Hawkeyes Fall to Creighton in Home Finale

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May 17, 2011

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The Iowa baseball team lost to Creighton Tuesday night at Duane Banks Field, 5-3, in its final home game. The contest was tied entering the top of the ninth, before Creighton scored two two-out runs on four consecutive singles to claim the mid-week victory.

“Jeff (Pacha) was outstanding,” said head coach Jack Dahm. “He struggled a little bit early, but then kicked it up a few notches. Creighton was able to manufacture runs. It was unfortunate that we could not get the win for Jeff. We had a few base running mistakes that cost us. I wish we could have come out with the victory, but we have to clean up our base running.”

Phil Keppler and Tyson Blaser led the Hawkeye offense with multi-hit games. Keppler went 2-for-3 while Blaser finished 2-for-4 with a double. Freshman Taylor Zeutenhorst, Blaser and junior Chett Zeise tallied an RBI each. Zeutenhorst extended his hitting streak to seven games.

Creighton (36-13) tallied two runs in the top of the second to grab an early 2-0 advantage. The Bluejays’ lead did not last long as Iowa scored a pair of its own in the bottom half of the frame. Zeutenhorst, Keppler and Blaser each singled to lead off the frame and Zeise followed with a safety squeeze bunt to tie the score.

The Hawkeyes (20-29, 9-12) took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third on an RBI groundout by Zeutenhorst.

The visitors evened the contest again in the seventh. The Bluejays used an RBI groundout to tie the game at 3-3.

With the game tied in the top of the ninth inning, Creighton recorded four-straight two-out base hits to plate two runs and claim the 5-3 triumph. The Bluejays had only four hits entering the frame before doubling their hit total.

Jeff Pacha started for Iowa and notched his best outing in his final game at Duane Banks Field. The senior allowed three runs in a career-high seven innings while allowing only three Creighton hits. He struck out two.

Keppler took the loss as he moved from first base to the mound in the top of the eighth. He pitched an inning and two-thirds, allowing two earned runs on three hits.

Jack VanLeur earned the victory for Creighton. He allowed no runs in one inning of work. Kurt Spomer earned his eighth save of the year. He allowed no runs in the ninth.

“We are looking forward to the final series at Purdue,” said Dahm. “It is going to be fun as we are playing to extend our season.”

The Hawkeyes travel to Purdue for their final conference set later this week. Iowa and Purdue will play Thursday and Friday at 3 p.m. The Hawkeyes and Boilermakers will play their final regular season game Saturday at 1 p.m. All times listed are central and will be played at Lambert Field.