8 Things: Iowa Baseball Season Review

On Sunday evening, the Iowa Baseball team watched their season come to an end, as Indiana State dogpiled on the field to celebrate their trip to a super regional. The Hawkeyes entered the tournament hoping to be that team and some experts even picked them to make it to Omaha for the College World Series. Despite the early exit from the tournament, it was a a successful season for Rick Heller’s squad. We take a look back at eight storylines that shaped the Hawkeyes record season.

1. Brody Brecht and Marcus Morgan made large leaps from their freshman to sophomore season

The talented sophomores each had their up and downs throughout the season, but Brody Brecht and Marcus Morgan both made impressive improvements in their second season with the Hawkeyes. After combining for just four starts and 52 free bases in 38.0 innings during their freshman campaign in 2022, the two were staples in the starting rotation all season.

The two combined for 31 starts and dropped their free bases from 1.37 per inning in 2022 to 0.94 per inning this season. They also improved their hits per inning allowed from 0.79 to an impressive 0.52. The way the two ended the season gives a lot of hope that they can refine some things over the offseason and become one of the best starting pitcher duos in the country next season.

Over his last ten starts, Marcus Morgan allowed just ten runs over 43.1 innings (2.08 ERA), including just 19 hits allowed. Although some of his outings included a fair amount of traffic on the basepaths, Marcus routinely gave the Hawkeyes a chance to win and that led to a 12-3 record in games that he started.

Brody Brecht hit a rough patch midway through the season, but turned it around late in the year. He went 6.0+ innings with two runs allowed or less in three of his last four starts. Over those final four starts, Brecht allowed six runs on eight hits over 23.2 innings, including 30 strikeouts to 13 walks.

Excitement levels for both of them will be off the charts heading into next season.

2. The transfer portal additions paid off in a big way

Coming into the season, the Hawkeyes had holes at 1B, 3B and in the bullpen. Rick Heller went into the transfer portal, adding Brennen Dorighi (Wofford), Raider Tello (Pasadena City) and Jack Whitlock (Hutchinson CC). Those three additions paid off in a big way and were big part of Iowa’s run to the NCAA Tournament.

Dorighi was an instant impact on and off the field, as he was named a team captain after just one semester in Iowa City. He also led the team in batting average (.348), OBP (.469), runs (66), hits (78), home runs (15) and RBI’s (67). Brennen was a grad transfer, so his time at Iowa is over after one year, but his impact this season can’t be overstated.

Raider Tello and Jack Whitlock will return next season after having a big hand in the Hawkeyes successes this season. Tello started 59 games at 3B and was second on the team with 76 hits. Whitlock didn’t become one of the top options out of the bullpen until the midway point of the year, but ended up appearing in 19 games with a 2.02 ERA over 35.2 innings. His .151 opponent average and .0.73 WHIP was the best of the relievers. Both Tello and Whitlock will be important pieces again next season.

3. The bullpen had a number of guys step up to fill important roles

The bullpen saw Dylan Nedved, Ben Beutel, Duncan Davitt and Connor Schultz depart, which left the roles largely undefined coming into the season. Given the uncertainty coming into the season, things worked out pretty well. During the regular season, the bullpen had a 4.05 ERA over 268.2 innings, including 334 strikeouts to 168 walks.

After an injury Will Christophersen derailed his 2022 season, he stepped up and was the shutdown arm that the Hawkeyes needed. He appeared in a team-leading 29 games, with an impressive 59 strikeouts to 16 walks over 33.0 innings. Will allowed just five runs over his last 16 outings, including 4.2 scoreless innings against UNC in an elimination game.

Luke Llewellyn was the teams leader in saves with four and had a 2.76 ERA over 32.2 innings, including 48 strikeouts to 23 walks. The previously mentioned Jack Whitlock and true freshman Aaron Savary were pleasant surprises. Savary finished with a 3.22 ERA over 22.1 innings and 12 appearances. All three of them will be relied on heavily next season.

