Pair of Big Innings Propel Hawkeyes Past WIU

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April 2, 2013

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — A pair of five run innings propelled the University of Iowa baseball team to a 10-6 win over Western Illinois on Tuesday at Duane Banks Field.

Iowa put five runs on the board in the bottom of the first and fourth innings en route to its first home win of the season.

“It was good to see some big innings,” said UI head coach Jack Dahm. “Whenever you have two big innings like that you have a good chance of winning. We came out very aggressive and executed much better than we did over the weekend.”

The Hawkeyes (10-13, 1-5 Big Ten) jumped on the Leathernecks early, plating five runs on five hits in their first at-bat against WIU starter Alex Doty. Sophomores Eric Toole and Kris Goodman opened with singles before junior Trevor Kenyon followed with a one out, two-run double to right centerfield to make the score 2-0.

Sophomore Taylor Kaufman followed with an RBI single up the middle to plate the third run of the inning before junior Taylor Zeutenhorst doubled to left center to push across runs four and five.

After the Leathernecks put up a single tally in the second inning, the Hawkeyes used another big inning in the bottom of the fourth frame to extend their lead. A pair of walks and hit by pitch loaded the bases for Jake Yacinich, and the sophomore delivered with an RBI infield single that made the score 6-1.

Kenyon drew a bases-loaded walk to push across the second run before Kaufman laced an RBI single up the middle to make it an 8-1 game. Iowa scored its final two tallies on a pair of wild pitches by Leatherneck reliever Nick Smith.

Western Illinois (6-18) answered the Hawkeyes second five run inning with a run of their own, as Nate Ewing led-off the fifth inning with a triple before scoring on a Brent Turner ground out.

The score remained 10-2 until the top of the seventh inning when the Leathernecks plated four runs on two hits. Mark Garton drove in the first run by singling up the middle, while the second run crossed home after an Iowa throwing error. Steve Kedroski capped the scoring with a two out, two-run double.

Freshman Josh Martsching shut down the WIU offense for the remainder of the game, throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings in which he allowed one hit. Classmate Calvin Mathews started and earned the first win of his collegiate career, allowing two runs and striking out five in five innings.

“Calvin was a big key for us tonight by going out and giving us five solid innings,” said Dahm. “We were pretty short on pitching tonight and we needed Calvin to go out and have a strong outing. It was good to see him do that.”

Senior Ricky Sandquist tossed a perfect sixth inning for the Hawkeyes, his first appearance in over two weeks.

“The brightest spot of the night was Ricky coming back,” Dahm said. “He’s been out, and he’s not going to be 100 percent all year long. Today was a chance to see if he could throw through the arm injury and he was able to go out a give us a solid inning.”

Kaufman, Kenyon, and Toole all posted multi-hit performances. Kaufman went 3-for-5, tying a career-best in hits, with two RBIs, Kenyon went 2-for-4 with a double, a triple, two runs scored, and two RBIS, registering his fourth straight two hit game, and Toole went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

Iowa resumes Big Ten play this weekend against Nebraska. The Hawkeyes and Cornhuskers will play a three-game series at Duane Banks Field, beginning Friday at 6:05 p.m. (CT). The teams will close the series by playing at 1:05 p.m. (CT) on Saturday and Sunday.