April 29, 2007
EVANSTON, IL – The University of Iowa baseball team earned its first Big Ten Conference series sweep in 16 years with a 14-10 win over the Northwestern Wildcats Sunday at Rocky Miller Park in Evanston, IL. Iowa is now 22-15 with an 11-8 mark in the Big Ten. Northwestern falls to 10-29 (3-17).
The weekend marked the first time in school history that the Hawkeyes scored in double-digits every game of a four-game conference series.
“I have to take my hat off to our players,” Iowa Head Coach Jack Dahm said. “This weekend was a real grind, but our guys kept their composure and always had an answer when Northwestern came back.”
Iowa catcher Ben Geelan had a big day, going 2-of-5 with a home run and five RBIs. Travis Sweet was 3-of-5 with a home run and three RBIs, while Jason White was 3-of-6 with two runs scored.
Sophomore starting pitcher Nick Erdman had a rocky start, allowing three runs in each of the first two innings, but settled in after that and threw five shutout innings to keep the Wildcat bats in check. He picked up his team-leading fourth win of the season.
Leading 7-6, the Hawkeyes came on late with four runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth. Sweet’s two-run home run highlighted the fifth, while Geelan had a two-run double and White had an RBI infield single in the sixth.
Northwestern attempted a comeback in the eighth, using a pair of Hawkeye errors to score four runs, but the Iowa bullpen came through, with Kyle Heim and Mike Schurz slamming the door on the potential rally.
Iowa returns to action Tuesday night when it hosts Western Illinois at 6:30 p.m.
GAME SUMMARYIowa 160 043 000 -- 14 16 3Northwestern 330 000 040 -- 10 13 4
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