April 22, 2009
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IOWA CITY – – The Iowa baseball team rallied with two late inning runs to propel the Hawkeyes to a thrilling 5-4 victory over in-state rival Northern Iowa tonight at Duane Banks Field. Iowa has now won three-straight games, matching a season high.
Iowa surrendered two seventh-inning runs to fall behind 4-3. The Hawkeyes battled back and plated one run in the eighth and the game-winner in the ninth. Tonight marks Iowa’s first win of the season when trailing after seven innings (1-19).
“This was a good win by our guys tonight, coming from behind,” said Hawkeye Head Coach Jack Dahm. “We found a way to overcome our mistakes and record the win. Ryan [Durant] responded with the big hit in the ninth. He’s come up with a lot of big hits since he’s been put in the cleanup spot.”
The Hawkeyes got the timely hit they needed in the bottom of the ninth, off the bat of Ryan Durant, who lined the game-winning hit into center field for his 25th RBI of the season, scoring Kody McManis. McManis drew a walk to start off the inning and Trevor Willis laid his team-best fifth sacrifice bunt to move him over. With one runner on, the Panthers elected to intentionally walk Justin Toole. After a wild pitch, moving runners to second and third, Hoef was intentionally walked to load the bases. Durant came up big with the walk off-two-out single to center.
Iowa (14-22) got on the board on the first, taking a 3-0 lead. The Hawkeyes batted around the order, forcing starter Colin Rea to be replaced after recording only two outs. With one out, Kevin Hoef and Nick Brown drew consecutive walks. Durant extended his hit streak to 13 games and picked up an RBI with a base hit. Mike McQuillan notched a two-out single through the right side to bring in a run and Jeff Pacha followed with an infield single to plate Iowa’s third run.
The Panthers (15-22) plated one in the third to trail 3-1. However, Zach Kenyon got a timely strikeout to end the inning with the bases juiced. Northern Iowa continued to chip away at the Hawkeye lead in the fifth for a 3-2 score. UNI took a 4-3 lead in the seventh, plating two runs.
Iowa manufactured the tying run in the eighth for a 4-4 ballgame. Durant reached on a wild pitch strike out and McQuillan came up big with an RBI double down the right field line.
Kenyon pitched three innings, allowing one run on four hits in the no decision. Iowa’s bullpen featured Patrick Schatz, Kyle Heim, Steve Turnbull and Mike Schurz. Schurz, who struck out two batters in the ninth, collected his first win of the year. The Panthers threw eight pitchers tonight, with Shuhei Fujiya getting the loss.
Leading the Hawkeyes, offensively, tonight were Durant, Toole and McQuillan. Durant finished the game going 2-for-5, with two RBI and two runs scored. Toole went 2-for-4 and a walk, while McQuillan went 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Iowa hosts Michigan State this weekend in a three-game series at Duane Banks Field. Game one is set for Friday at 6 p.m.
GAME SUMMARYUNI 001 010 200 - 4 11 1Iowa 300 000 011 - 5 7 1
WP - Schurz (1-0)LP - Fujiya (0-14)