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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa baseball posted a 7-3 victory over the Iowa Valley League All-Stars in Tuesday night summer exhibition game at Duane Banks Field.
The Hawkeyes finished with 11 hits in the game, plating runs in five innings. Iowa pushed two across in the second, one in the third and fourth, two in the sixth, and one in the eighth.
“We played well, we played a clean game and defensively, we were solid,” said UI head coach Rick Heller. “I was pleased with how we played; it was a good atmosphere and I want to thank the fans for coming out and supporting us.”
Iowa grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second, courtesy of back-to-back RBI singles from Kyle Crowl and Mitchell Boe. Crowl’s RBI single in the fourth inning broke a two-all tie, and the Council Bluffs, Iowa, native drew a bases loaded walk for his third RBI in the fifth.
The Hawkeyes took advantage of a pair of free bases in the sixth before Tyler Cropley singled home Iowa’s fifth run and Grant Judkins added a sacrifice fly to push the margin to 6-2 in the sixth.
Iowa’s final run came courtesy of two freshmen; Zion Pettigrew singled to start the eighth and Brett McCleary — an Iowa City native — drove him in with an RBI single to right center.
Four Iowa pitchers — junior Brady Schanuel, senior Elijah Wood, and juniors Sammy Lizarraga and Zach Daniels — limited the IVL All-Stars to just four hits and fanned 12 in the game.
Schanuel, a junior-college transfer from Parkland College, allowed one hit and fanned five over three innings. Wood earned the win, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits over three innings and punched out five.
Crowl finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs in the game, while Boe and Cropley had two hits apiece. Junior Tanner Wetrich was 1-for-4 with a double and scored two runs in his Iowa debut.
“Mitchell has worked hard on his swing; it’s flatter and he is driving it on a line better,” said Heller. “I hadn’t seen Crowl (this summer), he got back from playing in Prospects League on Monday. It’s a night and day difference; he got a lot of at-bats and got his confidence back.”
The Hawkeyes return to action Thursday, hosting Red Top Sports at 7 p.m. (CT) at Duane Banks Field. Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for youth.
