Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Iowa
Baseball Loses Series Finale With Iowa, 9-2
4/29/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 29, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern baseball team dropped to 20-26 overall, 8-12 in the Big Ten with a 9-2 loss to Iowa at Rocky Miller Park Sunday afternoon. Senior Wesley Robinson (Bradenton, Fla./St. Stephen's), playing in his final Big Ten home game, hit a two-out, bases-loaded single in the sixth to drive in both of NU's runs. Also playing his last Big Ten home game, catcher Joe Hietpas (Appleton, Wis./North) went 2-for-4, driving singles to right and center field. Second baseman Eric Roeder (Onsted, Mich./Onsted) hit safely in two of his three chances on the day.
Junior Matt Thompson (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) and sophomore Travis Tharp (Boulder, Colo./Boulder) each had pinch hits, with Tharp belting his third double of the season. First baseman Jason Krynski (Niles, Ill./Niles West) and right fielder Dan Pohlman (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) each had a single in the game.
Junior Ryan Bos (Barrington, Ill./Lake Zurich) started on the mound for the Wildcats, throwing five and two-thirds innings. He gave up six runs on six hits, striking out six and walking one. Freshman Dan Konecny (Ripon, Wis./Ripon) threw the final three and one-third innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits. It was Konecny's team-leading 17th appearance of the season.
Iowa scored four runs in the fourth, three in the sixth and one in both the eighth and ninth innings. In the fourth, with Iowa already leading 1-0, Toby Humes took a Bos offering over the leftfield fence for a three-run home run. In the sixth, Jim Reid hit a bases-loaded double to score three runs. Reid was thrown out at third on the play, ending the inning. Humes struck again in the eighth inning, stroking a single to left to score Alex Dvorsky. In the final inning, Kurt Vitense doubled to left and scored on a Wildcat miscue.
NU is currently in seventh place in the race to make the Big Ten tournament. The Wildcats are one game back of Illinois with three games in hand. Illinois is 10-13 in the league and 23-25 overall. Ohio State leads with a 15-5 conference record with two Big Ten weekends remaining. The top six teams advance to postseason play, with the regular season champion hosting the 2001 Big Ten Baseball Championship. NU will finish on the road with trips to Penn State and Minnesota. Penn State is fourth in the conference and Minnesota is third, respectively.
