May 17, 2016
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By JAMES ALLAN
hawkeyesports.com
MACOMB, Ill. — The University of Iowa baseball team ran its winning streak to three games, pounding out 15 hits in a 10-2 victory over Western Illinois on Tuesday afternoon at Alfred Boyer Stadium.
The win moves Iowa to 25-24 overall heading into this weekend’s three game Big Ten series at Penn State. The Hawkeyes need a series win to advance to the 2016 Big Ten Tournament for a third straight season.
Five players posted multi-hit games and eight players had at least one hit. Junior Mason McCoy finished 4-for-5 with two runs scored, while seniors Tyler Peyton, Nick Roscetti, and Joel Booker, and freshman Robert Neustrom all had two-hit games.
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“We had hits up and down the lineup,” said UI head coach Rick Heller. “That’s big when you’re getting production from the top and bottom of the order.”
Five Hawkeye pitchers limited the Leathernecks to two runs on six hits in the game. Freshman Shane Ritter (2-0) earned his second victory, tossing three shutout innings in relief. He allowed two hits and had two strikeouts.
Sophomore Nick Allgeyer, senior Tyler Radtke, and Jared Mandel each threw scoreless innings in the seventh, eighth and ninth. Western Illinois scored two runs in the third against UI starter Cole McDonald. The freshman allowed two runs on a pair of hits and had six strikeouts.
“It was a good day for us,” said Heller. “We got a lot of pitchers in the game that didn’t throw last weekend. Cole gave us a solid start; he came out and set the tone, and Ritter was good. The rest of the guys in the bullpen were all solid.”
The Hawkeyes jumped out to a 2-0 lead, scoring single runs in the second and third innings. McCoy doubled to start the inning and scored on an Austin Guzzo RBI groundout in the second before Booker had an RBI single in the third.
After the Leathernecks tied the game at two in the bottom of the third, Iowa took the lead with a single run in the fifth and seventh innings before blowing the game open in the eighth.
Peyton doubled to start the fifth and scored on an RBI single from Roscetti to give Iowa a 3-2 advantage before the Hawkeyes manufactured a run in the seventh. Senior Eric Schenck-Joblinske singled to lead off the inning, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and crossed the plate on a Peyton ground-rule double to left field.
The Hawkeyes sent 12 batters to the plate in the eighth, scoring six runs on five hits and four Leatherneck errors. Neustrom, Roscetti, and Booker tallied RBIs in the inning.
Jimmy Perkins (0-3) suffered the loss, allowing three runs on seven hits in five innings.
Iowa’s series in Happy Valley begins Thursday with a 5:30 p.m. (CT) start.