Baseball May 1, 2008

The Hawkeyes to Host the Golden Gophers This Weekend

May 1, 2008

SERIES INFORMATION ? The Hawkeyes will host the Minensota Golden Gophers in a four-game series at Duane Banks Field.

HAWKEYES THIS WEEKEND ? The Hawkeyes will host the Golden Gophers this weekend, Friday-Sunday, at Duane Banks Stadium, in a four-game series. The two teams will play a nine-inning game Friday and Sunday and two seven-inning contests Saturday. The two teams are part of a three-way tie for eighth place in the conference, so a series win could take Iowa out of the basement of the Big Ten. As a team, the Golden Gophers are hitting .295 and are led by Matt Nohelty, offensively, with a .393 average and 19 stolen bases.

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 action. 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.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA: The Hawkeyes will host the Golden Gophers this weekend, Friday-Sunday, at Duane Banks Stadium, in a four-game series. The Golden Gophers are 16-27 overall after a loss Wednesday against South Dakota State (6-4). Iowa and Minnesota are in a three-way tie for eighth place in the conference, so a series win could take Iowa out of the basement of the Big Ten. As a team, the Golden Gophers are hitting .295 and are led by Matt Nohelty, offensively, with a .393 average and 19 stolen bases. The Gopher rotation features Tom Buske and Kyle Carr who together have a 6-10 record. They have struck out 94 of the team’s 270 batters. The all-time series between the two schools is led by the Golden Gophers, 163-103.

DIAMOND THIEVES: This season Iowa has out-run its opponents, going 100-for-129. Leading Iowa in steals is Caleb Curry (29), followed by Justin Toole (18) and Kyle Riffel with 15. Iowa ranks first in the Big Ten and third nationally in thefts per game and sixth as a team. Last weekend, Iowa out-ran the Spartans 13 thefts to five.

SUCCESSFUL WITH RUNNERS: Several Hawkeyes have taken advantage of base runners this season. Caleb Curry is hitting .484 (44-91) with runners on to lead the Black and Gold. Justin Toole is hitting .800 (20-25) when runners are on third and less than two outs, while Kurtis Muller is 51-for-86 (.593) in advancing runners. Kevin Hoef is hitting .500 (5-10) with the bases loaded.

JT’S STREAKIN’: Justin Toole has caught fire since the coaching staff decided to move him to shortstop. Not only has his defense been solid, but balls have been exploding off his bat, having recorded at least one hit in every game since switching sides of the infield. He currently has a 16-game hitting streak, a career and team best and has put up huge numbers. During the streak, Toole is hitting .500 with six doubles and a triple. He has drove in 13 RBI and has a .611 slugging percentage with eight stolen bases. He is the only Hawkeye to walk more then strikeout so far this season. (12-11)

A HIGH FIVE FOR HITTING FIVE: Justin Toole tied a school record going a perfect 5-for-5 in the win against Northern Iowa Wednesday. The last time a Hawkeye hit five was in 2007 against Northern Iowa. It was Travis Sweet who went 5-for-6 in the Iowa victory. 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 (.393), slugging percentage (.553), hits (59), runs batted in (48), hit-by-pitches (9), sac flies (5) and stolen bases (29). Justin Toole has also emerged as a huge Big Ten threat, being in the top ten in: batting average (.402), hits (68), doubles (14), total bases (86), stolen bases (18), at bats (191) and runs scored (46). Other Hawkeyes who rank well in the conference include: Kevin Hoef leads the league in hit-by-pitches (16), is seventh in runs scored (41) and is ninth in stolen bases (12). Kyle Riffel leads the league in sac bunts (9) and is seventh in stolen bases (15), and Kurtis Muller is seventh in the league in sac bunts (6) and third in sac flies (5). Andrew Porter is first in appearances (26) and sixth in saves (4) and Kyle Heim is third (22) in appearances.

HAWKEYES TAKE CLASSIC: Iowa won their its straight Corridor Classic vs. UNI, 10-6, Wednesday night. Iowa’s offense had 14 hits. The Hawkeye offense exploded in the win and eight different Hawkeyes recorded a hit. Iowa was led by Justin Toole who went a perfect 5-for-5 with two RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base. The outstanding offensive effort by Toole was his 16th straight game with a hit, which is a career high. Wes Freie also swung the bat well, going 2-for-5 with four RBI and a home run. T.J. Cataldo went 2-for-5 with an RBI triple. Iowa sent 12 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first, recording seven runs on seven hits. The seven plated are the second most, in one inning, Iowa has scored this season. Matt Mossey got the start, allowing one run on two hits before being taken out with an injury. The Hawkeye bullpen featured five pitchers. The Iowa pitching staff held the Panthers scoreless in six innings. Manville earned his first win of the season.

IOWA OFFENSE IS STREAKING: Justin Toole’s five-hit game Wednesday was his 16th consecutive game with a hit, which is a Hawkeye season best. Wes Freie has been swinging the bat well, having gone the last nine contests with a hit. Toole leads Iowa in seven offensive categories. Curry leads the team in multi-RBI games with 13, followed by Toole (11). Toole also leads the team with 21 multi-hit games to lead Iowa, while Curry has 19 multi-hit contests this year.

DAHM CAPTURES MILESTONE: Head Coach Jack Dahm captured his 400th career victory the last time the two team’s faced off. Dahm recorded 283 victories at Creighton and has won 119 at Iowa. Dahm started in 1994 with his alma mater, Creighton University, and moved on to coach the Hawkeyes in 2003.

WEARING PITCHES: Iowa has no problem taking one for the team. The Hawkeyes have 67 hit-by-pitches on the year, which is more than any other team in the Big Ten and enough to rank them 25th in the country in the category. To lead the Black and Gold is Kevin Hoef with 16 who has the 7th most in the country, followed by Kurtis Muller (11).

ERORRLESS BALL: The Hawkeyes only committed one error last weekend in Lansing, MI. The Hawkeyes have had eight errorless games prior to their weekend at Oldsmobile Park, now the grand total is at nine.

TRIPLING T.J.: T.J. Cataldo hit his third triple of the season against Northern Iowa Wednesday. The three-bagger ties him with Kevin Hoef with the most on the team. It is his second triple in consecutive games.

HAWKEYES GO YARD: Iowa added another home run to their Big Ten total vs. Michigan State last weekend. The Hawkeye total has now swelled to 16. 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. Twelve of Iowa’s 16 homers this season have been in Big Ten play (five at Indiana, three vs. Purdue and Northwestern and one at Michigan State).

UTILIZING THE SAC BUNT: The Hawkeyes lead the Big Ten in sacrifice bunts this season in the conference (37). Leading the Black and Gold is Kyle Riffel with nine, followed by Kurtis Muller with six.

ON DECK FOR THE HAWKEYES:

VALPARAISO – May 6

Duane Banks Field – Iowa City, IA

The Hawkeyes will host the Valparaiso Crusaders next Tuesday in Iowa City before traveling to University Park, PA. The Crusaders are currently 14-27 and are 6-20 on the road. As a team, they have a .282 batting average and only 27 stolen bases. The Crusader assistant coach is Iowa’s own, Chris Maliszewski. Maliszewski was a undergraduate assistant coach in 2005 who played four years at Iowa.

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