March 15, 2006
SAN ANTONIO, TX – Sophomore Travis Sweet ripped a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth to give the Hawkeyes a dramatic, 4-3 win over Southern Illinois Wednesday. The win breaks a four-game losing streak for Iowa, which moves to 6-5 on the year.
With two down in the bottom of the ninth, freshman Kevin Hoef kicked off the rally with a single. Sweet then stepped up to the plate and ended the game with a double to right-centerfield.
Sweet, who didn’t start today’s game after getting hit by a line drive against Notre Dame Monday, ended up 2-for-2 on the day.
Closer Tim Gudex, who faced three batters in the top of the ninth, got the win.
The Hawkeyes jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Jason White reached on a bunt single and eventually scored on an error.
The Salukis put up three runs in the top of the third to take a 3-1 advantage. Southern Illinois opened the frame with four-straight hits off Hawkeye starter Wes Freie, plating a pair of runs on a two-run single from Scott Elmendorf. An infield hit from Dean Cademartori brought home Elmendorf, but Freie was able to pitch his way out of a jam but throwing out Grant Gerrard at home on a ground ball, then inducing a pop-up to White at short.
Iowa got a pair of runs to tie the game at 3-3 in the seventh on a costly two-out error by Southern Illinois. With runners on first and second, Sweet ripped a single that made its way past the Saluki leftfielder – allowing a pair of runs to cross the plate.
The Hawkeyes will return to action tomorrow with a noon game against Notre Dame.
GAME SUMMARYSouthern Illinois 003 000 000 -- 3 7 3IOWA 000 002 000 -- 4 9 0
WP - Tim Gudex (2-0)LP - Danny Wells (0-1)="http:>