Michigan Bounces Iowa From B1G Tourney

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May 23, 2014

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By JAMES ALLAN
hawkeyesports.com

OMAHA, Neb. — Michigan plated seven unanswered runs to hand the University of Iowa baseball team a 7-1 loss and eliminate the Hawkeyes from the 2014 Big Ten Tournament on Friday night at TD Ameritrade Park.

“It wasn’t a good night for the Hawkeyes,” said UI head coach Rick Heller. “We worked out of a couple of jams early and I thought maybe it was going to be one of those games where they had opportunities, but then we would settle in and get it going later in the game, but it didn’t happen that way.”

A big reason was the performance of Wolverine starter Evan Hill (4-5). The southpaw limited Iowa to one run on five hits over 7 2/3 innings en route to his fifth victory of the season. He had eight strikeouts against zero walks in the game.

“We didn’t have an answer for Hill,” said Heller. “He was in a good rhythm all night long and was pounding the strike zone and getting ahead in the count. We were not picking up the spin and had a lot of guys chasing with two strikes, which wasn’t a good combination.

“I’d like to think we’re a better team offensively than that, but I tip my hat to Hill.”

After leaving four runners stranded over the first three innings and falling behind 1-0, Michigan broke through in a big way, plating seven runs during a three-inning stretch to take control.

Wolverine second baseman Eric Jacobson’s RBI single up the middle scored Carmen Benedetti to tie the game in the fourth before Travis Maezes ripped a two-out, two-run triple into the right center field gap to give Michigan the 3-1 lead.

The Wolverines stretched their lead to 5-1 in the fifth and 7-1 an inning later. Cole Martin reached via a one-out single through the right side to start the fifth against UI reliever Nick Hibbing before Benedetti connected on a towering two-run shot into the bleachers in right field.

Michigan pushed its lead to six runs in the sixth on three hits against Iowa reliever Andrew Hedrick. Maezes started things off with a one-out triple to right center before scoring on a Jacob Cronenworth double to left center. Jackson Glines followed by driving in the Wolverines’ seventh run with a broken-bat RBI single to center field.

Iowa broke onto the scoreboard first; plating the game’s first run in the fourth. Juniors Jake Yacinich and Dan Potempa started the frame with consecutive one-out singles before sophomore Jimmy Frankos reached on a fielder’s choice after beating the throw to avoid an inning-ending double-play.

With two down, the Hawkeyes scored on a double steal as Yacinich’s acrobatic slide avoided the tag by Martin, giving Iowa a 1-0 lead. It was the team’s third steal of home and Yacinich’s 25th steal of the season.

Sophomore Tyler Peyton (5-1) was tagged with his first loss of the season after allowing three runs on six hits over four innings. The Wolverines scored two runs on three hits in one inning against Hibbing and two runs on three hits in 1/3 of an inning against Hedrick.

Sophomores Calvin Mathews and Tyler Radtke pitched the final 2 2/3 innings, allowing a single hit. Offensively, Iowa managed just five hits against Michigan with four coming from Yacinich (2-for-4) and Potempa (2-for-4).

Iowa finishes the 2014 season with a 30-23 overall record — the 30 wins are the most for the program since 2010.