UI Athletics news release
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa baseball team fell in the finale of its series against No. 1 UCLA, 14-6, on Sunday afternoon at Duane Banks Field.
“They are going to do that to a lot of teams,” head coach Rick Heller said. “But we didn’t make them work very hard, and that is what hurts the most. I thought we would come out and fight. I thought we had made progress on the mound with getting ahead in the count, throwing strikes and not allowing leadoff guys on. We had been doing better at that, and then the last two games of the series were a free-base fest. When you do that — like today with 11 free bases — and then you give up four home runs and four doubles, you can’t give up damage.”
Redshirt freshman Kyle Alivo made his third start of the season, throwing three innings and striking out three.
The Hawkeyes struck first in the bottom of the first inning when senior Miles Risley scored on a wild pitch to give Iowa a 1-0 lead.
UCLA answered in the top of the third with a solo home run to right field, followed by an RBI single to take a 2-1 advantage. The Bruins took control an inning later, plating six runs in the fourth. UCLA added a pair of home runs in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 12-1.
Iowa found a spark in the bottom of the seventh. Graduate student Matthew Delgado led off the inning with a single up the middle. Senior Gable Mitchell followed with a double, and Risley launched a three-run home run to left field to cut the deficit to eight.
The Hawkeyes carried that momentum into the eighth as Mitchell connected for a two-run home run, making it 12-6.
The Bruins capped the scoring in the top of the ninth with another two-run home run to left field.
Five additional Hawkeyes saw action out of the bullpen, including graduate student Joe Husak, who pitched two innings and struck out two, and senior Ganon Archer, who worked one inning and fanned two. Cole Moore tossed two scoreless innings, allowing no runs and no hits.
OF NOTE
- Iowa turned a triple play in the top of the second inning.
- Risley hit his third home run of the season.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes travel to Peoria, Illinois, on Tuesday to face Bradley at 6 p.m. at Dozer Park.