April 27, 2010
IOWA CITY, IA — The University of Iowa baseball team defeated Nebraska, 5-2, Tuesday evening at Duane Banks Field. The Hawkeyes capitalized on a season-high four Husker errors en route to victory. The last Iowa win over Nebraska was on Mar. 4, 2007 (12-8) in DeLand, Florida. Iowa has now won three of its last four contests, scoring exactly five runs in all three victories.
Iowa’s offense out-hit the Huskers, scattering nine. Leading the Hawkeyes was Mike McQuillan going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a double. Ryan Durant and Kurtis Muller both picked up a pair of hits. Kurt Lee scored two of Iowa’s five runs.
“I like the way Matt [Dermody] threw tonight,” said Iowa Head Coach Jack Dahm. “His last couple outings have been outstanding. He’s a very talented player. I’m extremely proud of Matt and the rest of the pitching staff’s effort tonight. We capitalized on Nebraska’s mistakes tonight.”
Freshman Matt Dermody went a solid five and one-third innings; two outs shy of tying his career long. The lefty got a no decision, allowing two runs on five hits with two strikeouts. Iowa’s bullpen featured: Patrick Schatz, Zach Robertson and Kevin Lee. Robertson notched his team-best third victory, going one and two-third scoreless innings allowing no hits and striking out one. Lee got the last three outs in the ninth frame to collect his team-leading eighth save.
The Hawkeyes took advantage of two Husker errors to jump on the board and take 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Trevor Willis led off with a double to right. Lee put the ball in play, reaching on a fielder’s choice and Willis scored on an error on the play at third, Lee advanced to second. Muller then bunted for a single and Lee scored on the throwing error to first.
Nebraska (19-22) picked up one in the fourth frame to trail, 2-1. The inning featured a two-out RBI double by Bryan Peters. The Huskers knotted it, 2-2, in the fifth via a two-out RBI double by Adam Bailey.
Iowa (17-21) regained the lead for good, 5-2, with a three-spot in the bottom of the seventh. Lee picked up a one-out walk and advanced to third on a Muller stand-up double to left. Zach McCool drew an intentional pass to load the bases. Despite a pitching change, McQuillan came up with a big one-out two-RBI single to right center. Next, Durant drove in McCool with an RBI-single to right to give the Black and Gold the three-run advantage.
Nebraska reliever Luke Bublitz got the loss, his first decision of the year. The Huskers threw six pitchers in tonight’s loss/
Iowa returns to action tomorrow night when it travels to Omaha, NE, to take on the Creighton Bluejays at 6:30 p.m. from Rosenblatt Stadium.
“You’re not going to find a team that plays harder than Creighton,” added Dahm. “They are very fundamentally sound. This is the last year for Rosenblatt Stadium, so hopefully that will motivate our guys.”