Spartans Host Duhawks
Apr 1, 2014 | J.Crane
DUBUQUE, IOWA - Due to poor playing condition on Loras' home field, the University of Dubuque Baseball team hosted Loras College on Tuesday afternoon at the UD Baseball Field. The Spartans undoing was on defense where they commited eight errors in the doubleheader. Dubuque lost the opener 9-4 before falling in game two 10-6. Freshman Austin McWhite (Orlando, Fla./Wekiva) finished the day with four hits, two runs, two doubles, a triple, and four runs batted in. UD is 7-10 overall and 3-3 in the Iowa Conference. The Spartans are one of six IIAC teams with a .500 conference record.
| Score by Innings | Game 1 | R | H | E | |||||||
| Loras (4-8, 2-3) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | 9 | 4 | 3 |
| Spartans (7-9, 3-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | - | 4 | 7 | 3 |
| WIN: J.Gerardy (1-2) LOSS: T.Trifiletti (1-2) | |||||||||||
| BOX SCORE | |||||||||||
Playing their fifth game in four days, the young Spartans were unable to keep the momentum going from their weekend series victory over Central. McWhite finished the game 2-4 with a double, triple, run scored, and RBI. UD was down 4-0 going into the bottom of the fourth when McWhite led off the inning with a triple to center field. After the next two hitters were retired without getting the ball out of the infield, Jacob Evans (Normal, Ill./Normal West) hit a slow roller to the Loras shortstop. Evans hustled down the line, putting pressure on the Duhawks and forcing an error leading to the first UD run of the game.
| Iowa Conference Standings | ||
| School | IIAC | ALL |
| Wartburg | 5-1 | 11-7 |
| Simpson | 4-4 | 10-7 |
| Dubuque | 3-3 | 7-10 |
| Buena Vista | 3-3 | 14-4 |
| Central | 3-3 | 11-6 |
| Luther | 3-3 | 9-7 |
| Loras | 3-3 | 5-8 |
| Coe | 2-6 | 5-10 |
The Spartans next big scoring opportunity came in the sixth as UD cashed in with two runs on two hits, one walk, and one Loras error. The first run of the inning came when Evans hit a sac fly with the bases loaded to score Gaetano Florio (Youngtown, Ariz./Willow Canyon). Pinch hitter Mac Shepherd (Burlington, Wis./Catholic Central) would drive in the second run of the inning with a single up the middle to make the score 9-3 Loras.
Leadoff hitter Daniel Casanova (Lake Tapps, Wash./Auburn Riverside) would get the Spartans on the scoreboard in the seventh using his speed. Casanova beat out an infield single and stole second to move into scoring position. With UD down to its last out, McWhite doubled to left field to score Casanova. The steal by Casanova was his IIAC leading 15th of the season.
Tyler Trifiletti (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury) took the loss on the mound dropping his record to 1-2 on the season. Reed Stumpf (Dubuque, Iowa/Hempstead) pitched a 1-2-3 seventh with one strike out.
| Score by Innings | Game 2 | R | H | E | |||||||||
| Loras (5-8, 3-3) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 10 | 12 | 1 |
| Spartans (7-10, 3-3) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 6 | 7 | 5 |
| WIN: W.Petrosky (1-3) LOSS: D.Garst (1-2) | |||||||||||||
| BOX SCORE | |||||||||||||
The defense once again proved to be the Spartans undoing in game two as UD commited five errors leading to three unearned runs in the first two innings. Casanova, McWhite, and Shepherd each had two hits accounting for six of the Spartans seven hits in the game.
After a pair of Loras runs in the top of the first, UD answered back with two of their own with Casanova and McWhite being right in the middle of the offense again. Casanova singled down the right field line, stole second and scored on a double by McWhite. McWhite took third on a wild pitch and scored on a error by the Loras shortstop.
The scoring continued in the second with Loras putting three unearned runs on the board. The Spartans once again answered with two run to make the score 5-4 after two innings. Michael Salazar (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain) led off the innings with a walk and advanced to second on a single by Shepherd. After the next two hitters were retired, Casanova drove a ball into deep left center for a two run stand up double. The Loras hitters continued to find holes in the UD defense with four runs on six hits in the top of the third to take a 9-4 lead.
The teams were held scoreless in the fourth before Loras scored one and UD two runs in the fifth. The big hit in the inning once again came from McWhite as he drove in Ryan Karrick (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) and Casanova. Neither team would score from the sixth through the ninth inning.
Dalton Garst (Winnebago, Ill./Winnebago) was the losing pitcher in the second game. Garst allowed five runs (two earned) in 1.2 innings. Justin Naval (Oak Lawn, Ill./Richards) threw three innings of relief, allowing one hit and one unearned run. Jacob Padilla (Victorville, Calif./Victor Valley) pitched three scoreless innings shutting down Loras in the seventh, eighth, and ninth. Padilla struck out three and allowed only one hit.
UP NEXT: The Spartans return to the diamond on Friday, April 4th at Coe. UD and Coe will play one-seven and one-nine inning game on Friday and Saturday to complete the four game series. Game one on both days is scheduled for 1:00 pm.
LIVE STATS: UD Baseball Stats
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