CEDAR RAPIDS - Even if it was just for one night, the University of Northern Iowa baseball program could forget about its season of frustration for a moment of celebration.

Thanks to seven unearned runs, including six in the eighth inning, the Panthers claimed bragging rights in the final Corridor Classic with a 9-3 triumph over Iowa before 1,953 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Starting with the university's decision to discontinue the program at season's end in late February, it has been a spring of adversity for the Panthers. Injuries and inconsistent play on the diamond have resulted in a 3-14 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play.

"This is the game I've been looking forward to all season long," Panther second baseman Gabe Schultz said. "In those last couple innings, we just looked at each other and said, 'We're not going to lose this game. We can't lose this game.'"

UNI head coach Rick Heller, 11-7-1 against Iowa, received e-mails in the last week from former players and alumni, encouraging his club to beat the Hawkeyes. Last week, Iowa scored two runs late to clip UNI, 5-4, in Iowa City.

This time, the Panthers (16-24) capitalized on three Hawkeye errors and several other mental miscues to score eight runs in the seventh and eighth innings to snap their season-long six-game losing skid. It also gave them four wins in five tries against the Big Ten Conference.

"It feels good to win again," Heller said. "I'm happy for our players, happy for our alumni. There's no hiding the fact our guys enjoy playing against Iowa, so to be able to win the last one makes me feel good."

To top it off, it was former Iowa high school standouts who delivered for the Panthers.

True freshman left-hander Reggie Hochstedler, an Iowa Mennonite alum, threw 4 2/3 innings of relief, allowing just one run and keeping UNI within reach after a rocky start.

"He was unbelievable," senior Brett Douglas said. "I'm so happy for him because he's had a difficult year and not had a lot of chances to pitch, but he's been outstanding the last two times out."

Schultz, batting just .200 coming into the game, was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. The Kee High alum has been bothered by a wrist injury for a large portion of the season.

With the game tied in the eighth and runners at second and third, he came to bat.

"I just wanted to put the ball in play," Schultz said. "I just knew I didn't want to go down swinging and bring Grant (Grgurich) up with two outs."

Schultz hit a dribbler about 80 feet that Iowa first baseman T.J. Cataldo booted, allowing Kalvin Johnson and Cory Ege to score and giving UNI a 5-3 lead.

Travis Bennett, who hails from Cedar Rapids, added two more insurance runs in the frame with a bases-loaded single. He was 2-for-5 with three RBIs.

"This night couldn't have gone any better for us," Douglas said. "We hung in there, we fought and took advantage of some mistakes they made.

"Everybody kind of knew this was going to be the game. With the way our season has played out in the conference, this was our biggest game now. We came out focused and ready to play."

Iowa coach Jack Dahm said losing the annual rivalry will hurt his program, too.

"It's very disappointing," said Dahm, whose club slipped to 14-26. "UNI is always a thorn in everybody's side to play because they play so hard. It's a game that has always helped us prepare for Big Ten games.

"It's a shame we won't have that now. There are a lot of opportunities lost from this in the state of Iowa."

Contact Matt Coss at (319) 291-1468 or matt.coss@wcfcourier.com

Iowa ab r h bi N. Iowa ab r h bi

Burke,c 4 2 1 0 Ferguson,cf 3 0 0 0

Hoef,3b 2 0 1 1 Arp,ph 1 0 0 1

Durant,rf 2 0 0 0 Douglas,rf 4 1 1 0

Brown,dh 3 0 1 2 Bennett,lf 5 1 2 3

Cataldo,1b 4 0 0 0 Summers,dh 5 0 1 2

Flanagan,lf 4 0 0 0 Johnson,1b 5 1 0 0

Zeise,ss 4 0 0 0 Taliaferro,c 3 2 2 0

McCool,2b 4 0 1 0 Ege,ss 2 2 0 0

Muller,cf 3 1 1 0 Schultz,2b 3 1 2 2

Totals 30 3 5 3 Totals 33 9 9 8

Iowa 101 000 100 - 3 5 3

Northern Iowa 010 000 26x - 9 9 0

E - Cataldo (6), Zeise (8), McCool (5). DP - UNI 1. LOB - Iowa 7, UNI 8. 2B - Douglas (6). SB - Muller (11); Schultz 2 (4), Bennett (5), Ege (6). CS - Hoef (4). SH - Hoef; Taliaferro, Schultz. SF - Arp.

Pitching summary

Iowa IP H R ER BB SO

Hippen 3.0 3 1 1 0 2

Schatz 3.1 3 2 1 0 1

Turnbull (L,1-1) 0.2 1 1 0 1 1

Schurz 0.2 2 5 0 3 1

Pacha 0.1 0 0 0 0 0

Northern Iowa IP H R ER BB SO

O'Rear 2.0 1 2 2 2 2

Airey 0.1 1 0 0 1 0

Hochstedler 4.2 3 1 1 0 2

Pinedo (W,2-6) 2.0 0 0 0 1 1

HBP - by O'Rear (Hoef, Durant); by Schatz (Ege).

WP - Airey 2, Hochstedler.

U - Bruns (plate); Oberbrockling (first); Droll (third).

T - 3:13. Att - 1,953.