Feb. 28, 2004
SHREVEPORT, LA – The Iowa Baseball team lost both games of the doubleheader today against Centenary at SheHee Stadium. The Hawkeyes fell 7-3 in the opener and dropped the second game, 13-8.
In the opener, the Hawkeyes couldn’t solve the Gents pitching staff as they were held to only three hits in nine innings. Starting pitcher David Ruffing held Iowa to three runs on three hits in seven innings and Jacob Willett pitched two hitless innings to give Centenary the win. Iowa starter Austin Seward allowed four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. The sophomore settled down and pitched three scoreless innings after allowing runs in each of the first two frames.
The Hawkeyes scored their only runs in the third and fourth innings. Kevin Sunderman, who went 2-for-2 with two RBI in game one, scored Iowa’s third inning run and drove in two runs in the fourth.
Centenary broke the game open when they scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Seward left the game with runners on first and second. Senior righty Andrew Hansen replaced him and walked a batter and eventually gave up a two-run single to Jesse Newell to give the Gents a 6-3 lead.
In the rubber match of the three-game series, the Hawkeyes came out on fire, as they put up four runs in the opening frame. L.J. Mims lead off the game with a single and Jeff Gremely followed with an RBI double. After a strikeout, Sunderman continued his hot bat as he had an RBI double down the left field line to score Gremley. The Hawkeyes had five hits in the inning, including three doubles.
Centenary responded in the bottom half of the inning as they put up a four spot off of Iowa starter Ryan Dupic, who was making his collegiate debut. The Gents took the lead and never looked back in the third inning after a Blake Adkison long ball. In the fourth, Jared Vincent hit the Gents second homerun of the day and Centenary added two more runs to make the Hawkeye deficit, 8-5.
The Gents added four runs in the sixth and another in the seventh to push the score to 13-5. Iowa made mini rally in the eighth as they scored three runs after three singles to start the inning. White scored the first run on a Gremley single, his fourth hit of the day. Sunderman hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Mims, before Gremley scored on a passed ball.
Three Iowa pitchers, Dupic and true freshmen Casey O’Rourke and Michael Washburn, made their collegiate debuts in the second game.
Sunderman finished the three-game series with a .700 (7-10) batting average with seven RBI and two runs scored.
The Hawkeyes (1-2) will return to the diamond next weekend when they travel to Southwest Missouri State for a three-game series with the Bears.