March 28, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, IL – The University of Iowa baseball team defeated the Illinois State Redbirds, 15-3, Wednesday night in Bloomington, IL. The game was called after six innings due to rain.
Iowa ups its record to 10-5, while Illinois State falls to 9-13. The Hawkeyes’ .666 winning percentage is the team’s highest heading into Big Ten play in the last 15 years.
It was an offensive show from the beginning for Iowa, as the Hawkeyes scored in each of the first four innings. Junior Dusty Napoleon was 3-of-4 with a home run and season-high six RBIs, while senior Matt Wooldrik was 4-of-5 with three runs scored. Junior Travis Sweet was 3-of-4, while senior shortstop Jason White was 0-for-1, but tied a school record with four walks.
“We really swung the bats well today,” Iowa Head Coach Jack Dahm said. “This is the type of offense that this team is capable of, and it was great to see it. Our pitchers did a good job as well, not letting Illinois State get back into the game. All in all, this is a good win and should be a real confidence booster going into the Big Ten opener this weekend at Ohio State.”
Junior pitcher Casey O’Rourke threw a hitless inning to pick up the win. It was his first since missing all of last season with testicular cancer. Mike Jacobs threw two hitless innings to start the game, followed by a no-hit inning from Brock Alberts. Kyle Heim gave up a pair of hits and three runs in the fourth, but Iowa already had a comfortable 11-0 lead at that point. O’Rourke pitched the fifth before giving way to George Rasiarmos, who threw a hitless sixth to end the game.
Napoleon put the Hawkeyes on the board in the first with a two-run blast. It was his team-leading and career-high third of the season. Iowa added another pair in the second before exploding for six runs in the top of the third.
With the score 11-3, Iowa erased any doubt with four runs in the top of the sixth. Rasiarmos kept the Redbirds off the board in the bottom of the innings, and the game was called after six when the rain picked up.
First pitch was delayed 35 minutes due to rains at the start of the game.
Iowa returns to action this weekend when they open the Big Ten season with a four-game series at Ohio State. Friday’s game is set for 5:35 p.m.
GAME SUMMARYIowa 226 104 -- 15 16 2Illinois State 000 300 -- 3 2 0
WP - Casey O'Rourke (1-0)LP - Dan SorceHR - Dusty Napoleon (3)="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>
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