March 3, 2007

The Notre Dame-Iowa baseball game was halted due to rain at 2:05 p.m. and still is in a rain delay (as of 5:00 p.m.). The hopes are to resume the game at 6:00 p.m., with the Irish set to bat in the bottom of the seventh, trailing 8-1. The ND-Nebraska game originally scheduled for Saturday at 4:00 p.m. now has been moved to Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. – while hopes are for Stetson and Iowa still to play Saturday night.

Iowa scored in five of the first six innings to claim an 8-0 lead before the Irish pushed across a run in the sixth. Freshman leftfielder Brayden Ashdown – making his second start of the season – sparked the run-scoring sequence, after pulling a 1-2 pitch into the leftfield corner for a leadoff double. Pinch-hitter Austin Pearce’s pinch-hit flyout advanced the runner and Brett Lilley drew a full-count walk, bringing righthander Scott Brune out of the bullpen. A shallow flyout left Ashdown at third but Jeremy Barnes delivered the RBI, slicing a 1-0 fastball down the rightfield line for an opposite-field double.

Junior lefthander Wade Korpi is the pitcher of record for the Irish, after allowing six runs (three earned) on eight hits and two walks while striking out five in 4.1 innings of work. Iowa sophomore righthander Steve Turnbull took a no-hitter into the fifth and ultimately allowed the single run on two hits and one walk while striking out six Irish batters in 5.1 innings of work.

Travis Sweet doubled and scored an unearned run to open the scoring (after a passed ball and sacrifice fly) in the top of the first. The Hawkeyes then tacked on three runs in the third (one unearned), with a leadoff home run by Jason White preceding singles by Sweet and Kevin Hoef (RBI) while an errant pickoff throw by freshman catcher Ryan Smith allowed the game’s fourth run to score.

Iowa added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, with freshman righthander Andrew Scheid relieving Korpi with a runner on in the fifth. Scheid’s first appearance with the Irish included allowing a pair of unearned runs on two hits and two walks in 1.2 innings (with one K).

(a partial linescore follows below):

Iowa 1-0-3 1-1-2 0 () () – 8 10 0
Notre Dame 0-0-0 0-0-1 () () () – 1 3 2

Steve Turnbull (W, 1-0), Scott Brune (6) and Ben Geelen.
Wade Korpi (L, 1-2), Andrew Scheid (5), Sam Elam (7) and Ryan Smith.

Doubles: Brayden Ashdown (ND), Jeremy Barnes (ND), Travis Sweet (ND).