March 16, 2008
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DELAND, FL — The Iowa baseball team defeated Rutgers, 16-14, today at Conrad Park. The Hawkeyes’ bullpen kept the Scarlet Knights at bay while Iowa’s offense scattered 14 hits and capitalized on four errors to win their first series of the year, 2-1.
The Iowa bullpen, who has thrown consistently the past two weeks, continued to pitch well in the win. The bullpen consisted of Jason Belk, Kyle Heim, Andrew Porter, David Conroy, Jeff Pacha and Patrick Schatz. Heim earned his first career win, throwing one and one third innings, allowing no runs on zero hits. Schatz got his first save after entering the game in the ninth to get the final out.
Iowa hit .383 and swiped 13-14 bases in the series. The Hawkeyes had four doubles, a triple and six steals in today’s win. Caleb Curry continued his hitting rampage, going 2-for-5 with three RBIs. In the three game series, Curry went 8-for-13 to lead Iowa. Matt Mossey also swung the bat well, going 3-for-3 and scoring three runs with two RBIs. Kurtis Muller had a big day at the plate going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Trevor Willis had three walks. Tyson Blaser was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs in the Iowa win.
After allowing four in the top of the first, Iowa came back to score two in the bottom of the inning. The inning featured singles by Mossey and Muller and a Justin Toole double.
Iowa (5-7) entered the second frame down 4-2 and continued to score runs. It started with a leadoff walk by Willis and Hoef reached base on an infield error. Willis advanced to third on the error, and Hoef later stole second. Mossey continued things with a singled up the middle and advanced Hoef to third, while Willis scored. Curry singled to center to score Hoef and advance Mossey. Muller was hit by a pitch, to load the bases. Blaser hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Mossey and Riffel followed with a single up the middle to score Curry.
Iowa erupted in the seventh and batted around the order as well. It started with a leadoff walk by Willis; Hoef continued things with a RBI-double down the right field line. Mossey kept it going with a single through the left side, advancing Hoef to third. Mossey later stole second and advanced on an error by the catcher, which scored Hoef. Toole was walked, and later stole second. Muller took advantage of the two runners on base and hit a two-RBI double to left. Blaser kept the Hawkeye offense going with a RBI single through the left side. Wes Freie reached base on an infield error, and Blaser moved to third. Willis came up to bat for the second time and was hit by a pitch, to load the bases. Hoef made it count and hit a deep ball to right center for a triple, scoring three Hawkeyes. Iowa ended the inning up 16-8, scoring eight on five hits and taking advantage of two Rutgers’ errors.
Rutgers (5-8) mounted a comeback in the top of the ninth scoring six runs, but the Hawkeyes held on for the victory.
Iowa will take on the Stetson Hatters Tuesday at Conrad Park. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
GAME SUMMARYRutgers 404 000 006 - 14 13 5Iowa 220 400 800 - 16 14 1
WP - Heim (1-0)LP - Beard (0-1)SV - Schatz (1)
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