game as the Hawkeyes scored 5 in their 7th to end the game.  They only had 9 hits but 1 was a grand slam.  Gilley started but lasted only 3 innings giving up 7 runs on 6 hits and walked 3.  4 IU  pitches saw mound duty and collectively walked 5 and hit 5.  We had 7  hits but by the time we scored our 2 in the 5th, Iowa had already scored 7.  We'll try to salvage 1 tomorrow.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 90,881]

Hoosiers get swept at Iowa losing today's game 10-0 in a run rule shortened game.  Friday night's 2-1 extra innings loss was followed by getting outscored 23-2 in the Saturday and Sunday losses.  For a team that's supposed to be strong offensively we stunk this weekend getting a grand total of 14 hits.  In today's loss we only had 3 hits.  Iowa banged out 8 hits with 6 coming off Grable who allowed 6 runs on those 6 hits in 4 innings.  Yarberry pitched 2 innings and allowed 4 runs on just 2 hits - both HRs.

Tuesday evening we're scheduled to play at Evansville but right now that could be pretty iffy given the current weather outlook for Tuesday.  Next weekend we're in Abilene, TX for a 3-game series with Abilene Christian.   

[Aaron 4,544]

Rubber has met the road. No pitcher has developed this year to be solid. Right now you have inconsistent arms who are sometimes good and others who are unusable.

It needs to be told to Mercer by athletic department after the season he has two choices. He can make the necessary changes to the pitching program and be safe for a while or if he maintains status quo its his head that will go in 2026 if things go poorly.

I have been very clear that I think Mercer is a solid coach. However, Glant is an awful pitching coach and if Mercer stands by him they can go out together. Otherwise I think Mercer can have a long solid career here if he brings in a different pitching coach.

The rubber has met the road here and this has been teetering. You threw away a season with two high draft picks and elite offense. You have a ton of elite freshman to form a core for a while with the bats. However, not sure they will want to stay if pitching problems are not addressed. 

Bottom line is Glant is Darren Hiller and if Mercer stands by him like Tom Allen did its curtains on his career here. Mercer has a choice to make in offseason for the future of the program as well as his own. We will see what he does.

When Glant cannot find even one trustworthy weekend starter, you can't be continued to be employed. Every season he has been here he has had zero or one long inning guy as his ace and no other reliable starters. Any good pitching coach should be able to develop two if not three. Also no depth at all and no one in bullpen developing to be good.

Its time for a change with Glant and if Mercer keeps him they can go out together in 2026. We are about to find out how smart or Loyal Mercer is. I think he is a pretty good coach but he has an anchor around his neck he needs to get rid of (Glant) or drown.    

[Class of '66 Old Fart 90,881]

@Aaron is there a longstanding relationship between Mercer and Glant that could make it difficult for Mercer to make the decision to terminate Glant purely for personal reasons?

[Aaron 4,544]

1 hour ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

@Aaron is there a longstanding relationship between Mercer and Glant that could make it difficult for Mercer to make the decision to terminate Glant purely for personal reasons?

Not sure

[Demo 23,662]

Chris Lemonis out at Miss St effective immediately. Can’t imagine there’s a good story there.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 90,881]

21 minutes ago, Demo said:

Chris Lemonis out at Miss St effective immediately. Can’t imagine there’s a good story there.

Just glanced through several different reports and at this point sounds like it's just all related to performance of the program and fan dissatisfaction getting louder.

Selmon is the AD and this is from of the the stories I read --

Selmon didn't have many options. His teams were 82-89 for SEC action though 40 of those wins came from the 2019 and '21 seasons. They were also 3-6 in just three SEC Tournaments, missing out on the 2022 and '23 events. The 2020 tournament was cancelled along with all the league season.