Spartans Continue Tournament Chase
May 5, 2013 | J.Crane
DUBUQUE, IOWA – The University of Dubuque Baseball teams bid for a place in the 2013 Iowa Conference Tournament will come down to the final day of the regular season. The Spartans split the Sunday doubleheader against Simpson, winning the opener 10-8 before dropping game two, 5-4. UD will need to sweep Simpson on Monday afternoon to earn a spot in the IIAC Tournament. Dubuque is 11-23 overall and 9-17 in the IIAC.
Game 1: Dubuque-10, Simpson-8 BOX SCORE
Due to the poor field condition in Indianola, the UD-Simpson four game series was moved to Dubuque causing the Spartans to be the visiting team on their home field. UD wasted no time getting on the scoreboard scoring one run in the top of the first. Andrew Danna (Antioch, Ill./Antioch) doubled to right center and advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a groundout by Spencer Kuehn (Dana Point, Calif./Dana Hills). The run scored by Danna was his 120th as a Spartan, setting a new school record. Simpson answered with two runs of their own to lead 2-1 after one inning.
The Spartans batted around in the fourth as they scored five runs on four hits and three base on balls. Kuehn scored the first run of the inning on a RBI single by Michael Riordan (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central). UD would go on to score the final four runs of the inning with two outs as Nick Martin (Orland Hills, Ill./Andrew) began the scoring with a bases loaded two run single that scored Riordan and Austin Monfross (Big Timber, Mont./Sweet Grass). After Aaron Laskowski (Edgerton, Wis./Edgerton) walked to reload the bases, Danna hit his second double of the game to score two more runs. Simpson scored one run in the bottom half of the inning as UD lead 6-3.
Chris Briggs (Lombard, Ill./Montini) led off the fifth with a solo home run to right field. Briggs finished the day with three hits to lead UD at the plate.
UD scored three unearned runs in the sixth with two coming on a Storm error on a line drive to right field by Danna that left him on third base when the dust settled. Kuehn followed with an RBI single to score Danna. Simpson scored five runs in the sixth to make the score 10-8. Kuehn pitched a scoreless seventh to earn the save.
Josh Eastman (Edgerton, Wis./Edgerton) earned his third straight win on the mound.
Danna and Martin each finished with two hits. Kuehn finished with two RBI to give him a team high seven multiple RBI games on the season.
Game 2: Dubuque-4, Simpson-5 BOX SCORE
The Spartans scored in the first inning for the third straight game as they scored two runs on three hits. Laskowski and Danna led off the inning with singles and advanced to second and third on a sac bunt by Kuehn. Briggs hit a deep fly ball to center field that scored Laskowski and allowed Danna to advance to third. Riordan then followed with a RBI single. Simpson scored one in the inning as UD lead 2-1 after one inning.
Simpson scored one in the fourth and three in the fifth as UD was held scoreless in the second through sixth inning and trailed 5-2 after six innings. The Spartans would rally back in the seventh highlighted by a RBI single by Danna that brought UD within one run at 5-4. After a pitching change, Kuehn singled down the right field line to put runners on first and third. Both runners were stranded in the inning. UD once again left a runner in scoring position in the eighth as Jordan Gawronski (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) hit a two out triple.
Danna lead a group of five Spartans with two hits, his team high 12th multi-hit game of the season. Laskowski had two infield singles out of the leadoff spot. Kuehn, Riordan, and Martin each had two singles as well.
UD outhit Simpson 11-7 in the game.
Kuehn took the loss in game two going the distance allowing seven hits and striking out four.
UP NEXT: The Spartans and Storm will meet again on Monday afternoon for another doubleheader. Game one begins at 1:00 at UD.
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