March 4, 2007
DeLAND, FL – After falling in an early 8-0 hole, the University of Iowa baseball team stormed back with 12 unanswered runs to take a 12-8 win over the No. 7 Nebraska Cornhuskers at the Stetson Tournament in DeLand, FL, Sunday. The game was called after eight innings so the Hawkeyes could make their flight home. Before the game, both teams had agreed that no inning would be started after 1 p.m. (ET).
Iowa (3-1) finishes the Stetson Tournament with a perfect 2-0 record and will be the tournament champions if Nebraska defeats Stetson Monday. Iowa’s game with Stetson Saturday was rained out.
“This was a big win for our program,” Iowa Head Coach Jack Dahm said. “We struggled early against (Nebraska starter) Tony Watson, but he is one of the best in the country. We just kind of stayed around until we got them into their bullpen, and then we got some momentum and held on to it. Our guys did a good job of executing on offense and picking up clutch hits, while our bullpen did a really good job late in the game of keeping them off the board.”
Mike Schurz (1-0) got his first win in a Hawkeye uniform, while Zach Herr (0-1) took the loss for Nebraska. George Rasiarmos turned in a great relief performance in his Hawkeye debut, stopping the bleeding against the Cornhusker offense by throwing two innings of one-hit ball to keep Iowa in the game.
The Cornhuskers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, getting a pair of walks to start the game and an infield single to bring a run home. They added four more in the third, led by a three-run home run from Jake Opitz off Iowa reliever Danny Bales.
A two-run single from Ryan Wehrle in the fourth and a solo home run by Jeff Lanning in the fifth gave Nebraska a commanding 8-0 lead and looked to put an early end to the game.
Iowa had other ideas, however, and began to chip away with an RBI single from Justin Toole (2-for-2) in the fifth and a solo home run from Travis Sweet in the sixth. Sweet ended the day 3-of-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored.
The Hawkeyes cut the lead to 8-7 in the bottom of the seventh by posting five runs. Jason White, Sweet (2), Wes Freie and Brian Burmester all picked up RBIs in the inning.
With the time-limit deadline looming, the Hawkeyes were able to hold Nebraska to a quick inning in the top of the eighth, assuring them a chance to bat for the win. Andrew Porter started the inning in relief and got two quick foul outs against the top of the Husker order before allowing a double. The coaching staff then brought in closer Schurz, who struck out Andrew Brown to end the inning.
Caleb Curry opened the bottom of the eighth with a single through the left side, then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Ryan Gryzwa. White followed with a walk, and Sweet ripped a single up the middle to tie the game. After an intentional walk of Kevin Hoef, Dusty Napoleon ripped a three-run double to give Iowa its first lead of the day. Freie then plated Napoleon with a single down the line to give Iowa a 12-8 lead. The Nebraska bullpen got the next two outs to end the inning, but the time limit had expired and the game ended.
Iowa returns to action on Monday, March 12, at Fresno State. First pitch is set for 8:05 p.m. (CT).
GAME SUMMARYNo. 7 Nebraska 104 210 00 -- 8 10 0Iowa 000 011 55 -- 12 11 1
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