Iowa Falls to Alabama

FRISCO, Texas – The University of Iowa baseball team fell to Alabama, 12-2, on Friday night at Riders Field in the Frisco College Baseball Classic.

Alabama got on the board immediately with a three-run homer in the bottom of the first. Sophomore Tyler Guerin responded with back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning and retired the side in order in the top of the second.

The Crimson Tide extended their lead with a solo homer in the top of the third. Senior Justin Hackett threw a 1-2-3 top of the fourth and followed with another scoreless inning in the top of the fifth.

“I thought Justin Hackett did a good job of coming in and slowing the game down for us. I didn’t think we were having bad at-bats, and we hit some balls hard,” said head coach Rick Heller. “I was hoping we could hang around and get a big inning late, but it didn’t happen. Tate Slage came in and did a nice job as well. It’s a tough situation to be in a game like that, but I think he did a great job.”

In the bottom of the fifth, senior Gable Mitchell singled to drive in redshirt junior Ben Swails for his second hit of the game, putting the Hawkeyes on the board. Alabama answered with two runs in the top of the sixth and added another run in the top of the eighth.

“Until the ninth, we were still within striking distance,” said Heller. “I thought our guys played hard and stayed in the game. We just kept competing, but it didn’t go our way tonight.”

Iowa tried to close the gap in the bottom of the eighth when redshirt junior Kellen Strohmeyer singled to score senior Caleb Wulf. Alabama sealed the game in the top of the ninth, adding five runs, including a grand slam.

OF NOTE
- Stromeyer and Mitchell each recorded two hits and an RBI.
- Mitchell extended his hitting streak to 11 games and has reached base in 11 straight games.
- This marks Mitchell’s sixth multi-hit game of the season.

UP NEXT
Iowa will take on Houston in the Frisco Classic tomorrow at noon.