April 27, 2007
EVANSTON, IL – The University of Iowa baseball team pounded out 20 hits in a 16-6 rout of the Northwestern Wildcats Friday night in Evanston, IL. Iowa ups its record to 19-15 (8-8 in the Big Ten), while Northwestern falls to 10-26 (3-14).
“I thought we did some good things today,” Iowa Head Coach Jack Dahm said. “The biggest was the fact that we answered them every time they scored to keep the momentum in our dugout. We really swung the bats well and got a lot of key hits.”
Travis Sweet led the offense, going 3-of-4 on the day with four runs scored, two RBIs and a home run. Dusty Napoleon was 2-for-3 with three runs scored. T.J. Cataldo and Jason White each had a pair of hits on the day.
Northwestern jumped out to an early lead with runs in each of the first two innings. The Hawkeyes responded in the top of the third, taking a 3-2 lead. Justin Toole led off with a single, then came around to score when White ripped a triple off the wall. White then tied the game on a wild pitch. Sweet then followed that up with a towering home run.
The Wildcats re-took the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth, but Iowa immediately responded with two of its own in the fifth. With two outs, Kevin Hoef ripped a two-run single up the middle to give the Hawkeyes a 5-4 lead. Hoef ended the day 3-of-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Sweet laced an RBI single in the top of the sixth, but Northwestern tied the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh.
From then on, it was all Iowa. The Hawkeye offense exploded for five runs in each of the final two. The ninth was highlighted by Brian Burmester blasting a three-run, pinch-hit home run.
The Hawkeyes ended the game in style, when Justin Brauer made a spectacular sliding catch, then doubled Jake Goebbert off at second base.
Hawkeye starter Steve Turnbull scattered seven hits and five runs over six innings in the no-decision. Mike Jacobs allowed two hits and a run in two innings, picking up the win. Jason Belk allowed one hit in the ninth as he finished the game.
The Hawkeyes return to action tomorrow with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
GAME SUMMARYIowa 003 021 055 -- 16 20 0Northwestern 110 020 200 -- 6 10 0
WP - Mike Jacobs (3-0)LP - Andrew Smith (0-2)
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