May 17, 2004
HAWKEYES AND REDBIRDS MEET AGAIN
The Iowa baseball team will play at Illinois State on Wednesday night at Redbird Field in Normal, IL, beginning at 6 p.m.
JOIN COACH DAHM AT FLANNIGAN’S ONE LAST TIME
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).
IOWA SPLITS WITH PURDUE
The Hawkeyes won the first and third games of the four game series with the Boilermakers last weekend at Duane Banks Field.
In the opener, the Hawkeye bats scored runs in six of their eight at-bats and received another solid outing by Nathan Johnson to come away with a 9-2 victory. Johnson pitched his fifth complete game of the Big Ten season, while allowing two runs on seven hits and striking out seven.
On Saturday, Iowa dropped a ten inning affair in the opener. The Hawkeyes jumped out to a two-run lead before Purdue evened the score with home run in the fourth.
The Boilermakers pushed three runs on across the plate in the tenth inning and Iowa scored one run in the bottom of the inning making the final score 6-4.
In the night cap, Iowa jumped out to a seven run lead through four innings and won the game 8-3. In the third frame, senior Jim Reid hit a grand slam deep over the left centerfield fence to give the Hawkeyes the spark.
Austin Seward picked up the first win of his career after pitching 5 1/3 innings of four hit ball. Seward had a no-hitter through four innings.
In the series finale, the Boilermakers roughed up Iowa starter Andrew Hansen and got a quality outing by their starter Chris Toneguzzi in the 11-7 win. Hansen lasted only 3 2/3 innings, while allowing six runs on eight hits. Toneguzzi held the Hawkeyes to only one run on four hits to lead his team to the split.
The Hawkeyes scored six runs in the final two innings as they had eight of their 11 hits. Jim Reid led the Hawkeyes at the plate as he went 4-for-5 with four singles and two runs scored.
DAHM GETS 300TH CAREER WIN
Iowa Head Coach Jack Dahm picked up his 300th career victory in the 8-3 win over Purdue on Saturday at Duane Banks Field. In 11 seasons as a head coach, Dahm has now compiled a 300-309 overall record between Creighton and Iowa.
FAMILY REUNION
Iowa assistant coach Ryan Brownlee will look to go 2-for-2 against his family this season after Iowa defeated Illinois State earlier this season. Ryan’s father, Jim and brother Tim are coaches for the Redbirds. Jim serves as the Illinois State head coach, while Tim serves as an assistant.
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 1-4 in extra inning affairs.
THE ONE MAN ROTATION
Senior Nathan Johnson is leading the Big Ten with a 1.64 ERA in seven starts. The righthander has a 4-1 record and has an incredible 47/9 K/BB ratio in conference play.
Johnson hasn’t been relieved for in a game since April 9 against Michigan, a span of five complete games. Of a possible 63 innings in league starts, he has been on the hill for 60 1/3 innings.
On the year, Johnson has a 6-3 record with a 3.01 ERA. He has 69 strikeouts in 89 2/3 innings of work, the most innings in the conference.
“THE GRAND SALAMI”
Senior Jim Reid belted a pitch deep over the left centerfield fence in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader. The home run was the second of his career and the first grand slam by a Hawkeye this season.
REID TIES RECORD
Jim Reid tied an Iowa record for the second time in as many weeks with a four-hit effort against Purdue on Sunday. Reid went 4-for-5 in the game with four singles to tie the mark. Last weekend, Luis Andrulonis tied the record for the first time this season with four singles in the series finale at Minnesota.
Reid is tied for the team lead with a .306 batting average and has eight doubles, three triples and 15 RBIs.
LYTLE’S AVERAGE CONTINUES TO CLIMB
Entering the month of May, Andy Lytle was batting .270. Thus far this month, the junior has caught fire as he is leading the team with a .378 (17-45) mark to be considered Iowa’s “Mr. May”.
For the season, Lytle is tied for the team lead with a .306 average, while serving as the Iowa lead-off hitter since April 17.
DOUBLE ME UP
Junior Nate Yoho is leading the team with 55 hits this season including 14 doubles and two home runs. He is tied for third on the team with a .301 average and is leading the team with 35 RBIs. Yoho has a team-best 18 multiple hit games and 11 multi-RBI games.
Yoho is the only Hawkeye to start every game this season, starting all 50 games in right field.
GREMLEY’S STREAK ENDS AT 11 GAMES
Junior Jeff Gremley had a season long 11-game hitting streak haulted Sunday against Purdue. The streak was the longest of the season for an Iowa player, with the previous best being a nine game streak by Jesse Brownell.
A FOLLOW-UP ON THE REDBIRDS
Illinois State enters the contest with a 19-31 record after splitting the four-game series with Indiana State last weekend.
On April 6, Iowa used a ninth inning rally to come from behind and beat the Redbirds, 11-10. Jeff Gremley hit a triple off the wall and scored the game-winning run on an error to give the Hawkeyes the victory.
Centerfielder Nate Whitney is leading the team with a .340 batting average and has a team-high 14 doubles. Left fielder Jeremy Pickrel has a team high 10 home runs, but he has struck out 68 times in 142 at-bats.
Freshman RHPs Kitt Kopach or Luke Baughman will get the ball for the Redbirds. Kopach is 0-0 with a 9.53 ERA in five appearances, while Baughman is 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA in two appearances (1 start).
The Redbirds are led second-year Head Coach Jim Brownlee.