April 27, 2007
Box Score
WATERLOO, Iowa. - Staff ace Aaron Jenkins went the distance for the University of Northern Iowa baseball team Friday, tossing a three-hit shutout and striking out 11 in the Panthers' 5-0 victory over Indiana State.
After Jenkins (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park) faced the minimum in the top of the first, the Panther offense plated a run on a bases-loaded groundout by Brett Featherston (Epworth, Iowa/Western Dubuque) and another on an Indiana State error. Two runs in the first put the Panthers up 2-0 after one.
A one out double in the fourth ended Jenkins' no-hitter, but the junior retired the next two batters to end the Sycamore threat and leave the fourth inning with UNI's 2-0 lead intact.
In the fifth, Brandon Douglas (St. Charles, Iowa/I-35), dropped a beautiful suicide squeeze down the third base line, scoring Deric Manrique (Sioux City, Iowa/North) and giving the Panthers a 3-0 lead.
Eric Hoffmann (Erskine, Minn./Win-E-Mac) slapped a bases-loaded groundball up the middle in the sixth, scoring Jeremy Weih (Wilton, Iowa/Wilton) and padding the Panther advantage to four runs. Douglas followed with a line drive to centerfield to score Travis Hendrix (Sonora, Calif./Sonora) and give UNI a five-run lead through six innings.
The Sycamores led off the seventh with a double, but Jenkins settled back in and retired the side to escape the inning with the shutout still in play.
Jenkins walked the bases loaded in the ninth after sitting down two Sycamore batters. After running the count full on pinch-hitter Paul Strack, Jenkins pulled the string on a curveball and struck him out, ending the game and securing the three-hit shutout.
The win put Jenkins at 2-3 on the season and ran his Missouri Valley Conference-best strikeout total to 96.
Douglas went 3-3 with a pair of RBI on the night. Manrique scored two runs and finished the night 1-3. The Panther offense scored five runs on six hits in the win.
The Panthers move to 18-19 overall, 4-9 in the conference. Indiana State moves to 19-20 overall, 2-11 in the Valley.
UNI and Indiana State meet again Saturday for game two. First pitch is at 2 p.m.
