Michigan State Tops Hawkeyes

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April 2, 2011

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IOWA CITY, Iowa – – The Iowa baseball team beat lost the second of a three-game series today, 7-1, to Michigan State today at Duane Banks Field. The win was the fifth in six games for the Spartans.

Zach McCool, Tyson Blaser and Chett Zeise each recorded multiple hit games today. McCool went 3-for-5 with an RBI, Zeise was 2-for-4 with a double and run scored, while Blaser extended his hit streak to five games with two singles. The three hits equal a season best for McCool, who has five hits in two games against the Spartans.

“I’m disappointed in today’s effort,” said Iowa Head Coach Jack Dahm. “I’m not liking our approach right now. We have a bunch of guys that are frustrated right now. We need to get back to playing with energy and competing, and the rest will take care of itself. We still have plenty of time to get this corrected, but we need to get back to the basics. When we do that I know we can be a good ball club.”

Michigan State (17-6, 2-0) scored the game’s first run in the top of the second. With two outs and runners on first and second, Jeff Kinley hit a smash up the middle allowing Jared Hook to cross home plate.

The Spartans, who collected 11 hits today, added two more runs in the third with one swing of the bat. Torsten Boss launched a two-run home run over the right field fence to extend their lead to 3-0.

Iowa (9-15, 0-2) answered with a single tally in the bottom of the third. McCool ripped an RBI single to left scoring Zeise. The Hawkeyes had an opportunity to score more, but Michigan State pitcher Tony Bucciferro induced a 6-4-3 double play to clean-up hitter Mike McQuillan to thwart the scoring threat.

Michigan State took advantage of Iowa’s only fielding error in the fifth, scoring two unearned runs. Boss recorded his third RBI of the day on a single to left. Hook followed with an RBI triple to center to push the Spartan lead to 5-1.

The Spartans added sacrifice flies in the sixth and seventh innings to finish the scoring at 7-1. In two contests, Michigan State has collected five sacrifice flies against the Hawkeyes.

Iowa starter Nick Brown got the loss, allowing six runs on nine hits in six innings. Seeing action out of the Hawkeye bullpen today was Jeff Pacha, Tim Fangman, Ben Bergman and Kevin Lee.

Bucciferro earned his fifth victory of the season nearly throwing a complete game, going eight and two thirds. The junior yielded only one run while scattering eight hits and striking out five.

Iowa and Michigan State conclude their three-game set tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. at Duane Banks Field. Admission is $3 for adults and free for youths and UI students.