Michigan Tops Iowa in Series Finale

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April 24, 2011

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IOWA CITY, Iowa – – Michigan scored three early runs and held on to beat the Iowa baseball team 5-2 in the series finale Sunday afternoon at Duane Banks Field. The Wolverines capitalized on timely hitting, scoring four of their five runs with two outs. With the win, the Wolverines captured the three-game set with two victories.

“We had a number of missed opportunities this weekend,” said Iowa Head Coach Jack Dahm. “Bottom line is that we need to get better offensively. We need to stick together as a team right now. There’s a lot of frustration as we let a couple games get away. We’ll find a way to get this going offensively.

For the second time in the series Michigan scored the game’s first run. The first four Wolverines reached base in the top of the first inning to give the visitors the early 1-0 advantage.

Iowa (15-22, 4-8) quickly answered with a run of its own in the bottom of the first. With Trevor Willis on first, Mike McQuillan hit a rocket up the middle plating Willis for the tying score. The hit extended the junior’s hitting streak to seven games, while the RBI was his fifth of the series.

Michigan (13-25, 6-6) reclaimed the lead in the second with a two-out, two-RBI single by Kevin Krantz through the left side to put Michigan back in the lead, 3-1. Krantz finished the contest with a game-high three hits.

The Hawkeyes scored their second and final run in the fifth on a Zach McCool RBI groundout. The RBI was McCool’s 16th of the year.

Iowa was unable to generate any more offense the final four innings as reigning Big Ten Pitcher of the Week Brandon Sinnery silenced the Hawkeye bats. Sinnery got his second victory of the year, throwing his second straight complete game. The junior allowed two runs, while striking out six Hawkeyes.

With two outs, the visitors plated two insurance runs on two RBI singles in the top of the ninth to put the game out of reach.

Iowa’s Keith Brand was the only Hawkeye to collect two hits today, marking the fourth time this season the redshirt freshman had a multi-hit game.

Junior Patrick Lala got the loss, allowing three runs in three innings, while striking out two. Zach Kenyon entered the game in the fourth and kept the Hawkeyes within reach. Kenyon pitched five and two thirds in relief, yielding two runs. At one point, the senior sat down nine consecutive Wolverines.

Iowa hits the road next week for a four-game road trip. The Hawkeyes play a non-conference game at Nebraska Tuesday (6:05 p.m.) then travel to Minneapolis next weekend for a three-game set at Target Field.