Baseball’s 4-run Rally Falls Short as Spartans Drop IIAC Home Opener
Apr 8, 2016
BOX SCORE
DUBUQUE, Iowa – Junior outfielder Austin McWhite belted a two-run homer, his first of the season, in a four-run seventh inning, but it wasn’t enough as the University of Dubuque baseball team fell to Simpson, 7-6, on a Friday afternoon filled with intermittent weather delays and snow flurries.
The Spartans (8-9, 1-4 Iowa Conference) appropriately played the Storm in a three-hour and 12 minute, seven-inning game that featured four rain/snow delays and multiple tarp pulls.
Despite the cold, both teams got hot late with Simpson (5-13, 2-5 Iowa Conference) sealing the deal in the decisive, four-run sixth inning. The Spartans surrendered a pair of RBI doubles and the eventual game-winning run on a fielding error with two outs.
UD countered and led off the bottom of the seventh with three straight hits that included shortstop Gaetano Florio’s RBI-triple and rightfielder Jarad Clevenger’s infield RBI-single.
Centerfielder Austin McWhite calmly stepped up and belted a two-run dinger, his only hit of the day, with one out to conclude the Spartan scoring. The Spartans stranded two on base to end the game.
Spartan starter Doug Van Dyke (1-2) took the loss after surrendering three earned runs and six hits in 5.0 innings of work through multiple delays.
Storm starter Brock Borgeson (3-2), aided by a first-inning home run in the game's second at-bat, claimed victory despite giving up six earned runs and 11 hits in 6.1 innings.
UD outhit Simpson, 12-11, in their sixth straight defeat, four of them by one run, to the Storm. The Spartans dropped to 25-68 in the all-time series.
Friday’s game two was suspended after eight innings due to darkness with the Spartans leading 5-2.
UD will finish up game two then proceed with the final two games of the series at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 9 at the Chlapaty Sports Complex.
