March 22, 2009
MACOMB, IL — The Iowa baseball team beat Western Illinois at Foyer Stadium Sunday, 11-1. Receiving the win was starter Wes Freie. Freie held the Leathernecks to one unearned run in five innings. Jarred Hippen and Nick Erdman threw four scoreless innings of solid relief.
The Hawkeye offense got things started in the top of the first, plating one for a 1-0 lead. Justin Toole led things off with an infield single, followed a Mike McQuillan hit-by-pitch. Toole advanced on a fly out to put runners on first and third. Toole scored on a passed ball to put Iowa on the board
Iowa (7-10) continued things in the second, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring five to further its lead to 6-0. Kevin Hoef singled to right center and Phil Keppler singled through the right side to put runners on the corners. Tyson Blaser singled up the middle to score Hoef and put Keppler at third. Ryan Durant picked up an RBI with a double to left field, Blaser advanced to third. Toole doubled down the right field line to bring in Durant and Blaser. Kurtis Muller singled to left field, Toole scored.
Western Illinois (3-10) got on the board in the fifth, plating one unearned run to make it a 6-1 game.
Iowa scored three in the sixth to go up 9-1. Blaser led the inning off with a hit-by-pitch. Durant doubled down left field line to put runners on the corners. Durant moved to third, Blaser scored on an infield ground ball. With two out, Muller singled through left side to score Durant. Trevor Willis pinch ran for Muller. Freie walked to put runners on first and second. T.J. Cataldo singled to right field, Willis scored.
The Black and Gold added an insurance run in the eighth for a 10-1 score. Andrew Ewing picked up a leadoff pinch hit single to right. One out later, Ewing moved to second on a ground out. With two out Sean Flanagan pinch hit for Cataldo and reached on an error to score Ewing.
The Hawkeyes plated one last insurance run in the ninth for a final 11-1 score. Chett Zeise led off with a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. Next, Zeise moved to third on a ground out and Kody McManis picked up an RBI with a ground out to shortstop.
To lead Iowa in the win, Toole was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a double. Blaser was 2-for-3, Muller was 2-for-3 with two RBI and Durant was 2-for-4 with two doubles. Nine Hawkeyes recorded hits.
Iowa will compete against Coe College at Duane Banks Field Wednesday. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. (CDT).
GAME SUMMARY
Iowa 150 003 011 - 11 14 1
Western Illinois 000 000 000 - 1 9 1
WP - Freie (2-1)
LP - Laidig (0-1)