April 16, 2008

Box Score

WATERLOO, Iowa -

                Travis Hendrix hit a sacrifice fly into right center in the bottom of the ninth to score Brett Featheston and give the University of Northern Iowa baseball team a 9-8 win over Minnesota. The Panthers trailed 5-0 in the game before coming back for their seventh straight victory.

                Chris Lopez hit a three-run home run for UNI (21-10), his ninth of the season. Brett Douglas was 3-of-5 from the plate, including a single in the bottom of the ninth that moved Featherston to third. Featherston finished 2-of-4 with two runs scored, including a solo home run, his seventh of the year.  Brandon Douglas finished 2-of-4 to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.

                Joe Gonzalez (1-0) earned the win for the Panthers. Scott Matyas (1-3) was charged with the loss for the Gophers (15-18).

Minnesota led off the top of the third with a pair of singles, and Eric Decker put Minnesota on the board with a three-run home run over the right field wall. Nate Hanson followed with a solo home run to put the Gophers in the lead, 4-0.

                Hanson singled in the top of the fifth, and Derek McCallum tripled off the right field wall to send Hanson home and give Minnesota a 5-0 advantage.

                Travis Hendrix reached on an error to lead off the top of the fifth. Eddie Almonte doubled down the left field line to move Hendrix to third, and a wild pitch allowed Hendrix to score.  Corey Ege drew a walk, and Deric Manrique singled into shallow left to score Almonte . Dane Embury hit into a fielder's choice. While Minnesota was trying to turn the double play, second baseman Jeremy Chlan knocked the ball into center field to allow Ege to score and cut the Gopher lead to 5-3.

                Brett Featherston hit a towering home run over the wall in centerfield in the bottom of the sixth inning to narrow the gap to 5-4.  

                Jeff DeSmidt hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh to stretch the Minnesota lead to 7-4.

                In the bottom of the seventh, Dane Embury and Brandon Douglas each collected one-out singles to give UNI runners at the corners. After fouling off the first two pitches, Chris Lopez hit a long home run over the left field wall to tie the game at 7-7.

                Cory Ege singled to lead off the bottom of the eighth. Minnesota retired the next two Panther batters, but Brandon Douglas double off the right field wall to score Ege from first and give UNI its first lead of the game, 8-7.

                With one out in the top of the ninth, Decker struck out but reached on a dropped third strike. He moved to second when Almonte made a diving catch of a pop fly in foul territory. With two out, DeSmidt laced a double down the right field line to score Decker and tie the game at 8-8. Gonzalez retired the next batter to send the Panthers into the bottom of the ninth in a tie game.

                Brett Featherston drew a lead-off walk in the bottom of the ninth. Brett Douglas followed with a single into right on full count that gave UNI runners on the corners with nobody out.  Hendrix hit a fly ball into shallow right center, and Featherston was able to score to break the tie and give the Panthers the win.

                The seven-game win streak is the longest for UNI since winning seven straight to open the 2006 season.

                The Panthers return to action on Friday when they open a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series with Creighton at 6:30 p.m.