April 29, 2009
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IOWA CITY — The Iowa baseball team lost to Creighton of the Missouri Valley Conference, 12-3, tonight at Duane Banks Field. Iowa allowed a season-high 19 hits in loss and turned a season-high four double plays defensively, one shy of tying the school record.
The Black and Gold lineup featured five freshmen, three sophomores and one junior. Leading the young lineup was Kurtis Muller going 3-for-4 with a triple and run scored. Tonight marked the Muller’s second three-hit outing this season. Sean Flanagan went 1-for-4 with a solo homer. Ryan Durant went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
“Creighton’s a good ball club,” said Iowa Head Coach Jack Dahm. “They play the game the right way. They played hard, with energy and played better. This was a good learning experience for our team. We’ve been decimated by injuries, which is a tough situation for us. Kevin [Hoef] didn’t play tonight after getting injured in last night’s game. I hope he gets some good news from the doctor tomorrow, but it doesn’t look good.”
Iowa (14-27) manufactured a run in the bottom of the first to take its only lead of the game, 1-0. Dallas Burke reached base on a catcher’s interference. Trevor Willis laid his team-best sixth sacrifice bunt to move Burke over. Durant took advantage of Burke on second and drove him in on a single up the middle.
Creighton (25-18) scored three runs in the two spot to lead 3-1 and never trailed after. The Jays added four in the fourth, one in the sixth, two in the eighth and two in the ninth. Eight of Creighton’s nine starters had at least one hit.
The Hawkeyes played catch-up in the bottom of the second, plating one to trail 3-2. Muller led off with a triple to left center and scored on a Chett Zeise sacrifice fly.
Iowa scored its last run in the sixth on a Flanagan solo shot to left field.
Starter Zach Kenyon got the loss, going three and two third innings allowing seven runs on eight hits and striking out five. The Iowa bullpen featured Michael Jacobs, Tony Manville, Kevin Lee and Kyle Heim.
Iowa will travel to Siebert Field to take on Minnesota Friday-Sunday in a three-game series. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
Game SummaryCreighton 030 401 022 -- 12 19 1Iowa 110 001 000 -- 3 7 3
WP - Koeningstein (4-0)LP - Kenyon (0-3)