The Iowa baseball team received a pair of stellar pitching performances over the weekend but ended its weekend series against Michigan with only one win to show for it.
The Hawkeyes and Wolverines played a double-header on May 5 because of the bad weather that was forecast for Sunday. Iowa’s starting pitchers did more than simply keep the Black and Gold in both ball games, but only Sasha Kuebel left Banks Field with a win.
Kuebel threw a complete game to lead the Hawkeyes to victory in the nightcap and avoid a sweep.
The freshman earned his fifth victory of the season by allowing 1 earned run on 6 hits in a 7-2 Iowa win. Kuebel is now 5-0 on the season with a 3.03 ERA, the lowest among Hawkeye starters and second-lowest on the team behind Taylor Kaufman’s 2.96.
Left-hander Matt Dermody fell victim to an extra-inning comeback by the Wolverines in the first game. Michigan scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 10th off of Iowa relievers Nick Hibbing and Tim Fangman for a 8-2 victory.
Dermody pitched 71⁄3 frames of shutout baseball while allowing 5 hits. He once again gave Iowa a chance to win but left without one. Dermody threw a complete game in his last home outing, April 21 against Penn State, but he was bested by Nittany Lion starting pitcher Steven Hill’s no-hitter.
The Hawkeyes are now 1-10 on the season when Dermody starts.
Michigan also won the series opener on May 4, 11-0. The Wolverines scored in five different innings, and catcher Coley Crank went 3-for-3 with a pair of home runs and 4 RBIs.
Hawkeye starter Jarred Hippen was roughed up by the Wolverine bats to the tune of 6 earned runs and 10 hits in five innings of work. It was Hippen’s shortest start in Big Ten competition this season, and Iowa’s ace now has the highest ERA among the team’s top starters at 4.83.
Senior Phil Keppler had a solid weekend at the plate with two multi-hit games; both came during the double-header. Keppler collected 5 hits over the weekend, and his team-leading batting average sits a .342.
Freshman Eric Toole also had a notable day swinging the bat by bringing in 2 runs in Iowa’s lone win of the series.
The Hawkeyes will next be in action on May 11, when the team will travel to East Lansing, Mich., for a three-game series with the Spartans.
— by Ben Schuff
