By Pete Ruden
Just like the March 24 Iowa/Purdue matchup, the March 25 game included a rain delay and a lot of potential runs not crossing the plate
But this time, Iowa picked up a 5-1 victory for its first Big Ten win of the season.
During the game, four runners were tagged out at home.
It took awhile, but both teams were able to get on the board eventually. Purdue used a safety squeeze to score in the top of the fifth, and Iowa’s Justin Jenkins plated Mason McCoy with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth.
Things finally started clicking for Iowa in the bottom of the eighth when Jake Adams blasted a ball down the right field line for an RBI double to give the Hawkeyes a 2-1 lead.
It ended up being exactly what Iowa needed on a chilly afternoon.
Jenkins added to that with another RBI on a single that brought Adams in.
Pinch hitter Luke Farley then sent a ball over the left fielder’s head to score Jenkins and give Iowa a commanding 4-1 lead.
Matt Hoeg piled on with a sacrifice fly to get another run across.
Those 5 runs gave the Hawkeyes all they needed to close out the game and pick up their first Big Ten win of season.
“It was kind of a big relief,” Adams said. “We’ve been hitting the ball well this series, and finally something went our way.”
Though the scoreboard didn’t reflect it for the majority of the game in terms of runs scored, Iowa was able to gather 15 hits.
The third game of the series is scheduled to start at 1:05 March 26 at Banks Field.