March 28, 2004
DES MOINES, IA – Iowa used a strong outing from starter Ryan Dupic and Hawkeye the bats came to life in the 4-2 win over Northern Illinois in the final game of the I-Cubs/Hawkeye Classic.
Right fielder Nate Yoho doubled in two runs in the fourth inning to give Iowa its first lead of the weekend. Iowa had three doubles in the inning, one by L.J. Mims and a run-scoring double by Kris Welker.
Northern Illinois jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the game. First baseman Jake Hochhauser doubled and scored a run in the second and third baseman Rob Marconi scored the Huskies’ second run after singling to lead off the third inning.
Dupic held the Huskies in check and finished the evening pitching a solid six innings with four strikeouts, while allowing only two earned runs. The win is the first his Iowa career.
The Hawkeye let two legit scoring chances pass them by in the second and third innings. Iowa loaded the bases in each frame, but only came away with one run. Third baseman Andy Cox plated Iowa’s third inning run with a sacrifice fly that scored Jesse Brownell.
The Huskies threatened in the eighth after catcher Tug Gillingham doubled to lead off the eighth, but Iowa reliever Aaron Reasland followed with back-to-back strikeouts looking. After a Greg Larson single off Reasland, Iowa stopper Tim Gudex entered the game and got Jeremy Busch to groundout to end the inning.
Gudex retired the side in order in the ninth, including a game-ending strike out of Mike Hochhauser to collect his fourth save of the year. Welker went 3-for-5 with an RBI, while Yoho and shortstop Jeff Gremley each collected to hits apiece.
In the conclusion of Saturday’s game against Minnesota, the Gophers offense scored eight runs over the final four innings to them a 19-7 win over Iowa. Minnesota sophomore shortstop Matt Fornasiere put an exclamation point on the win with a grand slam over the right field fence in the five-run seventh inning.
The Golden Gophers claimed the team championship after compiling a perfect 3-0 record over the weekend. In a battle of the unbeaten, Minnesota chalked up 20 hits against Northern Colorado and came away with a 12-6 win.
The Hawkeyes will open up the Big Ten season next weekend in East Lansing, MI, against Michigan State.