Hawkeyes Fall to Hoosiers in Rubber Match

April 1, 2012

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The University of Iowa baseball team fell at Indiana on Sunday, 10-5, in the rubber match of a three-game set at Sembower Field. The Hawkeyes led 5-0 heading to the bottom of the fourth before Indiana scored the final 10 runs of the game to earn the series-clinching victory.

“It was disappointing,” said head coach Jack Dahm. “We needed to tack on runs and keep control. We did not keep the momentum in our dugout and were unable to put them away. We tried to hang on for the win instead of going after it. We are going to keep working and getting better.”

Senior Chett Zeise recorded his seventh multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. Bryan Niedbalski, Keith Brand and Andrew Host each recorded an RBI.

For the third time in the series, the visitors struck first with two runs in the top of the second inning. Niedbalski walked to open the frame and advanced to second on a single to right by Ryan Rumpf. Brand then reached on an Indiana throwing error, scoring Niedbalski and allowing Rumpf to advance to third. Rumpf scored on a sacrifice fly by Host to give Iowa a 2-0 lead.

Iowa (10-14, 3-3) extended its lead to 5-0 in the top of the third. The Hawkeyes scored three runs on four hits, including RBI singles by Niedbalski and Brand, to take a five-run lead.

The Hoosiers (12-16, 4-2) cut the lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run home run by Sam Travis.

Indiana evened up the score at 5-5 in the fifth. The home team recorded three hits to push across three two-out runs.

The Hoosiers took their first lead of the game in the seventh inning. Indiana scored four runs on three hits to take a 9-5 lead. The Hoosiers added a single tally in the bottom of the eighth to make the final score, 10-5.

Sasha Kuebel started and took a no-decision. The freshman pitched four and two-thirds, allowing five runs on six hits. Tim Fangman, Patrick Lala, Andrew Hanse, Taylor Kaufman, Nick Hibbing and Rumpf saw action out of the Iowa bullpen. Lala took the loss, allowing two runs in one-third of an inning.

Ryan Halstead recorded the win for Indiana. He pitched five and a third scoreless innings.

The Hawkeyes will host South Dakota State on Tuesday (6 p.m.) and Wednesday (4 p.m.) at Duane Banks Field. Iowa then travels to Nebraska for the first ever Big Ten match-up between the two schools. The two will play a three-game set in Lincoln, Neb., beginning Friday.