Hawkeyes keep Big Ten baseball tourney hopes alive, 5-1

IOWA CITY — It had been a while, but Iowa got the Big Ten series win it sorely needed.

The Hawkeyes took advantage of three Michigan State errors in a three-run first inning and won the rubber game of the Big Ten baseball series, 5-1, in front of 1,116 fans Sunday at Duane Banks Field.

'It was big,' Iowa Coach Rick Heller said. 'We've definitely played well at home. We have to do a better job on the road. Next week is going to determine our fate.'

Iowa (24-24, 10-11 Big Ten) is tied for ninth in the Big Ten with Illinois, but owns the tiebreaker by virtue of its series victory – its last before Sunday – over the Illini on April 10.

Only eight teams qualify for the Big Ten tournament, and Iowa remains a game behind both Maryland and Penn State, which are tied for seventh. After a trip to Western Illinois Tuesday, the Hawkeyes visit the Nittany Lions (27-26, 11-11) for three games beginning Thursday.

'I think we're playing good baseball,' Heller said. 'I think all year we have, we just ran into some good teams that played pretty well against us. It's not going to be easy.'

Starting pitcher Calvin Mathews retired the first 11 Michigan State batters in order as the Hawkeyes built a 3-0 lead. A two-run single by Mason McCoy in the bottom of the fifth extended the Iowa advantage to 5-0.

Junior reliever Ryan Erickson (2-1) tossed four innings out of the bullpen for the win.

Michigan State scored a run on a fielder's choice with two outs in the top of the eighth inning, which prompted Heller to relieve Erickson with freshman Zach Daniels.

A former Cedar Rapids Kennedy prep, Daniels surrendered a hit to load the bases, then recorded a strikeout to end the bases-loaded threat. Daniels returned for the ninth inning and retired the lineup in order for his fourth save this season.

'I've been put in those situations before this year,' Daniels said. 'I think the experience has helped me with late-inning, pressure situations. Once I got out of that inning, I just wanted to close it down and get our seniors a win.'

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