EVANSTON, Ill. — The University of Iowa baseball team rallied late, but fell to Northwestern, 7-6, in extra innings on Friday night at Rocky Miller Park.
The Hawkeyes fought back from a 5-3 deficit to tie the game in the top of the ninth inning. Junior Robert Neustrom led off a single to centerfield before senior Austin Guzzo followed with a two-out single to put runners on the corners.
After pinch runner Kace Massner moved into scoring position on catcher’s indifference, sophomore Justin Jenkins tied the game with a two-run single, making the score 5-5 to send the game into extras.
The Hawkeyes took the lead in the 10th. Junior Chris Whelan singled to start the frame before moving into scoring position on a Grant Judkins sacrifice bunt. Senior Matt Hoeg gave Iowa a 6-5 lead with an RBI to right field, but Iowa missed a chance for more when Ben Norman struck out to leave the bases loaded.
Northwestern rallied in the bottom of the 10th against reliever Grant Leonard, using a one-out walk and single to put the game-winning run on base. With two outs, the Wildcats’ Jack Dunn delivered a two-run single up the middle to give Northwestern the walk-off 7-6 victory.
The Hawkeyes will continue the series agains the Wildcats with a 2:00pm game on Saturday. We’ll have coverage on KJAN with pregame at 1:30pm.