Late-inning heroics pull Iowa past Northwestern in the series opener
The Hawkeyes didn’t know it, but heading into the bottom of the eighth inning on Friday night, pressure was quickly mounting. In Iowa City, Northwestern had a 3-1 lead with just six outs left to get to secure a series opening victory. Meanwhile, it was the unseen results that were starting to give an uneasy feeling. Maryland, Ohio State and Michigan State had all won their games, which meant an Iowa loss would drop them to 8th place in the standings, just a game clear of the Terps for 9th place.
Alarming.
Northwestern reliever Matt McClure retired the first two batters of the eighth and the Hawkeyes were staring a two-run, ninth inning deficit in the face unless something changed quickly. Back-to-back singles from Michael Seegers and Will Mulflur set the table, but they were still 0/5 on the night with runners in scoring position. Finally, the Iowa bats broke through.
“We hit a lot of balls hard tonight, just right at guys. Couldn’t get a chance to break it open in those middle innings,” said Cade Moss. “Then when the time came, everyone stuck with what they were doing…Couldn’t have wrote it up better.”
Ben Wilmes took a 1-1 pitch from McClure and drove it into right field for an RBI single to cut the ‘Cats lead to 3-2. Northwestern head coach Ben Greenspan went to the bullpen and brought in freshman reliever Garrett Shearer to try to escape the jam. Enter Captain Cade Moss. He sent the 2-2 offering from Shearer by the Wildcats infield and into centerfield for a two out, two-run single to give the Hawkeyes a 4-3 lead. The Iowa dugout and fans at Duane Banks Field erupted.
“Knew he was going to come at me with the fastball early and with two strikes, he liked to finish with the slider,” said Moss. “Ultimately, just kept fouling balls off and then got the slider. Didn’t hit it the hardest, but found a hole.”
“(The shortstop) was shifted over enough that it was barely going to sneak through. I didn’t think both runs would score, but we’ll take them.”
In the top of the ninth, Rick Heller turned to Jack Young. He took all of the electricity from the crowd and focused it into his pitching. He fell behind 2-0 to Vince Bianchina, but battled back and struck him out to begin the inning.
“The thing that was impressive to me, he threw ball one, ball two was a strike and got called a ball. We’ve had guys in the past that wouldn’t have overcome that to lead off the ninth in a one run game,” said Rick Heller. “Jack just went right back and pounded the zone with the third pitch.”
Young followed it up with a strikeout of pinch-hitter Lorenzo Rios and then put pinch-hitter Drewbie Pinkston behind in the count 0-2. The 0-2 offering from Jack was on the inside part of the plate and glanced off the elbow guard of Pinkston. For a moment, it looked like the Wildcats had some life, but home plate umpire Mark Wagers immediately signaled that Pinkston leaned into the pitch. They went to review, but the call was upheld. Game over, Hawks win.
“It was just an electric performance by Jack. Great composure,” said Moss. “He’s made a lot of improvements since last year and since the beginning of the year. He’s been a dude and he’s going to continue to be a dude for us.”
“This felt like the Hawks are back, ready to take care of business and play like we should.”
While Jack Young was able to close out the game, the job that Anthony Watts did as a short-notice starter that gave the Hawkeyes a chance. Northwestern plated a couple of runs in the top of the first, including an RBI single from Griffin Arnone, however, Watts settled in and gave the Hawkeyes some length. It was exactly what they needed. Anthony allowed two runs on four hits over 4.2 innings, including seven strikeouts to three walks. He threw 50 of his 78 (64.1%) pitches for strikes.
“Anthony did a great job and it was crucial that we got a good start out of him. He gave us more than maybe we thought we would get, getting us into the fifth inning. That was great,” said Heller.
Aaron Savary came out of the bullpen after Watts and was able to keep the Hawkeyes in it. Although Northwestern was able to extend their lead to 3-1 with an RBI single from Trent Liolios in the eighth inning, Savary built on the start from Watts. Three runs allowed through eight innings? The pitching staff will take it. Savary struck out three over 3.1 innings and threw 29 of his 49 (59.2%) pitches for strikes.
“The plan went really well with both Watts and Savary. If we were going to burn both of them tonight, you needed to find a way to get a win,” said Heller. “Pitching was key. We only had five free bases.”
On the mound for Northwestern, Luke Benneche and Matt McClure got through 7.2 innings with six strikeouts, one walk and just six hits allowed. As much as the Hawkeyes pitching plan went well, it was a best-case scenario for the Wildcats as well.
“Their starter Benneche was living on the corners early in the count. It made it tough on us,” said Heller. “(McClure) was just dotting up on the corners all night long. Inside corner, outside corner, down 0-2. He was really good.”
In the eighth, it was the hit from Michael Seegers that got the rally going. The Hawkeyes hit some balls hard through the first 3/4 of the game, but didn’t get rewarded very much. The luck came all at once in the eighth with hits finding the open holes in the Northwestern infield.
“We hadn’t had any luck all night and usually when you just keep playing and don’t whine about it and don’t pout about it, it’ll come back around to you,” said Heller. “Michael found a way to put it in play and didn’t hit it hard, but was able to extend the inning and then Mulflur had a great night with two hits, gets a hit.”
With the win, the Hawkeyes hold onto their two-game lead over Maryland in the Big Ten standings. The Terps currently sit in 9th place, which is the first spot out of the Big Ten Tournament. They also have a 1.5 game lead over Michigan State and Ohio State for 6th place in the standings.
Up Next, the Hawkeyes will look to clinch the series against Northwestern on Saturday afternoon. Brody Brecht will make the start for Iowa, while it will be Jack Dyke for the Wildcats. First pitch is set for 2:05pm CT on BTN+.
