April 24, 2012
PEORIA, Ill. — The University of Iowa baseball team dropped a 7-3 decision at Bradley on Tuesday night. The game was played at O’Brien Field in Peoria, Ill. The contest will air as a tape-delayed broadcast on Mediacom Connections in the state of Iowa on Thursday at 6 p.m.
The Iowa offense, which registered as many hits as Bradley (nine), was led by seniors Mike McQuillan and Phil Keppler, and freshman Jake Yacinich. All three recorded multi-hit games. McQuillan finished 2-for-5 with a run scored, tallying his team-leading 14th multiple-hit contest. Keppler finished 2-for-5 with two RBI while Yacinich went 3-for-4 with a run scored.
Iowa (16-20, 5-7) struck first in the opening frame. With two away and Yacinich on third base, Keppler gave the visitors an early 1-0 lead with an RBI single through the left side.
Bradley (21-16-1) answered in the following frame, scoring two runs on a two-run home run to left center in the home half of the first.
The Hawkeyes responded with two runs of their own in the top of the third. McQuillan opened the inning with a single and later scored on an RBI fielder’s choice by freshman Jake Mangler. Keppler followed with a double to left center to score Mangler and give Iowa its second lead of the game at 3-2.
The Braves regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth, scoring four runs on three hits to take a 6-3 lead. Bradley added a run in the seventh to make the final score, 7-3.
The Hawkeyes threatened to score in the late innings. Iowa left runners on base in each of the final five frames.
Andrew Hedrick started for Iowa and took the loss (2-2). The freshman tossed four innings, allowing six runs on six hits. He struck out three. Tim Fangman and Taylor Kaufman saw action out of the Iowa bullpen.
Justin Ziegler earned the win for Bradley. He pitched six innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on six Hawkeye hits.
Iowa returns to Big Ten action when it travels to Minnesota for a three-game set at the Metrodome in Minneapolis this weekend. The Hawkeyes and Golden Gophers will open the series at 6:35 p.m. on Friday. Iowa and Minnesota will also play at 2:05 p.m. on Saturday and at 3 p.m. on Sunday. Sunday’s game will be televised live by BTN.
| Bradley 7, Iowa 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Iowa (16-20) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| Bradley (21-16-1) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 7 | 9 | 2 |
| Game Decision | ||||||||||||
| W: Ziegler (BU) 3-4 | ||||||||||||
| L: Hedrick (IOWA) 2-2 | ||||||||||||