IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa baseball team used an eighth inning two-out rally to defeat Northwestern, 4-3, on Friday night at Duane Banks Field.
“Northwestern played really well,” said head coach Rick Heller. “Pitched us tough, and it was one of those nights where you wonder if you were going to burn both of our pitchers and not get the win. The pitching was key.”
The Hawkeye trailed the Wildcats, 2-1, after the first inning. The teams were locked in a pitcher’s duel holding each other scoreless for the next six innings. In the top of the eighth Northwestern plated a run to take a 3-1 lead.
In the bottom half of the eighth the Hawkeyes rattled off four hits with two outs capped by a two RBI single from Cade Moss to take the 4-3 lead.
“We stuck with our approach,” said Moss. “We hit a lot of hard balls tonight just right at guys. Didn’t get a chance to break it open in those middle innings, but when the time came everyone stuck with what they were doing. Ended up hitting the ball hard and four two-out hits, couldn’t have written it up better.”
Jack Young would take the ball for Iowa in the top of the ninth and strikeout the side to earn the save and close the door.
Anthony Watts got the start on the mound for Iowa. He threw 4 2/3 innings and struck out seven and allowed two runs on four hits and three walks.
Watts turned the ball over to Aaron Savary who threw 3 1/3 innings to earn his fifth win of the season. Savary allowed one run on three hits and struck out three.
Davis Cop, Will Mulflur and Michael Seegers joined Moss as Hawkeyes with two hits on the night. Moss had the two RBIs and Reese Moore and Ben Wilmes each plated a run.
“They didn’t give us anything,” said Heller. “Aside from the error in the first that allowed us to get a run when Reese doubled. They played really stingy baseball, and only had four free bases on the night. It was a strange night for us offensively, I felt like we were getting some good barrels that we didn’t get rewarded for. You don’t see that very often.”
All four of Iowa’s runs came with two outs and the Hawkeyes hit .429 (6-14) with runners on base.
The Hawkeyes and Wildcats square off in game two of the series tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. at Duane Banks Field. RHP Brody Brecht is set to matchup with RHP Jack Dyke.