July 22, 2004
Adam Heether hit a home run and two Beloit pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout and the Snappers beat the Kernels, 5-0, Tuesday night in a Midwest League baseball game played before a crowd of 3,342 at Veterans Memorial Stadium on University of Iowa Night at the Ballpark.
The Kernels wore gold jerseys with black pinstripes All jerseys were auctioned with the top price of $155 for the one worn by shortstop Brandon Wood. The evening also included UI President David Skorton tossing out the first pitch and appearances by the Herky and members of the UI’s cheerleading and dance squads.
“It was a good night for the Hawkeyes and their fans in Cedar Rapids. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the best night for the home team,” said Toby Trail, the UI’s assistant director of sports marketing. The UI Alumni Association was also heavily involved in the planning and execution of the event.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak by the Kernels (13-12, 55-39 overall). Beloit improved to 11-14, 49-46.
Beloit scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
Heether’s two-out home run in the fourth inning gave Beloit a 1-0 lead. Guilder Rodriguez’s RBI single in the fifth pushed Beloit’s lead to 2-0 and the Snappers’ lead grew to 3-0 on Vinny Rottino’s sacrifice fly in the sixth. Beloit added two unearned runs in the eighth inning.
Beloit pitchers Kenny Durost (5-5) and Brian Montalbo limited the Kernels to four hits. Durost worked five innings and struck out four. Montalbo worked the final four innings, gave up two hits and picked up his first save.
Southpaw Justin Dowdy (0-1) worked 5.2 innings and gave up seven hits and three runs in his Kernels debut.
Billy Boyer had two of the Kernels’ four hits. The Kernels were shutout for the fourth time this season.