Iowa Splits Sunday Doubleheader

Stats | Boxscore

March 16, 2014

Box Score vs. Saint Joseph’s | Box Score vs. Georgetown

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By JAMES ALLAN
hawkeyesports.com

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — The University of Iowa split Sunday’s doubleheader at the Snowbird Baseball Classic, downing Saint Joseph’s, 9-7, in the opening game before falling, 10-1, to Georgetown in a five-inning game due the Hoyas’ travel curfew.

“It was a tough day to pitch here in Port Charlotte with the wind blowing out at 35 miles per hour,” said UI head coach Rick Heller. “We only had eight hits against Saint Joseph’s but were able to take advantage of a few mistakes and got some clutch hits.

“It was kind of a messed up situation in game two. We ended up with a curfew game because they had to catch a flight, and we had to hurry to start the game. We didn’t handle it very well, and we ran into a buzz saw where everything Georgetown hit fell in.”

The Hawkeyes struck first in the opener, pushing a pair of runs across the plate in the top of the third inning. Junior Eric Toole walked to lead off the frame before junior Jake Mangler singled to put a pair on base. With one out, junior Dan Potempa was hit by a pitch to load the bases before senior Taylor Zeutenhorst’s RBI to left made the score 1-0. Junior Kris Goodman’s RBI groundout pushed the advantage to 2-0.

Saint Joseph’s cut the lead in half, scoring a single run in the fourth courtesy of a Tommy Cunningham solo home run before plating two in the fifth on a Brian O’Keefe two-run jack to left field to take a 3-2 lead.

Iowa erupted for six runs on three hits and one Hawk error in the top of the sixth to take an 8-3 lead. Zeutenhorst walked and Goodman singled to lead off the inning to chase reliever Jason Holmcomb from the game. Senior Bryan Niedbalski drew a one-out walk to load the bases before junior Nick Day delivered a two-run single through the left side to five the Hawkeyes a 4-3 lead.

Toole loaded the bases a second time in the inning via a hit by pitch before Mangler drove in Iowa’s fifth run after reaching on a fielding error by Stefan Kancylarz at third base. Junior Jake Yacinich followed with a two-run single through the left side to make the score 7-3 before Mangler scored the final run on a wild pitch.

After the Hawks got one run back in the bottom half of the sixth, Iowa scored its final run in its next at-bat. With two outs, Day reached via a hit by pitch and Toole walked before Mangler drove in his third run of the day with an RBI single to left field.

The Hawks made things interesting, pushing three runs across the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning against sophomore reliever Tyler Radtke. After giving up three straight hits and a run to start the inning, junior Brandon Shulista was summoned from the bullpen. The right-hander got an out via a sacrifice fly before surrendering a one-out RBI double to Chris Hueth.

After getting the second out via a fly out, Iowa brought in closer Nick Hibbing, who struck out three-hole hitter Collin Forgery looking to end the inning with one runner left standing. Hibbing then pitched a perfect ninth to tally his third save of the season.

Sophomore Tyler Peyton notched his third victory of the season after allowing four runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander struck out a career-high 10 Hawk batters, while issuing a pair of walks.

Mangler led the Iowa hitting attack, going 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs. Yacinich had a hit and drove in a pair of runs, while Day was 1-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs.

In the second game of the doubleheader, it was all Georgetown. The Hoyas pounded out 16 hits in six innings and scored runs in each of the first five frames.

Georgetown roughed up junior starter Andrew Hedrick to start the game, pushing five runs across the plate on six hits in the top of the first inning. The Hoyas pushed the lead to 6-0 in the second inning before Iowa plated its lone run in the bottom of the second courtesy of a Taylor Kaufman RBI single through the left side.

The Hoyas got the run back in the third, stretching their lead to 6-0, added two in the fourth and one in the fifth before the game was called after five innings due to Georgetown’s travel curfew.

Georgetown starter David Ellington picked up the victory after limiting Iowa to a pair of hits and one run in three innings. Tim Davis tossed the final two frames, allowing a single hit and striking out four.

Hedrick (2-2) took the loss, allowing six runs on eight hits in 1 1/3 innings.

Iowa (11-5) closes out the Snowbird Classic on Monday morning, facing Division II foe Otterbein University at 10 a.m. (CT).