March 2, 2008
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NASHVILLE, TN–Second inning errors caused problems for the Hawkeyes Sunday afternoon. Iowa lost 9-5 against Kansas, dropping their record to 3-3 on the year. After out hitting No. 7 Vanderbilt Saturday, Iowa struggled to score runs and were over powered by Kansas’ offense. Iowa allowed four Jayhawk doubles and one homerun in the game.
The Jayhawks went up 5-0 in the bottom of the second, starting with a one-out single to left by Erik Morrison. Casey Larson then singled to right, advancing Morrison to third. With a two RBI single to left by Tony Thompson, the Jayhawks were on the board. Jimmy Waters reached first on a hit-by-pitch and Nick Faunce reached on a Justin Toole error. A throwing error from Kyle Riffel scored Larson and advanced Faunce to second. Robby Price then hit an RBI double to left center and John Allman continued the one-out rally with a sac fly to right field, scoring Faunce.
Iowa chipped away the Jayhawk lead in the top of the third, starting with a Wes Freie single to center field. A Kevin Hoef single advanced Freie to second. Toole singled to left, making the bases loaded for Caleb Curry. Curry received an RBI after reaching first by a hit-by-pitch, making it a 5-1 game.
With a third inning leadoff solo homerun by Price, the Jayhawks went up 6-1. And in the fourth, Steve Turnbull, who started for Iowa, was replaced with Kyle Heim. Turnbull pitched three innings giving up four earned runs on six hits.
In the fourth the Jayhawks made it an 8-1 ball game. Faunce started things off with a double down the right field line. Price then laid down a sac bunt to third to advance Faunce to third. Next Land was walked with two-outs in the inning, followed by a Price walk to make the bases loaded. Morrison subsequently hit a two RBI single to center with two outs.
The Hawkeyes continued to battle in the fifth. Freie started things off with a leadoff walk followed by a Kurtis Muller RBI double to left center. Muller was later caught stealing third. Hoef then singled to third base and stole his first base of the season, to keep things alive for Iowa. Toole advanced Hoef to third on a groundout to the shortstop and then Curry, who is hitting .500 on the season with runners in scoring position, hit an RBI single–making it an 8-3 ball game. In the top of the seventh, Iowa took advantage of the lone Jayhawk error. Hoef reached first on an infield error, advanced to second and later stole his second base of the afternoon. Toole then hit his second RBI, grounding out to the shortstop.
The Jayhawks scored an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth, making the score 9-4. The Hawkeyes kept things alive with three ninth inning hits–but ultimately came up short, only scoring one run and leaving two on base.
In the loss, Curry and Riffel extended their hitting streak to six games. Hoef hit well for the Iowa going 2-for-5, scoring two runs and stealing two bases. Freie continued his monster weekend, going 2-for-3 and also scoring two Hawkeye runs.
Iowa is scheduled to compete against Missouri State in Springfield, MO on Mar. 7. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
GAME SUMMARYIowa 001 020 101 --- 5 11 2Kansas 051 200 01x --- 9 12 1
WP-Freeman (2-0)
LP- Turnbull (0-1)
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