Spartans Sweep Central in Iowa Conference Opener
Mar 29, 2014 | J.Crane
DUBUQUE, IOWA - The University of Dubuque Baseball team started the 2014 Iowa Conference season in outstanding fashion with a pair of victories against Central College on Saturday afternoon. The Spartans won the opener 6-4 behind 10 team hits in the seven inning game. UD won the second game, a nine inning game, 8-7 thanks in part to a three run seventh inning. Will Fogel (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake South) went 5-7 on the day with two doubles, two runs scored, two runs batted in, and two steals. Dubuque improves to 6-7 on the season and 2-0 in the Iowa Conference.
| Score by Innings | -- Game 1 -- | R | H | E | |||||||
| Central (8-4, 0-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | 4 | 8 | 3 |
| Spartans (5-7, 1-0) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | - | 6 | 10 | 2 |
| WIN: J.Eastman (1-2) LOSS: D.Wolken (3-1) | |||||||||||
| SAVE: J.Naval (2) | |||||||||||
| BOX SCORE | |||||||||||
UD took advantage of three Central errors in the first two innings to score three unearned runs. In the first, Casanova walked and advanced to third on a sac bunt and throwing error. A 6-4-3 double play scored Casanova for the first run of the game. Ryan opened the second with a double and scored on a throwing error by Central. Florio also scored in the second on a error by Central. The Spartans jumped on Central early with one run in the first, two in the second, and two in the third to take a 5-0 lead after three innings. Fogel, Daniel Casanova (Lake Tapps, Wash./Auburn Riverside), Austin McWhite (Orlando, Fla./Wekiva), and Steve Ryan (Loveland, Colo./Mountain View) all had two hits in the game. Fogel and Ryan each had two doubles. Casanova reached base in three of four plate appearances with two singles and a base on balls.
Fogel lined a double down the left field line to start the third and scored on a RBI single by McWhite. Ryan's second double of the game put runners on second and third with one out for Michael Riordan (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central). Riordan put down a perfect squeeze bunt to score McWhite and give UD a 5-0 lead.
Josh Eastman (Edgerton, Wis./Edgerton) earned the win on the mound with six innings pitched before handing the ball over to Justin Naval (Oak Lawn, Ill./Richards) for the seventh. After a lead off walk, Naval struck out two of the next three hitters to earn his second save of the season.
| Score by Innings | -- Game 2 -- | R | H | E | |||||||||
| Central (8-5, 0-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 7 | 10 | 1 |
| Spartans (6-7, 2-0) | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | X | - | 8 | 13 | 0 |
| WIN: T.Trifiletti (1-1) LOSS: M.Schroeder (0-1) | |||||||||||||
| BOX SCORE | |||||||||||||
The Spartans added a run in the third after McWhite led off the inning with a sinlge up the middle. A Central balk advanced McWhite to second before Ryan hit a RBI single to left to make the score 5-0. Central scored five in the fourth and two in the sixth to take a 7-5 lead. UD once again jumped out to an early lead in Game 2 of the IIAC Doubleheader against Central. Dubuque used two big innings to take down the Dutch with four in the second and three in the seventh. The scoring began in the second as UD scored four runs on five hits with the first run coming on a squeeze bunt by Ryan Karrick (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett). Casanova followed with a two run single and Fogel drove in one run to make the score 4-0.
A Central pitching change in the seventh sparked a three run inning for the Spartans. With one out and runners on first and second, McWhite lined a double down the left field line to score Casanova and Fogel to tie the game at 7-7. After a wild pitch, McWhite scored on a one out squeeze bunt by Ryan to give UD a 8-7 lead.
Tyler Trifiletti (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury) earned the win in relief of Dalton Garst (Winnebago, Ill./Winnebago). Trifiletti allowed only two hits in 5.2 innings including the final ten hitters faced.
Fogel led UD with three hits while Casanova, McWhite, Ryan, and Garst had two hits. Casanova also stole his lead leading 12th base of the season.
Dubuque did not commit an error in the game.
UP NEXT: The Spartans and Dutch continue their four game series on Sunday, March 30th at the UD Baseball Field. Game 1 of the doubleheader begins at Noon.
LIVE STATS: UD Baseball Stats
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