April 12, 2008
BLOOMINGTON, IN — The Iowa baseball team held on to win the nightcap of a doubleheader at Indiana Saturday at the windy Sembower Field, 13-10. The victory was Iowa’s third in the conference and was the third slugfest between the two teams this series with 28 total hits in the nightcap. For the day, Iowa combined for 25 runs and 31 hits.
To lead Iowa’s offense was Wes Freie, who was 3-for-4 with two RBI and a double. Kody McManis also had a huge game, going 3-for-5 and scoring two runs. Caleb Curry extended his hitting streak to 10 games and was 2-for-4 with two RBI and two stolen bases. Kevin Hoef recorded his 13th multi-hit game, a team high. Six Hawkeyes drove in runs, eight scored and seven different players recorded hits.
“We had a number of guys with a lot of RBIs,” Head Coach Jack Dahm said. “The bottom of the order is swinging the bat well for us. We can be a pesky lineup one through nine and we are starting to be that. Our guys showed a lot of character today after a difficult loss last night.”
Iowa (11-18, 3-8) crossed home first, scoring two in the top of the second to take an early 2-0 lead. Curry started things with a single up the middle, he stole second and then advanced to third on a throwing error by Josh Phegley. One batter later Freie, continued to swing the bat well with an RBI single through the left side. T.J. Cataldo put the bat on the ball and reached on an error to pick up an RBI.
The Hoosiers (15-15, 4-7) answered in the second to take the lead 5-2. Indiana hit around the order and scattered four hits in the inning, which featured a Michael Earley two-RBI single. Indiana added two more runs in the third, to make it 7-2.
The Hawkeye offense exploded in the fourth, to come from behind for the second straight game. Iowa scored six runs to make it 8-7. Freie started things off with a single to center and Cataldo hit a shot to right to clear the bases. Two-outs later, Hoef started Iowa’s two-out rally with a bunt single. Kyle Riffel drew a walk, and Justin Toole singled up the middle to score Hoef and move Riffel over to third and Toole advanced to second on a heads up base running. Curry singled to left to pick up another two Iowa runs.
The Iowa lead was short lived, because in the fourth Phegley answered. After a last inning grand slam in game one and four intentional walks in the series, Phegley hit a solo-shot to tie up the game, 8-8.
The Black and Gold battled back in the fifth to take a one run lead, 9-8. McManis started things off for the Hawkeye offense with a leadoff single through the left side. Justin Brauer moved him over with a sac bunt and Hoef hit an infield single to put runners on first and second. Riffel loaded the bases with a walk and Toole hit in McManis with a fielder’s choice to put Iowa ahead.
Indiana came back, yet again, to take a 10-9 lead. The inning featured an Andrew Means RBI single to tie it up, a RBI single from the bat of Phegley to take the lead and a trick play by the Iowa defense to get a much needed out.
Iowa’s offense delivered in the sixth and took advantage of two costly wild pitches to take back the lead, 12-10. Muller was hit to reach first. One batter later, Cataldo singled to center, to put runners on first and second. McManis delivered with a single through the left side to score Muller and tie it up. With two on and one out, Brauer drew a walk to load the bases. Cataldo scored on a wild pitch, and one batter later McManis scored on another wild pitch.
The Black and Gold added an insurance run in the seventh. Toole led off with single up the middle and was moved over by a Curry sac bunt. Muller was hit for the second time this game, to reach first. With runners on first and second Freie swung the bat with authority for an RBI double.
Andrew Porter came into the game in the seventh, in nearly the same situation as Friday’s loss and dominated. With the top of the order up, Porter struck out one and got Phegley to hit into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play get the save.
“Today our team had two gutsy performances offensively and we had pitchers stand up for us today,” Dahm said. “This was a team effort today and we need to carry this momentum into tomorrow and try to win this series.”
Iowa and Indiana will conclude their four-game series tomorrow. First pitch is set for noon (CDT).
GAME SUMMARY Iowa 020 613 1 -- 13 15 0Indiana 052 120 0 -- 10 13 2
WP - Turnbull (1-3)LP - Agnew (0-3)SV - Porter (2)