April 15, 2007
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – The University of Iowa Hawkeyes dropped both games of today’s doubleheader with Minnesota, 3-2 and 9-6. Iowa falls to 13-13 on the year and 3-7 in Big Ten play, while Minnesota ups its record to 21-6 (5-1).
Iowa played well enough to win each game, but untimely mistakes were the Hawkeyes undoing.
“There were a lot of plays out there that had to be made,” Iowa Head Coach Jack Dahm said. “One of the big things was we were just lacking communication on the field. We did some good things, but not enough. We seemed to find a way to lose each game in this series.”
Game one was a pitcher’s dual between Danny Bales and Minnesota’s Gary Perinar. The Golden Gophers got on the board first, taking a 2-0 lead in the second on two RBI doubles.
Iowa immediately tied things up in the top of the third when Dusty Napoleon ripped a two-run single into rightfield. Unfortunately, the Hawkeyes gave the winning run away in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out throwing error. Iowa managed to get the winning run on base in the top of the sixth, but was unable to bring him home.
In game two, Iowa actually out-hit Minnesota 11-10, but a six-run fourth for the Gophers sealed the deal. The Hawkeyes took a 1-0 lead in the second on a sacrifice fly from Tyson Blaser, only to have Minnesota respond with two of their own in the bottom of the inning.
Iowa tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth on Justin Toole’s RBI ground ball, but the Gophers once again came roaring back and used two home runs and a costly Hawkeye error to take a 8-2 lead in the bottom of the inning.
Iowa wouldn’t go quietly, however, and cut the lead to 8-5 with a trio of runs in the top of the fifth. Napoleon, Caleb Curry and Kevin Hoef all had RBIs in the inning. The Hawkeyes added a run in the sixth to make it a two-run game, but the Gophers got it right back in the bottom of the inning, then held Iowa scoreless in the seventh to take the 9-6 win.
The two teams will wrap-up the series tomorrow with a game starting at 12:05 p.m.
GAME SUMMARIESGame OneIowa 002 000 0 -- 2 4 1Minnesota 020 100 x -- 3 5 0
WP - Gary Perniar (1-3)LP - Danny Bales (0-1)SV - Kyle Carr (3)
Game TwoIowa 010 131 0 -- 6 11 2Minnesota 020 601 x -- 9 10 2
WP - Marcus McKenzie (5-0)LP - Casey O'Rourke (2-1)SV - Josh Oslin (6)="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>
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