St. Paul Defeats Iowa, Evens Series at Two

DES MOINES- Iowa didn’t waste any time getting on the board, as P.J. Higgins tripled in Rafael Ortega in the top of the first. In the second, Taylor Gushue padded Iowa's lead with a solo home run.

The game stayed locked at 2-0 until the bottom of the fifth inning when St. Paul crushed two home runs, ending the scoreless outing from Iowa starter Kohl Stewart.

Nick Gordon hit a three-run bomb to give the Saints the lead and Brent Rooker followed it with a solo shot. It was Rooker’s second home run of the series and third on the season.

Stewart suffered the loss, allowing four earned runs on five hits. He walked two, struck out three and gave up those two home runs over his five innings of work.

Iowa cut the lead to one run in the eighth inning, pushing across a run on a hit by pitch and three consecutive walks from St. Paul pitchers Robinson Leyer and Ian Hamilton.

Trayce Thompson led off the ninth with a single and eventually got to third, but the I-Cubs could not bring him all the way around to tie the game. Danny Coulombe earned his first save of the season, closing out the 4-3 victory for the Saints.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• Taylor Gushue stayed hot, going 2-3 with a run, a home run and an RBI. Through four games of the six-game set against St. Paul, Gushue is hitting .467 (7-for-15) with two runs, a double, a home run and seven RBI.
• Iowa was 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position tonight, leaving 10 men on base.
• For the first time all season for Iowa, the first team to score did not win the game.
• Iowa returns to Principal Park Tuesday, May 18 when they host the Omaha Storm Chasers. For more information or tickets, visit www.iowacubs.com.