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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Three UAB pitchers limited the University of Iowa baseball team to five hits in a 4-0 victory in Sunday’s series finale at Regions Field. The Hawkeyes won 2-of-3 games during the weekend, the team’s first traditional series of the season.
Iowa is 8-2 overall heading into Tuesday’s midweek matchup against Maryville (Mo.).
UAB’s starting pitcher, Ryan Wesson, tossed 5 2/3 innings of shutout baseball, scattering three hits, while striking out seven. Relievers Ty Harris and Carson Jones allowed two hits and struck out three over the final 3 1/3.
After 4 1/2 shutout innings, UAB grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning against Iowa starter Cole McDonald. Price Visintainer’s RBI single to center field knocked in Stephen Dobbs to put the Blazers on top.
In the sixth inning, UAB added to its lead courtesy of a two-run single from Thomas Johns and a safety squeeze pushed the advantage to 4-0.
McDonald (1-1) gave Iowa a strong start, scattering five hits and fanning four over five innings.
QUOTING HEAD COACH RICK HELLER
“Cole gave us a quality start; he battled and showed a lot of toughness. He did not have the great command that we saw last week, but he fought out of some tough jams. He gave us a chance to win the game. We just did not do anything offensively.
“Their starter, Wesson, was sharp and pitched well. They did not give us anything; I think we only had one free base on the day. We had something going in the seventh but ran into some bad luck. (Tyler) Cropley and (Kyle) Crowl had a good day offensively and (Jack) Dreyer came in and pitched well.”
OF NOTE…
– Tyler Cropley (2-for-3) and Kyle Crowl (2-for-4) paced the Hawkeyes, accounting for four of the team’s five hits. The two-hit game was Cropley’s fourth multi-hit game of the season — tied for the team lead.
– Junior Robert Neustrom had his nine-game hitting streak to start the season snapped.
– Sophomore Ben Norman was hit by a pitch in the fifth to extend his reached base streak to 10 games.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes (8-2) return to action Tuesday, hosting Maryville (Mo.) at 4:05 p.m. (CT) at Duane Banks Field.
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