May 11, 2004
HAWKEYES RETURN HOME
Iowa returns home for its second to last Big Ten series this weekend for a four-game series against Purdue. The Hawkeyes will play at 6 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Friday and Sunday’s games are nine innings, while Saturday’s doubleheader is seven innings. Admission is $3 each day.
JOIN COACH DAHM AT FLANNIGAN’S
Every Monday night from 6-7 p.m. during the Iowa baseball season Iowa Head Coach Jack Dahm will join KXIC’s Brent Balbinot for a call-in show at Flannigan’s Bar & Grill for “Hawk Talk with Jack Dahm”.
Fans can attend the show or call-in and talk Hawkeye baseball with Coach Dahm. Can’t attend? Listen to the broadcast on the radio at KXIC (AM 800).
HAWKEYES WIN ONE AGAINST MINNESOTA
The Iowa baseball team dropped three one-run games to the Golden Gophers at Siebert Field in Minneapolis last weekend.
In the opener, two of the Big Ten’s best pitchers dualed on the hill. Iowa’s Nathan Johnson pitched eight innings and allowed two earned runs. Minnesota starter Glen Perkins scattered seven hits and struck out a career-high 13 batters for the 3-2 win in the complete game.
On Saturday, the Golden Gophers won in their final at-bat to come away with a second straight 3-2 win. Pinch hitter Jared Sanders hit a fly ball over the head of L.J. Mims with the bases loaded to plate the winning run.
Iowa jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning in game two, but Minnesota stayed in the game with three runs in the bottom of the frame.
Minnesota tied the game at four in the fourth, but Iowa regained the lead with Kris Welker’s two-run home run to put Iowa on top 6-4. The lead, however, was short lived as DH Mike Mee hit a three-run shot in the bottom of the inning to put the Golden Gophers back on top.
Iowa avoided the sweep in the 8-4 win on Sunday. Trailing 4-2 going into the sixth, the Hawkeyes scored five runs and batted around to take a commanding 7-4 lead. The offense was more than enough for starter Andrew Hansen. The righthander pitched 8 1/3 innings in the contest, while allowing eight hits and three earned runs for his first win of the season.
THE DIFFERENCE MAKERS
The Hawkeyes are 3-11 in one-run games this season. Iowa lost the first three games of the series against Minnesota all by one run. In addition, the Hawkeyes are 1-3 in extra inning affairs.
“LU” TIES IOWA RECORD
In the finale against Minnesota, third baseman Luis Andrulonis went 4-for-4 with four singles to tie and Iowa record. Teammate Mike Best was the last Hawkeye to match the record against Michigan in 2003.
Heading into the game, Andrulonis was in a 2-18 slump and his average had dipped to .243. After Sunday, his average jumped by .39 points to .282 on the year, which is sixth best on the team.
LYTLE TAKES TEAM LEAD IN BATTING AVERAGE
Junior Andy Lytle used a weekend in which he batted .533 (8-15) to jump into the team lead for the batting title. On Sunday, the lead-off hitter went a perfect 4-for-4 (3 singles, 1 double) to help lead Iowa to the victory.
Lytle is batting .294 on the year with three doubles, one triple, while scoring 13 runs and tallying 11 RBIs.
MR. DOUBLE
Junior Nate Yoho is leading the team with 49 hits this season including 14 doubles (29 % of hits) and two home runs. He is tied for second on the team with a .290 average and is leading the team with 32 RBIs. Yoho has a team-best 16 multiple hit games and 10 multi-RBI games.
Yoho is the only Hawkeye to start every game this season, starting all 46 games in right field.
GREMLEY HAS EIGHT-GAME HITTING STREAK
Junior Jeff Gremley is currently in the midst of an eight-game hitting streak. It is the longest streak of the season for the Hawkeye shortstop as his previous high was six games earlier this season. Jesse Brownell had a nine-game hitting streak, which is the longest on the team this season.
“THE HAWKEYE ACE”
Senior Nathan Johnson was the tough luck loser in the 3-2 loss to Minnesota. Johnson dualed until the final inning with Minnesota lefty Glen Perkins, but fell even after allowing only two earned runs in eight innings of work.
In conference play, Johnson is 3-1 with a 1.58 ERA (2nd best in the league) in 51 1/3 innings. He has struck out 40 batters and is holding hitters to a .251 average.
Overall, the righthander has been the Hawkeye workhorse as he has logged 80 2/3 innings on the hill, which is tops in the league. He has a 62/19 K/BB ratio.
GUNNIN’ EM DOWN
Junior Kris Welker, who has seen action in every game this season, is leading the Big Ten in throwing out base runners. Welker has thrown out 25-of-36 (.694) this season. Penn State’s Matt Harter is second as he has gotten 24-of-37 (.649).
BATTLE OF “HBP” KINGS
Iowa’s Kris Welker and Purdue third baseman Simon Klink are currently tied for the league lead in hit by pitches with 13. Welker jumped out to an early lead in the category, but hasn’t been plunked since April 21 against Northern Iowa.
The Boilermakers have six players in the top ten in being hit by a pitch. As a team they have been drilled 76 times, while hitting only 40. In contrast, Iowa has been hit 53 times this season, while hitting 65 batters.
SCOUTING THE BOILERS
Iowa holds a 72-48-1 advantage in the all-time series with Purdue. Last season, Purdue won 2-of-3 over the Hawkeyes in Iowa City.
The Boilermakers, who play Xavier on Wednesday, have a 24-22 overall record and are tied for the fifth spot in the conference with a 13-11 mark. Last weekend, Purdue took 3-of-4 games from the Wolverines.
The Boilermakers are batting .295 as a team with six players batting over .300 on the year. LF Mitch Hilligoss is leading the team with a .350 mark, while DH John Hunter has seven long balls.
Reliever Trae Dauby is leading the team with a 4-1 record and 2.63 ERA in 37 2/3 innings of work. Dauby is limiting hitters to a .203 average and has struck out 29 batters this season. This weekend the rotation will be as follows:
RHP Scott Byrnes (3-4, 3.82 ERA, 67 K/16 BB)
RHP Dan Sattler (4-4, 4.12 ERA, 25 K/20 BB)
LHP Brian Karpel (4-3, 3.49 ERA, .232 avg. against)
RHP Chris Toneguzzi (3-3, 6.06 ERA, 41 K, 18 BB)
Purdue is led by fifth-year Head Coach Doug Schreiber.
QUOTING COACH DAHM
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to gain some momentum after our performance against Minnesota. I felt like Sunday was a Big win after losing three one-run ball games. It showed character.
Purdue is playing as good as anybody in the conference right now. I anticipate a great battle this weekend. We still have an outside chance of making the tournament with this weekend really dictating our chance to qualify.”
