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PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — The University of Iowa baseball team fell for the first time in six games, losing 6-4 to Army on Sunday morning in their finale of the Snowbird Baseball Classic. The loss snaps a five-game winning streak.
“It was disappointing,” head coach Rick Heller said. “We didn’t play well. We made a lot of mistakes. We tried to fight back offensively, but wasn’t a great day to hit. The wind was hawking straight in from center field and it affected the game.
“We were able to get 11 hits on the day and had chances. Give Army credit, they had a lot of two-out, two-strike hits. We didn’t execute our pitches like we were capable of.”
In the first four innings, Iowa always had an answer for Army. The Black Knights scored the game’s first run in the top of the third, and Iowa responded with a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game.
The following inning, Army capitalized on an Iowa defense miscue, scoring two more runs in the top half.
Iowa responded again, tying the game at three on a two-RBI double by junior Trenton Wallace. Wallace finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk.
In the fifth inning, Iowa starter Duncan Davitt (0-1) got into some trouble, allowing back-to-back hits to leadoff the frame, forcing Heller to go to the bullpen.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Drew Irvine entered the game and allowed both inherited runners to score that were charged to Davitt. Iowa trailed 5-3 through five frames after Iowa’s offense went down in order in the bottom half.
Davitt suffered the loss, allowing five runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks. Irvine went on to pitch 3 1/3 innings of relief, allowing one run on three hits, with four strikeouts.
Led by junior Izaya Fullard, Iowa’s offense chipped away in the seventh inning. With two outs, and senior Matthew Sosa on second base, Fullard singled through the right side for his second hit and RBI of the game. It was Fullard’s fifth straight game with at least two RBIs.
The Hawkeyes trailed 5-4 entering the eighth, before Irvine surrendered his lone run. Redshirt senior Grant Leonard worked around a leadoff double and a hit by pitch in the ninth to throw a scoreless inning.
The Hawkeyes trailed 6-4 heading to the bottom of the ninth. Senior Ben Norman kept the game alive with a single up the middle, but Fullard grounded out to end the game.
OF NOTE
- Fullard leads Iowa with 20 RBIs. Last season Fullard had 31 RBIs in 52 games.
- Junior Dylan Nedved started the game at DH, going 2-for-4, and finished the game on the mound, throwing 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
- Freshman Peyton Williams extended his team-best hitting streak to nine games with a single in the fourth inning.
UP NEXT
Iowa hosts two midweek games against Kansas on Tuesday (4:05 p.m. (CT)) and Wednesday (2:05 p.m.) at Duane Banks Field.
FOLLOW THE HAWKEYES
Stay up-to-date on all the happenings with the Iowa baseball program on social media via Twitter (@UIBaseball), Instagram/UIBaseball, and Facebook/IowaBaseball.
