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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Six Hawkeye pitchers combined to throw a one-hitter to lead the University of Iowa baseball team to a 7-2 win over Simpson College on Tuesday at Duane Banks Field. The victory was win No. 10 this season.
“It was good to play a midweek game,” Iowa head coach Rick Heller said. “It’s the first one of the season. We play one again tomorrow night. What better place to be on spring break than the ballpark.”
Iowa’s offense found the scoreboard first, scoring four runs in the second inning on only one hit. The Hawkeyes added one run in the sixth after senior Luke Farley drove in junior Matthew Sosa on a single to right field.
Seven different Hawkeye batters recorded a hit, while junior Ben Norman and Sosa recorded multi-hit games. Sosa, who scored a career-high three runs and went 2-for-3 with a double and a triple, and Norman went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Freshman Clayton Nettleton made his first career start, pitching three innings, allowing zero hits and one run on two walks and three hit-by-pitches.
With runners on first and second in the third inning, junior Adam Ketelsen relieved Nettleton, and retired the first seven batters he faced. Ketelsen’s final line included 2 2/3 innings of one hit ball where he allowed one run. The southpaw had two strikeouts.
In the top of the eighth, Iowa went to the bullpen with redshirt junior Kyle Shimp who inherited two runners. After Shimp walked the first batter he faced, the left-hander escaped the bases-loaded, no outs jam without giving any runs.
Iowa added two insurance runs in the eighth when sophomore Izaya Fullard scored on a Sosa RBI-triple.
Junior Trace Hoffman (3-1) earned the win, pitching 1 1/3 hitless innings along with two strikeouts. Freshman Drew Irvine pitched a scoreless ninth inning on just four pitches.
QUOTING HEAD COACH RICK HELLER
“We were able to play a lot of guys that weren’t able to play in the last week or so. We got some pitchers on the mound that hadn’t see a lot of innings up until this point. I appreciate (Simpson head) coach (Nathan) Roling and Simpson for coming over on a short notice to play us.
“I was happy with our approach at the plate. They gave us some free bases and we were patient; we didn’t chase. We hit some balls hard and had some bad luck with balls right at guys. For the most part, our approach stayed solid all day long. On defense, we were really solid. We do have to clean some stuff on the mound. We gave up seven walks and three hit-by-pitches. You can’t do that. They scored two runs and only had one hit because of the free bases.”
OF NOTE…
- It was Iowa’s second combined one-hitter of the season. Iowa one-hit Marshall in the third game of the season.
- Iowa batters recorded eight walks to only three strikeouts.
- Today marked Norman’s fifth multi-hit game of the season and Sosa’s second.
- Sosa’s triple in the eighth was his first career three-bagger.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes play their second straight midweek game tomorrow, hosting Chicago State at 4:05 p.m. (CT) at Duane Banks Field.
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Stay up-to-date on all the happenings with the Iowa baseball program on social media via Twitter (@UIBaseball), Instagram/UIBaseball, and Facebook/IowaBaseball.
