Phillips earns second win in two days, Cerny and Taylor drive in runs, Mitchell walks four times
By Carl James @jovian34 March 17th, 2024
In what was advertised as a matchup pitching day for Indiana, Ethan Phillips who earned the win Saturday for his one inning of work, managed to provide a 3-inning open allowing only 1 unearned run.
Indiana Hoosiers 15, Belmont Bruins 7:
Inning by inning details in the Live Game Blog | Box Score
This is key as Belmont was countering with Joe Ruzicka who came into the game with a WHIP of just 1.05. The Hoosiers put up four runs in the first two innings. They got to Ruzica again in the fifth inning when newly cemented second baseman Jasen Oliver hit an RBI single. The pitching change didn’t help Belmont. bases loaded walk of Brock Tibbitts and a bases clearing double by Devin Taylor, followed by some heads up baserunning put the Hoosiers up by 7 runs.
The Bruins got three of those runs back in the sixth thanks to two Hoosier errors. In total only one of the Bruins 7 runs on the day were earned as Indiana committed 4 errors. The one earned run was on Grant Holderfield in his 1.1 innings of work. Hoosier pitchers allowed 6 free passes (three of them were hit-by-pitches). Aydan Decker-Petty pitched two scoreless frames and Jacob Vogel shut the door in the ninth with a scoreless frame of his own.
After the game, head coach Jeff Mercer was very pleased with the Hoosier pitching, “We pitched really well. We didn’t play good defense and give much support, but we talked about executing our fastballs to halves of the plates and not necessarily the middle.”
Tyler Cerny ended up a triple short of the cycle. His bat has been very hot of late. He was charged with two of the errors on the day at shortstop. In addition to his great hitting Devin Taylor added a great diving catch in left field to save runs late in the contest.
For the future, Mercer feels “we are in a good position [for game at Indiana State on Tuesday]”. When asked about Brayden Risedorph, who closed Saturday’s game, Mercer said, “the one thing you know Rise has done well is to finish games. We could go into the thing where if he doesn’t throw the first two days, he could start on Sunday, but putting him into a position to be successful on the back end is a wise move.”
After trying a carousel of defenders and pinch hitters at second base, Mercer has decided to make Oliver the everyday second baseman. “He’s given us a really nice, stable defensive presence. He’s made a bunch of good plays.” Offensively, Oliver has “given us quality at bats. He’s walked a bunch, had a big base hit today, RBI. A very, very talented player. Our M.O. has been to let guys fight it out and if a young guy takes that job, then you ride the hot hand.”
The Hoosiers next take on Indiana State at Bob Warn Field in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Tuesday at 4pm ET.