Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Iowa
Baseball Team Tops Hawkeyes, 8-4
4/28/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 28, 2000
EVANSTON, ILL. - Sophomore pitcher Zach Schara (Madison, Wis.) allowed only one run over eight innings to lead the Northwestern baseball team (24-19, 8-9 Big Ten) to a 8-4 win over Iowa (13-30, 6-15) in the opener of a four-game set in Iowa City.
Northwestern scored a single run in the first and two in the second and were never threatened after that. Shortstop Jeremy Kurella (Dunedin, Fla.) opened the game with a hit and promptly stole second. A groundout moved him to third, where he scored on an error by Iowa third baseman Ian Mattiace. A leadoff single by Brandon Ackley started the second-inning rally. After a hit batsman and a walk loaded the bases with two outs, Bob Dainton hit a two-run double, scoring Ackley and Kris Musselman. Iowa responded with a run in the bottom of the second, but NU added a run in the fourth before sealing the win in the seventh. Pat Thompson drove in Dainton with a double before coming around to score on a Travis Tharp single. A two-run double by Joe Hietpas in the eighth closed the scoring for the Wildcats.
Schara was in control throughout, allowing the Hawkeyes only four hits in his eight innings of work, walking two and striking out seven to improve to 6-4 on the year. Dainton finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored while Kurella went 2-for-4 and pushed his Big Ten-leading stolen base total to 31 with a pair of swipes. That gives him the Northwestern single-season record, as well, with 13 games still to play.
The Wildcats and the Hawkeyes will resume play with a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon in Iowa City beginning at 1 p.m.
