Feb. 27, 2010
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – The University of Iowa baseball team lost, 9-5, today to West Virginia at the Napoli Complex. The Hawkeyes scored the first four runs, but the Mountaineers rallied, scoring nine times in the final seven innings.
Iowa (2-2) scattered 11 hits in defeat. Kurtis Muller, Mike McQuillan, Dan Sheppard and Trevor Willis all collected two hits each. Muller’s single in the first inning extended his hitting streak to 15 games, dating back to the end of last season. Ryan Durant, Sean Flanagan, Dan Sheppard, Kurt Lee and McQuillan posted Iowa’s five RBI.
The Hawkeyes plated two runs in the top of the first inning. McQuillan roped an RBI triple to right center to score Muller for the first Hawkeye run. Durant followed with a sacrifice fly to right field for an early 2-0 advantage.
Iowa added two more in the third. McQuillan scored on a Flanagan sacrifice fly to center. Two batters later, Sheppard singled through the left side to score Durant and give Iowa an early 4-0 lead.
West Virginia (1-4) evened the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the third with four runs on four hits and two Hawkeye errors.
Iowa regained a 5-4 lead in the sixth when Sheppard crossed home plate on a junior Lee groundout.
After throwing five innings, Hawkeye sophomore starter Phil Schreiber was relieved by senior lefty Michael Jacobs. Jacobs, who got the loss, was unable to hold on to the lead as back-to-back doubles tied the game heading into the final three frames.
West Virginia broke the game open in the bottom of the seventh scoring its final four runs, all unearned, on only two hits and four Iowa errors. Chris Enourato pitched the final three and a third innings, striking out seven Hawkeyes and allowing only two hits to earn West Virginia’s first victory of the season. Enourato and starter Andy Berry combined to strike out 13 Hawkeyes.
Iowa will look to rebound from today’s loss when it concludes play at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge tomorrow with a game against Villanova at Noon (CST).