Baseball April 21, 2008

Hawkeyes to Play Two Mid-Week Games

April 21, 2008

SERIES INFORMATION ? The Hawkeyes will host UW-Milwaukee on Tuesday and travel to take on UNI on Wednesday.

HAWKEYES THIS WEEKEND ? The Hawkeyes will host the Panthers have a record of 12-24 this season, after splitting with Youngstown State University last weekend. UW-Milwaukee played 30 straight games on the road and have a 7-22 record when away from home. Iowa trails the all-time series between the two schools, 6-4. Iowa will then hit the road to take on interstate rivals, Northern Iowa. The Panthers topped Creighton last weekend, and have won four MVC series this year. They have accumulated a 23-11 record. Iowa leads the all-time series between the two schools, 63-23-1.

HAWKEYES ON THE AIR ? Hawkeye fans can catch every Iowa game at AM-800 KXIC. The Voice of the Hawkeyes, Brent Balbinot, will call the play-by-play. The radio broadcast will also be available free online.

HAWKEYES ON THE NET ? Iowa baseball fans can follow the Hawkeyes this week, as live stats will be available on www.hawkeyesports.com. Just click on the Gametracker link found on both the front page and the baseball schedule page.

HAWKEYES ON TELEVISION ? None.

SCOUTING UW-MILWAUKEE: The Panthers have a record of 12-24 this season, after splitting with Youngstown State University last weekend. UW-Milwaukee played 30 straight games on the road and have a 7-22 record when away from home. The Panthers are led, offensively, by Nick Wichser who is hitting an even .393 on the year with a .607 slugging percentage. The team as a whole swing the bat with authority, the team has a whopping 87 doubles and 18 home runs. The Panther pitching staff is led by Brad Lusti who has a 4.34 ERA with seven starts and a 2-3 record. He has allowed 14 walks and 26 strikeouts. Iowa trails the all-time series between the two schools, 6-4.

SCOUTING NORTHERN IOWA: The Panthers topped Creighton last weekend, and have won four MVC series this year. They have accumulated a 23-11 record. To lead UNI, offensively, is Brandon Douglas and Dane Embury,. Douglas is hitting .397 on the year with 18 doubles and 40 RBI. Embury leads the team in walks with 25 RBI. The Panther pitching has a team ERA of 4.55. Tim Flattery is a reliever to watch for with 29 strikeouts in 30 innings. Iowa leads the all-time series between the two schools, 63-23-1. A MILESTONE APPROACHES: Head Coach Jack Dahm is one win from getting his 400th career victory. Dahm had 283 wins at Creighton and is currently at 116 W’s at Iowa. Dahm started in 1994 with his alma mater, Creighton University, and moved on to coach the Hawkeyes in 2003.

IOWA OFFENSE IS STREAKING: Caleb Curry’s hitting streak ended last weekend against Northwestern, it was a team-high streak of 15-games. Justin Toole has been swinging the bat well, having gone the last nine games with a hit. Curry leads the team in multi-RBI games with 12, followed by Toole and Kurtis Muller who have nine. Kevin Hoef has an 18 multi-hit games to lead Iowa and Curry has 16 multi-hit games this season.

GETTING OFF TO A GOOD START: Last weekend the Hawkeyes got off to a great start in every ballgame, having scored in each game in the first inning.

DIAMOND THIEVES: This season the Hawkeyes have out-run their opponents, going 80-for-104. Leading Iowa in steals is Caleb Curry (25), followed by Justin Toole (14) and Kyle Riffel with 11. Iowa ranks first in the Big Ten and fifth nationally in thefts per game.

