March 1, 2008
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NASHVILLE, TN–Iowa upset No. 7 Vanderbilt in a 6-3 win Saturday night at Hawkins field. The Hawkeyes capitalized on four Commodore errors, utilized the bunt and continued to swing the bat well–out hitting Vanderbilt fourteen to nine.
Michael Jacobs gave the Hawkeyes a solid start and got the win, pitching six innings and only allowing three earned runs and seven hits. The Hawkeye bullpen threw three quality innings, Jason Belk, Andrew Porter and Matt Mossey all pitched, allowing no Commodore runs and only two hits. Mossey received his first save in the Iowa win.
“Michael [Jacobs] battled every pitch tonight and came up big when he needed to,” Coach Jack Dahm said. “I was pleased with all our pitchers’ performaces tonight. Belk, Porter and Mossey also threw extremely well. On top of that, we had great defense tonight backing up our pitchers. “
Iowa was the first on the board, scoring in the top of the second inning. It started with a T.J. Cataldo single to left, followed by a Kyle Riffel bunt single. With two on, Wes Freie hit an RBI single to left center to put the Hawkeyes on the bored. Kevin Hoef kept it going and reached base on his fifth hit-by-pitch of the season and Jusin Toole’s RBI fielder’s choice gave the Hawkeyes a 3-0 lead.
Iowa kept at it in the third; Matt Mossey singled to left field and advanced to second on a Steven Liddle error. He moved to third on a Kurtis Muller sac bunt. Riffel then reached on a second basemen error, scoring Mossey.
With the two-outs in the third, Vanderbilt got on the board. Starting with a Dominic DelaOsa two-out single to first base, Ryan Flauherty then hit a RBI double, followed by an Andrew Giobbi single to center, making it a 4-2 Iowa ball game.
The Commodores chipped away at the Hawkeye lead in the bottom of the fourth. Starting it off was Liddle with a triple down the right field line; Shea Robin then reached on a Mossey throwing error. Jonathan White sacrifice flied out to center to score Liddle.
In the fifth the Hawkeyes added two insurance runs. It started with a Mossey double down the left field line, he again was moved by a Muller sac bunt and Riffel reached first on an error by Brett Jacobson and Mossey scored. The Commodores then brought in pitcher Chase Reid who then gave up a RBI single to Braur.
“Our offense was great tonight and we got our bunts down when we needed to,” Dahm said. “Vanderbilt picked up momentum in the third, scoring two runs but we had quality at bats and executed well throughout the night and didn’t allow them to come back.”
To lead the Hawkeyes, Freie went 4-for-4 with an RBI. Riffel and Caleb Curry extended their hitting streaks to five games and combined for three RBI. Mossey went 2-for-4 scoring two Iowa runs.
“Wes [Freie] has been swinging the bat well,” Dahm said. “He has had a lot of quality at bats and has had a lot of hits with two strikes against him.”
Iowa will compete against Kansas tomorrow in the Music City Classic. First pitch is set for noon.
GAME SUMMARYIowa 031 020 000 --- 6 14 1Vanderbilt 002 100 000 --- 3 9 4
WP-Jacobs (1-1)LP- Jacobson (0-2)SV- Mossey (1)
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