Notre Dame Rallies to Beat Iowa in Big Ten/Big East Challenge

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Feb. 18, 2012

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CLEARWATER, Fla. — A four-run eighth inning enabled Notre Dame to register a 5-2 come-from-behind victory over Iowa Saturday morning at Jack Russell Stadium.

“We didn’t play quite as well today,” said head coach Jack Dahm. “We did some really good things from a defensive standpoint. Dermody wasn’t himself today but he battled and left the game with a 2-1 lead. We didn’t add on when we had the chance and they had one big inning that really hurt us.”

Iowa (1-1) took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on a Sean Flanagan RBI groundout and a Jake Yacinich RBI single.

Notre Dame (2-0) cut the deficit in half to 2-1 with a run in the fifth off Hawkeye junior starter Matt Dermody. The Irish plated the single run on a RBI groundout. Dermody got a no-decision, throwing four and two thirds, allowing one run, while striking out three and allowing four hits.

The Irish tallied four runs in the eighth inning off Hawkeye righty Ricky Sandquist, who was in his third full inning of relief. Notre Dame sent eight batters to the plate in the late-inning rally, scoring the four runs on four hits and a sacrifice fly.

After using four pitchers in yesterday’s win over Illinois, Notre Dame right-handed pitcher Adam Norton went the distance. Norton scattered seven Hawkeye hits in the complete game victory. Sandquist got the loss for Iowa.

Senior third baseman Chett Zeise led the Hawkeyes offensively, going 2-for-4. It marked the second straight contest that Zeise had two hits.

“We have to bounce back,” said Dahm. “One of our goals this season is to win two-of-three every weekend. If we come out and play well tomorrow against West Virginia we go 2-1, and that is a successful weekend. We are going to continue to get better every day.”

Iowa concludes the Big Ten/Big East Challenge tomorrow morning against West Virginia. First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 a.m. (CT) in St. Petersburg, Fla.