Iowa Faces UNO Tuesday in Papillion

April 15, 2013

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa baseball team returns to action Tuesday for a midweek game at Nebraska-Omaha beginning at 2 p.m. (CT) at Werner Park, the home of the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers, in Papillion, Neb.

The meeting is the fourth between the two squads this season, as the two teams played a three-game series in Wichita, Kan., on March 16-18. The Mavericks won 2-of-3, winning 9-6 in the opener and 7-6 in the finale. Iowa won the middle game of the series, 4-1.

The Hawkeyes bring a 12-18 record into the midweek matchup after dropping 2-of-3 games to Kansas State last weekend at Duane Banks Field. Omaha is 14-15 overall and 5-3 at home this season. The Mavericks swept a four-game series at Western Illinois on April 12-14 in Macomb, Ill.

Freshman right-hander Calvin Mathews will take the hill for Iowa. The Bloomfield, Iowa, native is 1-4 with a 5.93 ERA in seven appearances, including six starts. Omaha will counter with senior left-hander Cory Buckley, who is 1-3 with a 4.91 ERA in five starts.

Buckley started the middle game of the series in Wichita, tossing four innings of two-hit ball. The southpaw, who didn’t factor in the decision, had a pair of strikeouts to five walks.

Six Hawkeyes batted .300 or better in the three-game series with senior Keith Brand leading the way with a .500 (3-of-6) average with two RBIs. Sophomore Kris Goodman batted .444 (4-of-9) with three runs, sophomore Jake Yacinich hit .385 (5-of-13) with two RBIs, and junior Taylor Zeutenhorst hit .364 with three RBIs.

Iowa returns to Big Ten action Friday in University Park, Pa., facing Penn State at 5:05 p.m. (CT).