Marcus Morgan - 5 IP; 1 H; 2 BBs; 0 Runs - best game of his young Hawkeye career
Zach Voelker - 4 IP; 0 H; 2 BBs; 0 Runs
Holding Indiana scoreless over 9 innings with only Morgan and Voelker pitching with only 1 hit and 4 walks? Hawkeyes win the series, right?
Ugh. No.
Iowa was 0-10 in getting the lead-off runner on base.
Iowa's batters struck out 17 times total; 12 times in 6 innings with Sinnard on base. I don't have the number right now but there were a fair number of Hawkeye hitters walking back to the dugout after watching a called third strike (my flipping pet peeve; have to swing at anything close). Coach Sutherland's post-game comments didn't mince words. Hats off to IU's pitching but 17 Ks are simply unacceptable.
Runner on 3rd and less than 1 out . . . Moss fails to execute on the safety squeeze.
I leave the B1G W-L standings to @Alum-Ni . . . as for RPI, Iowa only dropped one rung on the ladder yesterday; they are currently checking in at #53. The difference between yesterday's loss and a win is about 10 spots on the RPI ladder. Other B1G teams' RPI are now as follows: Indiana (21-10/6-2) is currently #25 RPI (up 5 from yesterday) and leads the B1G. Rutgers (15-15/1-4) is currently #50 RPI (down 6 from yesterday) and 2nd in B1G RPI ratings. Iowa is in third place. Michigan State (17-10/5-3) is currently #55 RPI (down 7 from yesterday) and checks in now in 4th in B1G RPI. 5th place Maryland (19-11/4-1; 61 RPI - up 1); 6th place Illinois (13-14/3-5; 68 RPI) 7th place Michigan (17-13/6-2; 72 RPI) and 8th place Nebraska (17-10-1/3-2; 85 RPI).
On the RPI "ladder," Iowa is 12 RPI points behind #52 Wofford and 13 RPI points ahead of #55 Michigan State. Iowa is 74 RPI points behind #43 Xavier.
An Iowa win today would result in a gain of 74 RPI points. An Iowa loss would result in the loss of 10 RPI points.
Really interesting game today. Big test for how Iowa responds to a truly unfortunate road loss. IU has to be feeling pretty good about themselves. Iowa may be feeling pressure to even its B1G record at 3-3.
IU finally announced its starting pitcher (they had not done so by the end of yesterday's game). It will be RHP Seti Manase. https://iuhoosiers.com/sports/baseball/roster/seti-manase/17443 YTD statistics do not suggest that he'll be able to go deep into the game. He hasn't pitched more than 3.1 innings in his two B1G outings. Has a couple of 4+ inning outings early in the year but I would expect that Iowa will see several of IU's bullpen arms today.
If the "good" Ty Langenberg shows up today, I'd give Iowa a slight advantage. The "good" Ty certainly has the ability to give a strong 5 innings. I'd suspect at that point, Iowa would give the ball to Simpson and will have a fresh Llewellyn, Christopherson, Anthony and Obermueller ready to come into the game after Langenberg and Simpson. Even if Ty struggles, I like that Iowa has only used Brecht, Henderson, Morgan and Voelker so far this series. Should have plenty of innings left in the bullpen's arms.
But, when all is said and done, Iowa's bats need a much better effort today. IU's strategy to throw its best starter on Saturday to avoid a confrontation with Brecht seems to have paid off. Really neutralized Iowa's bats and had them off balance for most of the game. If Iowa can put up a couple of early runs and Langenberg can hang a couple of zeros on the scoreboard, I'm thinking that Iowa has a really good chance of taking the series, evening its B1G record and climbing back into the 40s RPI. Here's hoping for the bats to rebound similar to how they rebounded against LSU after stinking up the joint against Sam Houston State.
The alternative . . . falling to 2-4 in B1G standings and losing consecutive series to two of the B1G's stronger teams isn't particularly appetizing.
Zach Voelker - 4 IP; 0 H; 2 BBs; 0 Runs
Holding Indiana scoreless over 9 innings with only Morgan and Voelker pitching with only 1 hit and 4 walks? Hawkeyes win the series, right?
Ugh. No.
Iowa was 0-10 in getting the lead-off runner on base.
Iowa's batters struck out 17 times total; 12 times in 6 innings with Sinnard on base. I don't have the number right now but there were a fair number of Hawkeye hitters walking back to the dugout after watching a called third strike (my flipping pet peeve; have to swing at anything close). Coach Sutherland's post-game comments didn't mince words. Hats off to IU's pitching but 17 Ks are simply unacceptable.
Runner on 3rd and less than 1 out . . . Moss fails to execute on the safety squeeze.
I leave the B1G W-L standings to @Alum-Ni . . . as for RPI, Iowa only dropped one rung on the ladder yesterday; they are currently checking in at #53. The difference between yesterday's loss and a win is about 10 spots on the RPI ladder. Other B1G teams' RPI are now as follows: Indiana (21-10/6-2) is currently #25 RPI (up 5 from yesterday) and leads the B1G. Rutgers (15-15/1-4) is currently #50 RPI (down 6 from yesterday) and 2nd in B1G RPI ratings. Iowa is in third place. Michigan State (17-10/5-3) is currently #55 RPI (down 7 from yesterday) and checks in now in 4th in B1G RPI. 5th place Maryland (19-11/4-1; 61 RPI - up 1); 6th place Illinois (13-14/3-5; 68 RPI) 7th place Michigan (17-13/6-2; 72 RPI) and 8th place Nebraska (17-10-1/3-2; 85 RPI).
On the RPI "ladder," Iowa is 12 RPI points behind #52 Wofford and 13 RPI points ahead of #55 Michigan State. Iowa is 74 RPI points behind #43 Xavier.
An Iowa win today would result in a gain of 74 RPI points. An Iowa loss would result in the loss of 10 RPI points.
Really interesting game today. Big test for how Iowa responds to a truly unfortunate road loss. IU has to be feeling pretty good about themselves. Iowa may be feeling pressure to even its B1G record at 3-3.
IU finally announced its starting pitcher (they had not done so by the end of yesterday's game). It will be RHP Seti Manase. https://iuhoosiers.com/sports/baseball/roster/seti-manase/17443 YTD statistics do not suggest that he'll be able to go deep into the game. He hasn't pitched more than 3.1 innings in his two B1G outings. Has a couple of 4+ inning outings early in the year but I would expect that Iowa will see several of IU's bullpen arms today.
If the "good" Ty Langenberg shows up today, I'd give Iowa a slight advantage. The "good" Ty certainly has the ability to give a strong 5 innings. I'd suspect at that point, Iowa would give the ball to Simpson and will have a fresh Llewellyn, Christopherson, Anthony and Obermueller ready to come into the game after Langenberg and Simpson. Even if Ty struggles, I like that Iowa has only used Brecht, Henderson, Morgan and Voelker so far this series. Should have plenty of innings left in the bullpen's arms.
But, when all is said and done, Iowa's bats need a much better effort today. IU's strategy to throw its best starter on Saturday to avoid a confrontation with Brecht seems to have paid off. Really neutralized Iowa's bats and had them off balance for most of the game. If Iowa can put up a couple of early runs and Langenberg can hang a couple of zeros on the scoreboard, I'm thinking that Iowa has a really good chance of taking the series, evening its B1G record and climbing back into the 40s RPI. Here's hoping for the bats to rebound similar to how they rebounded against LSU after stinking up the joint against Sam Houston State.
The alternative . . . falling to 2-4 in B1G standings and losing consecutive series to two of the B1G's stronger teams isn't particularly appetizing.
