OMAHA, Neb. — The University of Iowa baseball team earned a 5-4 come-from-behind victory at Creighton on Tuesday in its final road game of the season. The Hawkeyes trailed 4-0 entering the top of the seventh before scoring five runs over the final three frames to earn the one-run win. The contest was played at TD Ameritrade Park in downtown.
Three Hawkeyes, freshman Jake Mangler, senior Phil Keppler, and freshman Anthony Torres, recorded multiple-hit games to lead the Iowa offense. Mangler finished 2-for-4 with a run scored, securing his ninth multi-hit game of the season. Keppler went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, tallying his fourth three-hit game of the year. He has 13 multiple-hit contests this season. Torres finished 2-for-2 with a run scored, registering his first career multi-hit contest. Senior Chett Zeise notched two RBI. Iowa out-hit Creighton, 10-7. The Hawkeyes are 14-4 when out-hitting their opponents.
Creighton (21-26) struck first in the bottom of the opening frame. The Bluejays used a sacrifice fly to grab an early 1-0 lead.
Iowa (21-26) recorded singles in each of the first three innings, but was unable to push across any runs.
The home team extended its lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the third with a bases-loaded walk.
Creighton added to its lead in the bottom of the fifth, scoring two runs to make the score 4-0. The Bluejays used an RBI single through the right side to score their third run and scored their fourth on a Hawkeye throwing error.
The visitors answered with three runs in the top of the seventh. Mike McQuillan opened the frame with a single and Keppler followed with a double to right center. Keppler’s hit extended his hit streak to 10 games. With runners at second and third, Zeise launched a double to left center to score both and make the score 4-2. Torres singled to left to put runners at first and third. Freshman Nick Day followed with a sacrifice fly to cut the Creighton lead to 4-3.
With Mangler on third in the top of the eighth, Keppler’s third hit of the day, an RBI single to left field, evened up the score at 4-4.
In the top of the ninth, pinch hitter Bryan Niedbalski drove home Torres with a sacrifice fly to right for the game winner.
Starter Ricky Sandquist took a no-decision. The junior allowed two runs on three hits in two and two-thirds innings. Ben Bergman, Andrew Hanse, Taylor Kaufman, Tim Fangman, and Nick Brown saw action out of the Iowa bullpen. Brown earned the win (2-2). The senior tossed the final two innings, allowing no runs on one hit. He struck out three Bluejays.
Mark Winkelman took the loss for Creighton. He pitched two innings, allowing one run on two hits.
Iowa closes the regular season when it hosts No. 13 Purdue (39-10, 16-5) in a three-game set beginning Thursday at Duane Banks Field. Game one first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. The Hawkeyes and Boilermakers, the regular season Big Ten champions, will also play at 6:35 p.m. on Friday and at 1:05 p.m. on Saturday. Friday’s game will be televised live by BTN.
GAME 1 SUMMARY
IOWA (21-26) 000 000 311 — 5 10 1
CU (21-26) 101 020 000 — 4 7 1
WP – Brown (2-2)
LP – Winkelman (1-1)
