Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Iowa
Iowa Takes Nightcap 8-3
4/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 19, 2008
Box Score
IOWA CITY, Iowa -
Northwestern failed to continue its offensive firepower from the opening game of its doubleheader with Iowa on Saturday as the Hawkeyes took the nightcap by a score of 8-3. The Wildcats (11-17, 6-8) won the first game of the twinbill 13-5.
Iowa (14-19, 5-9) dented the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning, tallying a pair of runs off of Bo Schultz. Kevin Hoef started the inning with a double, moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a wild pitch. With two down, Caleb Curry singled, stole second and scored on a basehit by Kurtis Muller.
The Hawkeyes expanded their lead to 5-0 with a trio of runs in the third. Justin Toole had an RBI single, Curry had a run-scoring triple and Muller had a sacrifice fly in the frame.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats had trouble getting things going against Iowa starter Matt Mossey. The senior righty did not allow a hit until there was one out in the fourth when Jake Goebbert had a solid single back up the box.
Northwestern finally got on the board with a run in the top of the fifth with an unearned run. Tony Vercelli was able to reach on a one-out error and then advanced to third on a perfectly executed hit-and-run by Chad Noble. Tommy Finn would bring home Vercelli from third with his second sacrifice fly of the day. Another hit by Jake Owens put runners on the corners once again, but NU was unable to any closer.
Reliever Matt Gailey set down the first five Iowa batters he faced before running into trouble with two down in the fifth. Back-to-back doubles by Toole and Curry got the Hawkeyes their five-run lead right back.
The Wildcats finally got things going in the top of the sixth as it cut Iowa's lead in half, but could have posted a much bigger inning. A single by Aaron Newman, a walk by Goebbert and an RBI single by Mike Kalina chased Mossey from the game. Lefty Andrew Porter came on in relief and hurled a wild pitch before a run-scoring single by Chris Lashmet got Northwestern within 6-3 with runners on the corners and no one out. However, Porter was able to fan the next three Wildcat batters to end the rally.
Iowa got those two runs right back, though, in the bottom of the sixth to account for the final margin.
Schultz (3-5) took the loss for Northwestern, surrendering seven hits and five earned runs in three innings of work. Mossey (1-3) picked up the win for Iowa, allowing three runs (two earned) in five innings pitched. Porter worked the final two innings to earn his third save.
The teams conclude their four-game series Sunday with another doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
