May 13, 2007
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – The University of Iowa baseball team held off a furious, ninth-inning rally by the Purdue Boilermakers to sneak away with a 10-9 win and a series split Sunday in West Lafayette. With the win, Iowa ups its record to 29-17 (16-10 in the Big Ten) and clinches a spot in the 2007 Big Ten Tournament.
It is the second time in the Jack Dahm era the Hawkeyes will advance to the conference tournament and just the third time in 16 years.
“We’re happy to be back in the Big Ten Tournament, but there is still a lot of baseball to be played before that,” Dahm said. “It was one of our goals at the beginning of the year, so it is nice to be able to check that off the list, but there is still plenty more goals to accomplish.”
Clinching a spot was anything but easy Sunday. Things looked good for Iowa as they took a 10-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but Purdue wasn’t about to go quietly. A pair of singles, a sacrifice bunt and a walk loaded the bases with one out. The Boilermakers then got an RBI base on balls and a run-scoring single to chase reliever George Rasiarmos from the game. Hawkeye closer Mike Schurz came in with the bases loaded and gave up a two-run single, got a strikeout, then allowed a two-run double to cut the Hawkeye lead to 10-9. Another walk loaded the bases before Schurz ended the game with a strikeout.
The game started out great for Iowa, as they posted three runs in the first inning on a sacrifice fly from Caleb Curry and a two-run double from T.J. Cataldo. The hit parade continued in the second, with Iowa posting six runs on five hits. Travis Sweet, Dusty Napoleon, Kevin Hoef and Ben Geelan all drove in runs during the inning.
Brock Alberts threw an excellent game for Iowa, allowing just one run off four hits in six innings of work. He is now 2-0. Schurz earned his ninth save.
Iowa returns to action Tuesday against Northern Iowa at the fourth annual Corridor Classic presented by Cedar Rapids Toyota-Scion. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids.
GAME SUMMARYIowa 360 100 000 -- 10 11 0Purdue 000 001 206 -- 9 10 1
WP - Brock Alberts (2-0)LP - Ricky Heins (6-6)SV - Mike Schurz (9)="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>
Click HERE to learn more about the Big Ten Network.