May 2, 2004
IOWA CITY – After getting swept in the doubleheader on Saturday, Northwestern salvaged the split after winning both games over Iowa at Duane Banks Field on Sunday afternoon. The Wildcats, who out hit the Hawkeyes 24-10 on the day, scored an 8-2 victory in the opener and shutout Iowa 3-0 in the second game behind a solid performance on the mound.
In the opener, Northwestern starter Dan Konecny pitched a no hitter through 5 2/3 innings before giving up a pair of hits and two runs in the sixth inning. The Wildcat righthander struck out the side in the second inning and sat down six batters in six innings of work.
Northwestern broke the game open with three runs in the top of the sixth. The Wildcats strung together three straight one-out hits off Iowa starter Austin Seward. Dan Pohlman started things off with a single to right centerfield and advanced to second on an error by right fielder Nate Yoho and Jon Mikrut followed with an RBI single. Pinch hitter Josh Phelps provided the highlight of the inning with a RBI triple down the right field line and scored the third run on a sacrifice fly by Jason Krynski.
The Hawkeyes broke up the no-hit bid in the sixth inning off Konecny. With a runner on third base, Jim Reid singled through the right side to drive in Jeff Gremley. Yoho followed with a double off the wall in right field to knock in the second Iowa run of the game.
The Wildcats answered Iowa’s rally with three runs in the top of the seventh to push the score 8-2.
In the second game, Northwestern got a strong outing by RHP George Kontos. The freshman scattered six hits and struck out a career-high seven batters in the complete game shutout.
Northwestern used four hits to push in the first run in the fourth inning. Freshman Geoff Dietz, who went 3-for-4 in the game, tallied his first career RBI with a single up the middle to knock in Krynski.
The Wildcats played some small ball to push the score to 2-0. With one out, Dietz and Hayes hit back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third. Josh Leiberman laid down a perfect safety squeeze down the first base line to plate Deitz.
Iowa had its best scoring opportunity in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, Gremley laced a single to right field and moved to second on a stolen base. L.J. Mims reached on an error by second baseman Josh Hayes and advanced to second on a wild pitch to put the tying run in scoring position. Kontos, however, pitched Northwestern out of the jam when he forced Andy Lytle into an inning-ending groundout.
The Wildcats added an insurance run in the eighth to make the score 3-0. Pohlman doubled down the left field line and crossed the plate on Mikrut’s single up the middle.
The Hawkeyes will return to action next Friday against the Golden Gophers in Minneapolis, MN.