Aaron Savary dominates, Hawkeyes even the series with South Florida

Making his first career start as a member of the weekend rotation, Aaron Savary’s day got off to a challenging start, but he turned things around and delivered an impressive performance. Meanwhile, the Hawkeye bats were able to slug three home runs en route to an 8-2 victory over South Florida. After dropping the season-opener on Friday night, Iowa will go for series win on Sunday.

Momentum did not start off on the side of the Hawkeyes. They got a couple of runners on base in the top of the first inning, but USF starter James Hill faced three full counts and won each of them to work out of the early jam. Aaron Savary was not quite as lucky. He issued a pair of walks to begin his outing, and both came around to score. An RBI double from Lance Trippel got the Bulls on the board, while a sacrifice fly from Jackson Mayo made it 2-0 USF.

The Iowa offense had a quick answer. Loras College transfer Daniel Rogers led off the second inning with a double, which was promptly followed by a two-run home run by Kirkwood CC transfer Miles Risley to tie the game at two runs apiece.

“Miles home run was a big one,” said assistant coach Marty Sutherland on the postgame radio show. “We had some stuff going (in the first), you’re feeling good, and we don’t end up scoring and I thought we had some pretty good at-bats. Then you go give up two runs in the bottom (of the inning), but then Iles answers with a big home run and just kind of got us going.”

Whether it was the home run from Risley or not, the Hawkeye bats got things rolling, putting a run on the board in five of the next six innings to build an 8-2 lead. In the third, Reese Moore drove an RBI triple into the right field corner, followed an RBI double from Gable Mitchell in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 4-2.

The runs continued to pile up via the long ball. Daniel Rogers slugged his first home run in the black and gold, sending a two-run shot over the wall in right field in the fifth inning. Missouri transfer Jackson Beaman added to the fun, launching a 440-foot home run in the seventh inning. It was a balanced attack throughout the order, with eight hitters reaching base at least once, while seven players recorded a hit.

“If you look back at yesterday, we kind of book ended the production,” said Sutherland. “The first two hitters and then the last two or three hitters were pretty good. In the middle we struggled, but today, we had production all the way down the lineup…I thought the hitters did a really good job with what their guys were doing.”

On the mound, with plenty of run support, Aaron Savary was dialed in after allowing the first three batters he faced to reach base. Savary retired 18 of the final 19 batters he faced, totaling a career-high ten strikeouts, throwing 56 of his 90 (62.2%) pitches for strikes. It’s a small sample size, but after fighting inconsistency in the starting rotation, the Obermueller and Savary racked up 20 strikeouts to four walks over 11.0 innings pitched.

Out of the bullpen, Ganon Archer came on and was just as good as his teammate, retiring nine of the ten batters he faced, including three strikeouts. He tossed 26 of his 37 (70.3%) pitches for strikes. On the day, USF hitters totaled just three hits and only managed to get five runners on base. After the first two Bulls hitters walked, just two of the final 30 hitters they sent to the plate worked a three-ball count.

At the plate, Ben Wilmes led the way with three hits and two runs scored, while Reese Moore and Daniel Rogers each recorded multi-hit games. After going 0/4 in the season-opener, Reese Moore reached base four times on Saturday.

Pitching Stat Lines

IOWA: Aaron Savary (6.0 INN, 2 ER, 2 H, 10 K, 4 BB), Ganon Archer (3.0 INN, 0 R, 1 H, 3 K, 0 BB)

SOUTH FLORIDA: James Hill (2.0 INN, 3 ER, 5 H, 3 K, 2 BB), Matt Brown (3.2 INN, 3 ER, 3 H, 1 K, 2 BB), Lex Sanchez (1.1 INN, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 K, 2 BB), Adan Longoria (1.0 INN, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 K, 0 BB), Corey Kling (1.0 INN, 0 R, 0 H, 2 K)

Up Next: The Hawkeyes will go for a series against South Florida, with a Sunday morning first pitch on tap due to forecasted weather later in the day. First pitch is set for 9:00am CT on ESPN+.