4. The offense was just as balanced as Rick Heller predicted in the preseason

“There’s not going to be a Jake Adams, but I think we got a lot of guys that can hit between five and 12. Up and down the lineup you’re going have guys in the 6-7-8 spots that can hit it out of the park,” said Coach Heller before the season. “I think the lineup from one to nine is going to be a tough lineup to pitch to.”

That came to fruition, as the offense showed time and time again that it was a balanced group that could get contributions from anyone in the lineup. Although no one came close to Jake Adams 29 home run year, the Hawkeyes hit 70 home runs (71 in 2017). Eight players hit four or more home runs, including 15 from Brennen Dorighi.

Six players hit over .300, eight players had 40+ runs scored, seven players had 50+ hits, six players had double digit doubles, six players had 35+ RBI’s and six players drew 25+ walks. They also stole 102 bases. The Hawkeyes did not have to wait for the top of the lineup to drive in runs or get on base.

The offense ranked near the top of the Big Ten in almost every category, including average (4th), runs (2nd), hits (3rd), doubles (3rd), RBI’s (3rd), walks (2nd) and on-base percentage (2nd).

The good news? Eight of the nine position players in the starting lineup from this year return next season.

5. Hawkeyes get off the best start in school history, including a win over the preseason #1 team

The biggest knock against Iowa in 2022 when they were not selected to an NCAA Tournament regional was that they did not have a good enough start to the season and that affected their RPI ranking. The Hawkeyes came out and fixed that issue with a 19-3 start, which goes down as the best in school history.

“They took it out of the committe’s hands and that’s what we set out to do,” said head coach Rick Heller. “This fall was, what can we do to make sure that we’re still playing in June.”

They picked up wins over Indiana State, Kansas State, Texas Tech, South Alabama and #1 LSU. After the non-conference portion of the season, Iowa sat at #36 in the RPI and in a good spot going into Big Ten play.

6. The gambling situation sparked talk nationwide, but never affected the Hawkeyes

After Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon was fired for being connected to suspicious gambling during the Crimson Tide’s series against LSU, the two Iowa schools (Iowa & Iowa State) came to the forefront of gambling news. The Iowa Baseball team was the most talked about, as their season was the only one in progress.

Five players, including All-American Keaton Anthony and Jacob Henderson missed the last 17 games of the season due to breaking the NCAA’s rule against gambling on sports.

Taking the Hawkeyes top hitter out of the lineup could have derailed the season and caused the team to miss the NCAA Tournament, but the team stayed together and went 12-5 after the news broke.

“They just rallied around our philosophy of what we’ve been trying to do here. Just do your one-ninth and finding ways to get on base and doing whatever you can do to help the cause,” said Heller after they took two of three against Ohio State in the first weekend without Keaton Anthony.

7. Rick Heller gets career win #1,000 and ties the single-season program record for wins in a season

Along with getting off to the best start in school history, Rick Heller reached a couple more milestones throughout the season. With the Hawkeyes 15-3 defeat of Ohio State on May 6th, Coach Heller reached 1,000 wins for his career that has spanned across 36 years for Upper Iowa, Northern Iowa, Indiana State and Iowa.

“For me, I always just think about all the guys, all the teams and all the great players I’ve had an opportunity to coach and be a part of their lives,” said Heller.

Then, the Hawkeyes win over North Carolina Regional on Sunday, they tied the school record for most wins in a season with 44. It marked the second time that a Rick Heller coached Iowa team reached 40 wins and it tied the 1981 Duane Banks led team that finished 44-21.

8. Hawkeyes advance to their first NCAA Tournament Regional since 2017

The Iowa Baseball program has reached just six NCAA Tournaments and now three of them have come during the Rick Heller era. The Hawkeyes reached the tournament in 2015 and 2017, but went five seasons without an appearance before this season.

“I feel like that this was really important for us to get back to a regional,” said Heller. “It was important that we break the ice and got back in and hopefully how we played and what were able to do showed everybody that we certainly belong.”

Iowa has now reached the regional final in two of their three tournament appearances under Heller and will now be looking to make the tournament for back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history next season.