BY THE NUMBERS IN THE BIG TEN: Caleb Curry has taken the Big Ten by storm, when compared with the league’s players he ranks in the top ten in: batting average (.406), on base percentage (.470), slugging percentage (.555), hits (52), runs batted in (39), hit-by-pitches (7) and stolen bases (23). Other Hawkeyes who rank well in the conference include: Justin Toole is in the top ten in runs batted in (33), hits (52) and runs scored (36). Kevin Hoef leads the league in hit-by-pitches (15), is fourth in runs scored (38), is third in total plate appearances (167) and is fourth in triples (3). Kyle Riffel leads the league in sac bunts (7), and is ninth in the league in hit-by-pitches (6) and Kurtis Muller is second in the league in sac bunts (6). Andrew Porter is tied for first in appearances (22) and Kyle Heim is tied for second (19).

NORTHWESTERN SUMMARY: Iowa dropped a series to Northwestern to fall to eighth in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes only came away with one victory in the four-game series. Offensively, three Hawkeyes exploded. Justin Toole led the way going 12-for-16 ( with four runs scored, three driven in, two doubles, a triple, two walks and three stolen bags. Kevin Hoef led the Hawkeyes in runs scored with five. He went 9-for-18 with two doubles, a homer and three-RBI. Caleb Curry went 7-for-16 with two stolen bases a double, triple, home runs and four RBI. For the Iowa bullpen, Patrick Schatz did tremendous. He came in and pitched two and one-third innings of relief and allowed no runs and one hit. Matt Mossey also threw well from the hill, in his second Hawkeye start he picked up the lone Iowa win. Pitching five-quality innings and only allowing three runs.

SUCCESSFUL WITH RUNNERS: Several Hawkeyes have taken advantage of baserunners this season. Caleb Curry is hitting .494 with runners on to lead the Black and Gold. Justin Toole is hitting .762 when runners are on third, while Kurtis Muller is 42-for-70 in advancing runners. Kevin Hoef is hitting .500 with the bases loaded.

UTILIZING THE SAC BUNT: The Hawkeyes lead the Big Ten in sacrifice bunts this season in the conference with 12. Leading the Black and Gold is Kyle Riffel with seven, followed by Kurtis Muller with six, and Justin Toole with four.

WEARING PITCHES: Iowa has no problem taking one for the team. The Hawkeyes have 52 hit-by-pitches on the year which is more than any other team in the Big Ten and enough to rank them 37th in the country in the category. To lead the Black and Gold is Kevin Hoef with 15, followed by Caleb Curry with seven and Kyle Riffel with six.

FRESHMAN STEPS UP: Freshman Kurtis Muller has had a stellar season as hitting a solid .302. He has nine stolen bases, five doubles, one triple and two homers on the year. On top of that, he leads the league in sac bunts (6). This past weekend, Muller was red-hot, going 7-for-13 with seven RBI.

McMANIS TAKES ON CATCHER: Because Tyson Blaser is not 100% with a thumb injury and Ben Geelan sidelined with a boot– utility infielder Kody McManis has had to take on the role of starting catcher. McManis has improved behind the plate and also from the batters box , as well. On the season, McManis is hitting a solid .318 with a double and five RBI. Coming into the season, McManis had a career .186 batting average.

HAWKEYES GO YARD: The Hawkeyes added another three home runs to their Big Ten total. Iowa hit three long balls in the four game series. The grand total is now at 14. Against Northwestern, Kevin Hoef hit his third career homer, Caleb Curry hit a shot for his second one this week and Wes Freie hit a bomb to give him his third this season. 11 of Iowa’s 14 homers this season have been in Big Ten play (Three vs. Northwestern, five at Indiana and three vs. Purdue).

ON DECK FOR THE HAWKEYES:

MICHIGAN STATE – APRIL 25-27

Duane Banks Field – Iowa City, IA

The Spartans were swept last weekend in Ann-Abor by No. 21 Michigan. The final game the Spartans lost a whopping 27-6. Michigan State is 13-21 overall, 4-11 in the Big Ten and are 3-9 at home this season. The Spartans are lead, offensively, by Kyle Day who is hitting .336 with five homers, 32 RBI and 20 walks. Michigan State’s bullpen has accumulated a 5.65 ERA. Chris Cullen is the starter to look out for, he has a 2.85 ERA along with a 4-1 record. Iowa trails the all-time series between the two schools, 65-55-1

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