IU wins series finale against Hawkeyes

While the Bloomington campus was buzzing for the Little 500, the IU baseball team played a four-game series in Iowa City against the Hawkeyes. After dropping the first three games of the series to Iowa, the Hoosiers rebounded Sunday and picked up a victory. IU coach Bob Morgan said he was pleased to get the win Sunday but is disappointed in his team's overall play.\n"It was good to get the win after losing two heartbreakers on Saturday," Morgan said. "Pitching and defense is where everything starts and we're in a funk right now."\nThe Hoosiers were shutout 6-0 in the series opener Friday evening and tallied only five hits against Iowa starter Luke O'Loughlin. IU then dropped both games in Saturday's doubleheader, despite a strong outing from senior pitcher Brian Lortz, who allowed only two runs in seven and one-third innings pitched in the second game. Junior center fielder Reggie Watson paced the IU offense Saturday with a combined three hits, two stolen bases and three runs scored.\nAfter losing the back-to-back one-run games in Saturday's doubleheader, the Hoosiers rebounded on Sunday and earned the victory. IU trailed 5-1 after five innings until the offense exploded for seven runs in the sixth inning to take the lead. The offense then added three more runs in the eighth inning to seal the victory.\n"We came in today still knowing we have a lot of games ahead of us," said junior first baseman Ryan Parker. "We wanted to come out and start getting on the right track."\nParker led off with a single in the deciding sixth inning of Sunday's game and contributed three hits and an RBI. Junior left fielder Jay Brant also took part in the onslaught with a three-run double in the inning. Brant finished the day with two hits and four RBIs. Junior Adam Poole was credited with the win, while freshman pitcher Chris McCombs picked up his first save of the season.\n"It felt really good," McCombs said of the save. "We needed the win and I was fortunate enough to contribute to that."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Matt Mattucci at mmattucc@indiana.edu.