April 27, 2007

Box Score

EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's baseball team dropped Friday's Big Ten Conference game against Iowa 16-6 at Rocky Miller Park in Evanston. The Wildcats were out-hit 20-10, dropping to 10-26 overall, 3-14 in the Big Ten. Freshman Jake Goebbert was 3-for-4 with three doubles in the contest. The two teams are back in action tomorrow afternoon, with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Both games will be seven-inning contests.

The Wildcats jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after two innings of play. But a three-run Iowa third catapulted the Hawkeyes to the lead.

Senior Mike Kalina (Munster, Ind./Munster) scored NU's first run of the game and recorded his first RBI in the first inning with a bases-loaded fielder's choice groundball.

Junior Jake Owens (Stevens Point, Wis./Pacelli) laced his first triple of the year for NU's second run in the second inning. Catcher Geoff Dietz (Lake Zurich, Ill./Lake Zurich) scored on the play.

An RBI triple, a solo home run and a wild pitch attributed to Iowa's three runs in the top of the third inning.

NU responded with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to recapture the lead 4-3, using a pair of doubles and two singles. Owens tallied his second RBI of the game with a single up the middle that scored shortstop Tommy Finn (Valparaiso, Ind./Andrean) from second. Finn doubled in his at-bat. Freshman first baseman Jake Goebbert (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) followed with the first of his three doubles into the left centerfield gap. Owens scored on the play.

In a back-and-forth battle, the Hawkeyes retook the lead with two runs in the top of the fifth inning. They scored two runs on three hits, the big blow coming on a two-out, bases-loaded, two-RBI single.

Iowa added one more run in the top of the sixth to take a 6-4 lead.

NU tied the game 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning. Junior right fielder Antonio Mule (Lodi, N.J./Lodi) hammered his fifth home run of the year, a solo shot to right centerfield. Goebbert doubled and scored on Kalina's infield groundout.

That's when the wheels fell off.

Iowa would go on to score 10-unanswered runs, as NU used six pitchers out of the bullpen in the final two innings. Senior Andrew Smith (Fort Mitchell, Ky./Beechwood) took the loss.

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