April 19, 2008
IOWA CITY — The Iowa baseball team won the nightcap of a double header Saturday afternoon, 8-3, over Northwestern at Duane Banks Field. The win is Iowa Head Coach Jack Dahm’s 399th in his career. The Hawkeyes will attempt to earn Dahm his 400th victory tomorrow against the Wildcats.
In the Iowa win, starter Matt Mossey retired 13 of Northwestern’s first 15 batters. Mossey got his first win as a Hawkeye, going five innings with three strikeouts. He allowed two earned runs on five Wildcat hits.
“Matt pitched extremely well and he set the tone,” Dahm said. “The game had a better pace then the first game and he was in control for five innings.”
Iowa collected 12 hits and the first five batters in the Hawkeye lineup went a combined 11-for-15 (.730) with two walks and six RBI. Caleb Curry continued swing the bat with authority, going a perfect 4-for-4 with two-RBI, a walk, a double, a triple, and stolen base. Justin Toole went six-for-seven with two RBI and two extra-base hits in the twinbill. Kevin Hoef went 2-for-4, scoring two runs with a stolen base and double in the victory.
“We took really good swings today and had a good approach at the plate,” Dahm said. “Caleb Curry and Justin Toole did an outstanding job leading us, offensively, both games today.”
Iowa scored first to take an early 2-0 lead. Hoef started things off with a leadoff double down the left field line. Kyle Riffel moved Hoef to third with his fifth sac bunt of the season. Hoef scored on a wild pitch to put Iowa on the board. Curry reached base on a single up the middle and stole his 24th base to advance to second. Kurtis Muller took advantage and hit an RBI-single down the right field line.
The Hawkeyes kept at it in the bottom of the third to push another two across the plate to make it 4-0. Riffel started things off with a double down the right field line and was driven in by a Curry triple to left center. Muller hit him in with his team-high fifth sac fly.
Northwestern got on the board in the fifth, scoring an unearned run on one hit. The inning featured a Tommy Flinn sacrifice fly. The Black and Gold added an insurance run in the fifth, Toole started things off with a two-out double and scored on a Curry double to right center.
The Wildcats scored one in the sixth to chip away at the Iowa lead. The inning featured three Northwestern hits. And with two on and no outs, Andrew Porter got out of a jam only allowing one run to cross the plate and striking out the side.
The Black and Gold added two more insurance runs in the sixth. Ryan Gryzwa started things off with a lead off walk as a pinch hitter. Hoef moved Gryzwa over with a single, and stole second to put runners on second and third. Riffel picked up an RBI with a sac fly to right and Hoef scored on a throwing error.
Curry extended his hitting streak to 14 games, and picked up his 16th multi-hit game and 12th multi-RBI game. Hoef recorded his 15th multi-hit game and Toole his 12th.
Iowa will host Northwestern in a doubleheader at Duane Banks field tomorrow. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
GAME SUMMARY
Northwestern 000 012 0 --- 3 6 2
Iowa 203 012 x --- 8 12 1
WP - Mossey (1-3)
LP - Schultz (3-5)
SV - Porter (3)