Luke Baughman went 3-3 and reached base four times, however Illinois State left 10 runners on base and fell to Iowa 8-2 Wednesday night at Redbird Field.
Taking the loss for Illinois State was freshman Kitt Kopach (0-1). In his first official college start, Kopach yielded only three hits and two earned runs in 4 2/3 innings. Kopach struck out two batters, by he walked four and hit two.
Michael Washburn picked up the first win of his career for Iowa, after going 2 2/3 inning of three hit relief ball, while striking out one Illinois State batter.
Kopachs control got him in trouble early, as the Hawkeyes plated two in the top of the second inning.
After walking the leadoff man Kopach gave up a single and eventually a run as Luis Andrulonis knocked in a run on a fielders choice. Then with two outs and runners on first and third, Iowa attempted to steal second and Redbird catcher Greg Blaesing threw the ball into centerfield, allowing the runner at third to score and giving Iowa a 2-0 lead after the top of the second.
Illinois State (19-32) responded with two of their own in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Nick Crist and Baughman would leadoff the inning with back to back singles. After Brian Wilkin moved the runners with a sac bunt, Blaesing and Chris Shepherd would have consecutive RBI singles, tying the ball game at two apiece.
Iowa (18-33) would regain that lead in the top of the fifth to make it 3-2 and would then add two more in the seventh inning. Jeff Engel would double in Kris Welker and Jason White would then knock in Engel with a single, giving Iowa a 5-2 lead heading into the seventh inning stretch.
The Hawkeyes would then add one more in the eighth and two in the ninth for the 8-2 win.
Illinois State will next be in action on Thursday, when they host the Bradley Braves in a all-or-nothing Valley series. The Redbirds and Braves are both fighting to get in the conference tournament and each team would need to win at least three, but probably all four games on the weekend to get into the conference tournament. Kyle Bloom (5-6) will make the start on Thursday for the Redbirds. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. from Redbird Field.
