Spartans Win Series vs. Central
Mar 30, 2014 | J.Crane
DUBUQUE, IOWA - The University of Dubuque Baseball team opened some eyes around the Iowa Conference this weekend by taking the series with Central - three games to one! The Spartans won the first game on Sunday 2-1 before an 11-inning 3-2 loss in game two. UD swept Central on Saturday. UD freshman accounted for 26 of the teams 36 hits on the weekend with Will Fogel (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake South) leading the way with eight. Dubuque is currently 7-8 on the season and in second place in the IIAC at 3-1.
| Score by Innings | -- Game 1 -- | R | H | E | |||||||
| Central (8-6, 0-3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Spartans (7-7, 3-0) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | - | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| WIN: H.Miller (1-1) LOSS: J.McKown (1-2) | |||||||||||
| SAVE: J.Naval (3) | |||||||||||
| BOX SCORE | |||||||||||
Coming off a sweep on Saturday, the Spartans made another statement by winning a pitchers dual in the first game on Sunday. The teams combined for only nine hits with UD holding a 5-4 advantage. High School teammates Harley Miller (Oak Lawn, Ill./Richards) and Justin Naval (Oak Lawn, Ill./Richards) combined to shutdown the Dutch in the seven inning game. Miller went six innings to earn his first collegiate victory. Naval pitched a 1-2-3 seventh for his third save of the year.
UD played small ball to get their first run of the game in the bottom of the first. Daniel Casanova (Lake Tapps, Wash./Auburn Riverside) started the inning with a single to right field and advanced to second on a groundout. Casanova then stole third base and scored on a sac fly by Austin McWhite (Orlando, Fla./Wekiva) to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
| Iowa Conference Standings | ||
| School | IIAC | ALL |
| Wartburg | 4-0 | 10-6 |
| Dubuque | 3-1 | 7-8 |
| Simpson | 4-2 | 10-5 |
| Buena Vista | 2-2 | 13-3 |
| Luther | 2-2 | 8-6 |
| Central | 1-3 | 9-6 |
| Loras | 1-3 | 3-8 |
| Coe | 1-5 | 4-9 |
A two-out rally for Central in the top of the fourth tied the game at 1-1. It was not a tied game long as the Spartans answered back in their half of the inning. A leadoff double down the right field line by Fogel and passed ball setup McWhite for another scoring opportunity. Wasting no time, McWhite lined the first pitch of the at bat into left field for the RBI.
Miller and Naval combined to retire the final eight Central hitters to clinch the victory. Miller allowed four hits and struck out two in six innings pitched to pickup the win. Naval extended his scoreless inning streak to 9.1 innings.
Casanova recorded his third straight multi-hit game with two hits. He singled in the first and doubled in the fifth.
| Score by Innings | -- Game 2 -- | R | H | E | |||||||||||
| Central (9-6, 1-3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | 3 | 9 | 1 |
| Spartans (7-8, 3-1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 2 | 8 | 4 |
| WIN: A.Carr (1-0) LOSS: A.Kopp (1-3) | |||||||||||||||
| BOX SCORE | |||||||||||||||
The Spartans and Dutch needed extra innings to decide the winner of the final game of the series with Central eventually coming out ahead with a run in the 11th inning. Fogel, McWhite, and Vince Parisi (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) each had two hits in the game. Despite the loss, UD picked up its first series victory against Central since 2009.
UD jumped out a 1-0 lead with one run in the second. Senior Steve Ryan (Loveland, Colo./Mountain View) led off the inning with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a sac bunt. Ryan would score by hustling his way home on a one out ground ball, the Central throw forced the first baseman to the ground. Without missing a beat, Ryan turned the corner at third and slid in safely at home ahead of the throw. Central would tie the game at 1-1 with a run in the fourth.
A two-out RBI by Ryan put Dubuque ahead 2-1 in the sixth as UD retook the lead. Casanova started the rally with an infield single and stole second. A McWhite walk put runners on first and second for Ryan who lined a 3-1 pitch into centerfield. The Dutch tied the game at 2-2 in the eighth. Playing agressively, UD had runners thrown out at the plate in the eighth and ninth innings. Central eventually broke through with an unearned run in the 11th.
Starting pitcher Trent Van Egtern (La Crosse, Wis./Central) earned a no-decision going 7.2 innings with two runs (one-earned) allowed. Alan Kopp (Verona, Wis./Verona) took the loss despite allowing no hits in the 3.1 innings of relief.
Defensively, shortstop Ryan Karrick (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) finished with a season high eight assists. McWhite had a season high 18 putouts, tying the school record for putouts in a game.
UP NEXT: The Spartans return to the diamond on Tuesday, April 1st against Loras. The doubleheader at the UD Baseball Field will begin at 1:00 pm. The game was originally scheduled to be at Loras but poor field conditions caused the move to UD.
Live Stats: UD BASEBALL STATS
Stay up-to-date with all UD Athletics on Twitter at: @UDubuqueSports
