Hawkeyes shutout by Sam Houston State

The Hawkeyes arrived in Round Rock well aware that they were set to play three games against three really quality opponents. The goal in mind was to put together three solid performances and come away with a couple of wins that will look good come tournament time. Unfortunately in the opener tonight, Sam Houston State pitched better and they hit better than Iowa did. Coltin Atkinson shut down the Iowa offense and the mound, while the Bearkats offense racked up 15 hits en route to a 6-0 shutout victory.

“He was really impressive. He just pounded the zone. Pretty much had comannd of whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted and the disappointing part for us was that he did a lot with fastballs. We weren’t getting our A swings off,” said head coach Rick Heller. “We kept thinking, eventually, if we just hung in there that we would get to him. It just didn’t happen.”

The junior Atkinson was in control all night. He gave up a hit and a walk in the first inning, but a snap throw down to first base from All-WAC defensive team catcher Walker Janek picked off Brennen Dorighi to end the early threat. From then on, Coltin Atkinson was flawless. He retired 18 of the last 19 batters he faced and held the Iowa lineup scoreless through 7.0 innings. He finished the night with seven strikeouts to just one walk and gave up just two hits.

“He worked fast, he pounded the zone and was super competitive,” said Heller. “He set the tone for them.”

Ty Langenberg got the start on the mound for the Hawkeyes and just didn’t quite have his best stuff. The weekend preview pointed out that Sam Houston State had a dangerous lineup and they showed how good they can be tonight. The Bearkats got on the board in the second on an RBI infield single from Joe Redfield.

Langenberg bounced back by striking out the side in the third inning, but the Sam Houston bats added on. They were able to rack up nine hits off of Ty and it felt like every ball they hit was barrelled up and hit really hard.

“(Ty) competed and gave us a shot, but wasn’t his best. Velocity was down a little bit (on his fastball), but unfortunately, that speed on his changeup wasn’t. It was at the same speed,” said Heller. “I just felt like they were right on it and they were dialed in when he made mistakes and put barrels on it.”

In the fourth, Clayton Chadwick made it 2-0 with an RBI single and the Bearkats loaded the bases looking for more. Langenberg struck out Joe Redfield to end the threat, but more runs came in the next inning. Walker Janek pushed the lead to 3-0 with an RBI single in the fifth and Ty was knocked from the game with the bases loaded again. His final line was 4.2 innings, nine hits, three runs and six strikeouts to one walk.

“I thought they really did what they needed to do against him. Like I said, I thought Ty gave us a shot. Offensively, we didn’t do anything to help him.”

Keaton Anthony came on in relief and got out of the jam with just one run. However, Sam Houston added on the next inning. Myles Jefferson doubled down the left field line and brought in Joe Redfield to make it 4-0. The Bearkats tacked on a couple of insurance runs in the ninth to make it a comfortable 6-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Chandler David came on in relief of Atkinson and struck out five over 2.0 innings. He allowed a walk and a single to Keaton Anthony in the ninth, but got Dorighi to swing and miss to end the game. The Hawkeyes offense managed just three hits and two walks on the evening.

“For whatever reason, we hit the skids offensively tonight,” said Heller. “It was a little bit surprising and unexpected, but it happens. We just got to go back to the drawing board, wipe it away and come out tomorrow with a clean slate.”

Up Next for the Hawkeyes…

With the defeat, Iowa falls to 3-1 on the young season. However, a big opportunity awaits the Hawkeyes. They will face #1 LSU at 12:00pm CT tomorrow. The Tigers defeated Kansas State 7-3 in their weekend opener earlier in the day. Brody Brecht will take the mound for the Hawkeyes and Riley Cooper will get the ball for LSU. The game will be streamed by D1Baseball.