Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Iowa *
Kontos KOs Hawkeyes, 3-0; 'Cats Sweep Sunday Doubleheader
5/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 2, 2004
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IOWA CITY, Iowa - Freshman George Kontos threw the first complete-game shutout of his young career, blanking the University of Iowa 3-0 Sunday afternoon in Iowa City. Starting the second game of Sunday's doubleheader, Kontos relied on his fastball, which was clocked at 92 mph late in the game. The nine-inning masterpiece is Kontos' longest outing as a Wildcat. The Illinois native also tied a career high in strikeouts (7).
With Kontos cruising, NU plated single runs in three different innings, improving its record to 19-21-1 overall, 8-12 in the Big Ten. The two-game sweep is the first doubleheader sweep of the season for the Wildcats.
NU scored its first run in the fourth inning when catcher Geoff Dietz hit a ground ball single to center field, scoring Jason Krynski from third. Krynski singled in his at bat, and moved to second when Jon Mikrut was cut down trying to steal third. Anthony Wycklendt hit an infield single, advancing Krynski to third, setting up Dietz's hit.
That's all Kontos would need. The right-hander threw just 99 pitches, striking out seven. Kontos got nine fly balls and nine ground ball outs in the contest, walking three. Junior J.A. Happ is the only other Wildcat hurler to throw a nine-inning complete-game shut out this season. Happ beat Indiana 2-0 earlier this year.
Third baseman Josh Lieberman executed a perfect safety squeeze in the seventh inning, scoring Dietz from third. Dietz hit a one-out single and moved to third when Chris Hayes lined a single to right. Three pitches later, Lieberman put the ball on the ground to the first base side, allowing Dietz to cross the plate.
NU added another insurance run in the eighth inning, as Dan Pohlman's one-out double came around to score on Mikrut's single down the left field line. It was Pohlman's second double of the game and third of the day. He hit a double in game one of the Sunday doubleheader.
Offensively, NU had 12 hits for the second straight game, led by Dietz's and Pohlman's 3-for-4 outings. Pohlman is now hitting .353 on the season. Hayes went 2-for-3, upping his season average to .300.
As a team, the Wildcats are hitting .301 overall (41 games) and .296 in the Big Ten (20 games). Ori leads the team with a .372 (54-for-145) batting average, and will contend for the Big Ten's best batting average with a .444 (32-for-72) average in conference games only.
NU is next in action when they host Illinois at Rocky Miller Park in a four-game Big Ten series over the weekend. Game one is scheduled for 3 p.m. (CDT) Friday afternoon.
