Iowa Baseball Wins Two of Three at Minny

The Iowa Hawkeyes traveled north to take on the once-powerful Minnesota Gophers in a game of hardball. The Hawkeyes leave town with a record of 25-9 and 4-5 in the conference after winning two-of-three against the Gophers. The Hawkeyes started this season hot but have cooled off somewhat lately. There is a lot of baseball to be played, but with the postseason in mind, Rick Heller’s squad can’t afford to leave too many wins on the table, especially against teams the Hawkeyes should beat. Iowa fans felt pretty confident with flamethrower Brody Brecht starting off the weekend. Unfortunately the Hawkeyes dropped game one by a score of 12-3. Brecht did not have his best stuff; he picked up the loss (he’s 3-2 this season) in just over four innings of work. He gave up three hits, five earned runs, four walks, and one hit batsman. The Hawkeyes’ other pitchers didn’t fare much better as the Hawks gave up 12 runs, 13 hits, and 11 walks on the day. Offensively Keaton Anthony continued to play like an All-Big-Ten player going two for four with a run batted in. The hit was Anthony’s seventh home run on the year. Anthony sits at #14 in the nation with seven long balls.

The Hawkeyes started another homegrown Iowa product Marcus Morgan for the second game of the Friday doubleheader. Morgan has tremendous stuff and he is coming around from a consistency standpoint. Morgan went five innings, gave up three hits, two runs, and he struck out five. Morgan improved to 1-1 on the year. He lowered his ERA from 5.67 to 5.34. Aaron Savary threw over three innings and did not give up a run. Savary’s ERA is just 1.11 on the year in four relief appearances and one start. Luke Llewellyn came in for the final two outs. Iowa’s bats had a little more life in the second game. Keaton Anthony and Ben Wilmes both collected two hits. Brayden Frazier and Michael Seegers provided some pop; Frazier drove in two runs and Seegers hit his third homer on the year.

Iowa went with Ty Langenberg trying to get the series win on Saturday. Langenberg kept the Hawkeyes afloat going 4 ¹⁄₃ innings giving up three earned runs. Iowa needs its starting pitchers to get the ball over the plate more consistently if it expects to play postseason baseball. Jack Whitlock, Will Christophers, and Jared Simpson came on to pitch 4 ²⁄₃ innings of scoreless ball. Iowa’s bats were on fire against Minny’s hurlers. Five Hawkeyes had multi-hit games. Iowa pounded out 18 runs on 13 hits. Kyle Huckstorf went two-for-four and drove in three. Keaton Anthony had two hits in four trips to the plate; he also drove in two runs. Hometown (Minnesota) kid Blake Guerin ripped a double in his one at bat. He will be a good one.

On Deck: Mid-week

The Hawkeyes have a rare week where they play two games. The Hawkeyes travel to Chicago this Tuesday, April 18 (6pm) to take on the University of Illinois-Chicago (14-17). The next day, April 19 (6pm). Iowa hosts Bradley (11-20). Other than getting some innings and at bats for backups, these mid-week games often “count against” the Hawkeyes when it comes to RPI/Strength of Schedule rankings. The Hawkeyes currently sit at 57th (out of 305) in the country in RPI. Illinois-Chicago is 141 and Bradley is ranked 157.

In the Hole: Weekend

The Hawkeyes will host second place Nebraska this weekend in a three game series. It’s tough to say that Iowa needs to sweep the Huskers, but the Hawks have to make some hay in the Big Ten standings and in the RPI.

Friday, April 21st 6pm.

Saturday, April 22nd 2pm.

Sunday, April 23rd 1pm.

All three games can be heard on the Hawkeye Radio Network and can be seen on B1G+.