Back from the baseball game!

And what a game it was! The weather was decent, but hovering right in between warm and chilly for most of the time. When the sun was out, it was nice and warm, but those moments were few. But it wasn't bad, a thin coat was plenty enough to keep the wind off and keep me warm. Had it been a little cooler, the free Hawkeye knit hat that I got for being one of the (first) 500 fans would've kept me warm. It really is a nice hat, I'm impressed. They're probably just left-overs from the Hawk Shop, but that's fine by me.

The Hawks got out to an early 4-1 lead in the 4th, with Caleb Curry getting a two-run double and Justin Toole knocking him in. But North Dakota State eventually tied it up. After some shoddy fielding on both sides resulted in a run for each team, the score was tied at 5, and the game was going to extra innings. Nothing spectacular really happened in the first few extra frames, neither team could get much going. Iowa's Jason White started off the bottom of the 11th with a single, then got moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. He advanced to third on a ground out by Kevin Hoef. Then, with Dusty Napoleon at bat, White took off for home on the pitcher's first move, and won the game with the seldom-seen steal of home. It was exciting to say the least! One of the more unique happenings I've ever seen, I can't imagine a straight steal of home being called with two outs in extra innings all that often. So I'm glad I was there to witness the event, it ranks right up there with the no-hitter I saw Tim Sturdy throw for the Quad-City River Bandits, and last year when Travis Sweet hit his first collegiate home run, a three run shot with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game against Nebraska. Sure, the Hawks ended up losing by two in 13 innings, but it was a pretty incredible moment.

Jake Christensen was in the stands for a couple of innings, apparently meeting up with some people he knows on the women's soccer team, including Nate Kaeding's sister Jackie. Why do I know these things? Because I'm some weird Hawkeye fanatic. And she looked just like a female version of Nate.

Well, I think it's almost NyQuil time again for me. I started feeling a little crappy during the game, and got a headache, so I opted to not stay for the nightcap. And besides, how could the second game possibly top the ending to the first?