Hawkeyes blank Indiana, earn a fourth Big Ten sweep

The Iowa Baseball team continues to tear through the Big Ten, inching closer to a possible regular season title. On Sunday, the Hawkeyes took care of business, run-ruling Indiana 10-0 in 7 innings to finish off the series sweep.

With the win, the Hawkeyes move to 31-12 on the season and 20-4 in Big Ten play, which gives them their best conference start in program history. Since starting the Big Ten slate 2-2, Iowa has won 18 of their last 20, including four series sweeps.

Players of the Game

• RHP Reece Beuter: Beuter was very impressive, tossing 6.0 scoreless innings, including seven strikeouts to one walk and three hits allowed. He threw 53 of his 81 (65.4%) pitches for strikes.
• OF Andy Nelson: Nelson hit a pair of home runs, with a two-run shot in the 2nd and a solo shot in the 6th.
• SS Gable Mitchell: Extending his on-base streak to 44 games, Mitchell finished with two hits and three RBI’s, including a three-run home run in the 6th.

Hawkeyes jump out in front with crooked numbers in the second and third inning

Indiana starter Ben Grable looked really sharp to start his outing, retiring the first four Hawkeyes he faced, including three strikeouts, but things took a turn quickly for the former Northwestern transfer.

With one out in the bottom of the second, Daniel Rogers, who has been on fire lately, got things started with a double to right field. Caleb Wulf followed with an RBI single up the middle to get Iowa on the board first. Later in the inning, with two outs, Andy Nelson got a 3-2 pitch he liked and hit a two-run, 413-foot home run over the scoreboard in left field.

“(Went to the plate) with the mindset of playing team baseball, getting on-base, working counts, waiting them out, waiting for your pitch,” said Andy Nelson. “When you do that, you look up and you’re in hitters counts most of the day. That mindset got me to those hitters counts and once I was there, then you’re just looking for something to elevate.”

Then, in the third inning, with the bases loaded and one out, the Hawkeyes smelled blood in the water, looking to blow the game open. Three consecutive batters put together quality at-bats to extend the lead. After a Daniel Rogers bases loaded walk, Caleb Wulf drove in a run with a sac fly, while Jaixen Frost made it 6-0 Iowa on a ground-rule double to deep left-center field.

Gone! #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/77Q7A7H7CN

— Iowa Baseball (@UIBaseball) April 27, 2025

Reece Beuter delivers one of the best starts of his entire career, silences the Hoosiers offense

You’d be hard-pressed to find more than a pitcher or two across the country that have been consistently as good on Sundays as Reece Beuter. It might be impossible to find a Sunday starter that has been as good as Beuter over the last three weeks.

Coming off of 6.0 innings of one run ball at Michigan, Reece was dialed from the start, silencing an Indiana offense that managed just three runs the entire weekend against the Iowa pitching staff. The Hoosiers entered the weekend averaging 8.87 runs per game.

There aren’t many, if any, key spots that shaped Beuter’s outing. He never was in real trouble, allowing just five baserunners, with none of them reaching scoring position. His defense was stout behind him, turning 4U-3 and 6-4-3 double plays after the leadoff batter reached in the second and third inning.

“Reece was outstanding today,” said Heller. “I thought it was the best he’s been all year, and he’s been pretty darn good the last few weeks. Today what made the difference was he was able to locate the fastball on both sides of the plate. He was really locked in with his command. He had his total package today.”

Over 6.0 scoreless innings, Beuter gave up just three hits, tallying seven strikeouts to just one walk. He threw 53 of his 81 (65.4%) pitches for strikes and retired 19 of the 24 batters he faced. Reece felt like he executed the game plan well and mentioned the addition of changeup to has arsenal that has given him a different look in his last two starts.

“I think we executed well, getting strikes early with the slider and then make sure we’re showing the fastball in and not leaving anything over the middle of the plate. A lot of sinkers to the righties, sliders to the lefties and changeups down,” said Reece Beuter on how he attacked Hoosier hitters. “Few weeks ago, Sean Kenny and I got in the bullpen and started working on a changeup. That’s been a big thing for me, getting off the slider a bit, getting something soft in their besides the slider.”

Since his season-low 2.0 inning start at Northwestern, Beuter has allowed just four runs on nine hits over 17.0 innings, including 22 strikeouts to just three walks. Over that stretch of three starts, Reece has thrown 162 of his 254 (63.8%) pitches for strikes, while averaging 14.9 pitches per inning.

Andy Nelson, Gable Mitchell reach run-rule territory with sixth inning home runs

Leading 6-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning, a run-rule win didn’t look like it was going to be in the cards. Indiana reliever Jackson Yarberry had come in and dominated, retiring the first five batters he faced.

Yarberry quickly fell behind 3-0 in the count to Andy Nelson and with a comfortable lead, the coaching staff let Nelson swing away. Andy got a fastball he liked and hit his second home run of the game, a 421-foot solo home run to left-center, giving Iowa a 7-0 lead.

“If Andy can get hot down the stretch, that’d be a big boost for us because we’ve all seen what Andy can do on hot streaks,” said Heller. “Really happy to see Andy coming through. He’s fought through adversity with injuries throughout his career and it’d be great if he could get on a tear and carry us through the end of the season.”

After a Ben Swails walk, Ben Wilmes reached via error, bringing Gable Mitchell to the plate, with the run-rule, all of the sudden, within reach. Much like the Nelson at-bat, Yarberry fell behind 3-0 and the coaching staff, again, went with the green light. Mitchell didn’t miss either, taking Yarberry 419 feet to right field for a three-run home run to make it 10-0.

Ben DeTaeye came in out of the bullpen in the top of the seventh and retired the Hoosiers in order on 15 pitches. Over the final two days of the series, the Hawkeyes needed just 1.1 innings and 19 pitches from their bullpen.

Anotha one 💣#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/S9g2VgMLOP

— Iowa Baseball (@UIBaseball) April 27, 2025

What’s next for Rick Heller and Co?

The Hawkeyes will host the Illinois State Redbirds for their final home midweek of the season on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6:02pm CT on BTN+.