Iowa's 9th-Inning Rally Falls Short

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April 7, 2014

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By JAMES ALLAN
hawkeyesports.com

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa baseball team’s ninth-inning rally fell short, as No. 24 Indiana held on for a 5-3 victory in the series finale Monday afternoon at Banks Field. The Hoosiers swept all three games of the weekend series.

“This is a disappointing loss,” said UI head coach Rick Heller. “We got a tremendous pitching performance from Tyler Peyton, and unfortunately, we wasted it. We did rally in the ninth and had bases loaded with nobody out, and things looked good, but we weren’t able to pull it off.

“We lost 5-3 on a day when I felt like we could have won if we were more focused and had a little more energy at the dish.”

After giving up a five spot in the eighth inning to fall behind 5-1, the Hawkeyes didn’t go away quietly in their final at-bat. Iowa got three-straight singles from sophomore Jimmy Frankos, junior Jake Yacinich, and junior Nick Day to begin the ninth against IU reliever Scott Effross.

With one out, junior Eric Toole drove in the first run, reaching on an infield single to third base before sophomore Nick Roscetti made the score 5-3 with a sacrifice fly to centerfield for the second out. Iowa’s rally came to a halt when Jake Mangler flied out to right field to end the game, leaving a pair of Hawkeyes stranded.

Iowa left nine runners on base in the contest and 30 during the three-game series.

After tallying four hits in the first seven innings against Iowa starter Tyler Peyton, the Hoosiers broke out their bats in the eighth, pushing five runs across the plate on five hits, turning a 1-0 deficit into a four-run advantage.

Casey Rodrigue singled to lead off the frame to end Peyton’s day and bring in sophomore Tyler Radtke in relief. Back-to-back singles by Kyle Schwarber and Sam Travis tied the game at one, and after an intentional walk to Dustin DeMuth loaded the bases, Brad Hartong doubled down the left field line to give the Hoosiers a 3-1 lead.

The Hoosiers pushed their fourth and fifth runs across the plate when DeMuth scored on a Blake Hickman passed ball before Will Nolden laced an RBI single to center field to stretch the advantage to 5-1.

After a quiet first four and a half innings, Iowa manufactured the game’s first run in the bottom of the fifth. Day started the inning with a leadoff walk before moving into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt off the bat of junior Jake Riffice. With two outs, Roscetti delivered, hitting an RBI single to shallow centerfield to make the score 1-0.

Peyton was superb on the mound, limiting the Hoosiers to one run on five hits over seven innings, finishing with four strikeouts against a single walk. Radtke (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing four runs on four hits in 1/3 of an inning, while junior Nick Hibbing pitched the final 1 2/3 of hitless relief.

Yacinich led the Hawkeyes at the plate, finishing 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Roscetti went 1-for-3 with a pair of RBIs. Iowa finished with seven hits against three Indiana pitchers. IU reliever Evan Bell (2-0) earned the victory, pitching three innings of two-hit ball.

Iowa (16-12, 3-6) returns to action Tuesday, opening a two-game midweek series against Kansas at 6 p.m. (CT).

“We’ll stick to our plan and routines and come out tomorrow and give a good effort against Kansas,” said Heller. “It’s going to be a good, tough challenge, playing for the fourth and fifth days in a row.”