Hawkeyes Cruise to 11-2 Win Over Notre Dame

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March 18, 2011

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SAN ANTONIO, Texas – – The Iowa Hawkeyes beat Notre Dame for the second straight day, cruising to an 11-2 victory today over the Irish at Wolff Stadium. The 11 runs and 16 hits are season bests for the Hawkeyes. In addition to the 16 hits, the Hawkeyes worked a season-high 11 walks.

Five Hawkeyes collected multiple hits today: Trevor Willis, Mike McQuillan, Andrew Ewing, Chett Zeise and Bryan Niedbalski. Willis went 3-for-4 with a triple. Two RBI and two runs scored at the top of the order. McQuillan also went 3-for-4 with a walk, extending his hitting streak to 10 games, and crossed home plate twice. Zeise had three hits and an RBI. Ewing had two hits, a walk, RBI and a run scored, while Niedbalski had a pair of singles, a RBI and run scored.

Iowa (7-8) exploded for six runs on seven singles and an error in the top of the second to claim an early 6-0 advantage. The Hawkeyes sent 10 batters to the plate in the frame. The inning featured RBI singles by Niedbalski and Kurt Lee and two-run RBI singles off the bat of Willis and Zach McCool.

The Hawkeyes sent 10 more batters to the plate in the sixth, scoring four more runs. Willis started the inning with his fourth triple of the season to right center. Willis then scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-0. Later in the frame, both Ewing and Keith Brand collected a bases loaded RBI walks and Zeise had a fielder’s choice RBI groundout to extend the Hawkeye cushion to 10-0.

Brand registered his second RBI of the contest in the eighth on an RBI single to left, sending Zeise across home plate for the second time. Brand started at catcher for the second consecutive contest, gunning down two Notre Dame base runners attempting to steal.

Junior Nick Brown earned his second win of the year, throwing seven solid scoreless innings, allowing only four hits, while striking out three. Sophomore Steve Hague and junior Phil Keppler saw their first action of the year on the mound, each throwing an inning in relief.

Notre Dame (7-9) scored its only two runs in the eighth off Hague.

The Hawkeyes return to action in the Notre Dame Invitational later today when it plays Gonzaga at 4 p.m. at Wolff Stadium.