Hawkeyes blast four home runs, run-rule Florida International

Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber and Anthony Rizzo all made stops in Des Moines to play for the Iowa Cubs at some point in their major league careers. On Friday night at Principal Park, it felt like those powerful bats were back in the ballpark playing for the Iowa Baseball team. The Hawkeyes started their onslaught with eight runs in the first inning and rolled to a 15-2, run-rule victory over Florida International to tie the series at a game apiece.

“The guys were dialed in and I think after last night, that one stung a little bit,” said head coach Rick Heller. “The focus was definitely there and they just barrelled balls up, which was great to see.”

Iowa hitters slugged four home runs on the night, but the best two came from guys back in their hometown playing in front of many friends and family. Ben Wilmes and Cade Moss each hit no-doubt home runs in a park that they won a state championship in with Johnston High School. For Moss, it was his first career home run at Iowa.

FIRST CAREER HOMER COMES AT HOME! 🏠@cademoss17 x #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/bmU6rvXlO2

— Iowa Baseball (@UIBaseball) May 18, 2024

“It’s been a long time since I’ve got one of those and it feels great to hit it here in Des Moines in front of a bunch of fans,” said Moss. “I thought it was going to hit the top of wall, with these walls here that are so tall, but it felt good (off the bat).”

“Starting here with Johnston, I give everything in Coach Barta, he believed in me and gave me a shot.It was awesome, he was here in the crowd today, so it was great just to be able to get a good one for him.”

The runs came in bunches throughout the game, but nothing was more impressive than the performance the Hawkeyes put up against FIU starter Joel Pineiro in the first inning. Reese Moore got the scoring train going with an RBI double, while Gable Mitchell later hit a two-run triple off of the wall in right field. Then came the home runs. Ben Wilmes hit a monster two-run home run to left field, which was followed by an Andy Nelson three-run shot to cap off an eight-run bottom of the first for Iowa.

“We just stuck to our approach. We were able to hit the ball hard and I think it was just really locking in,” said Moss. “Everyone calmed down, we had a good team meeting before talking about everyone playing for the guy next to you. That was the big thing.”

The Hawkeyes poured it on scoring two runs in the second, one in the third, two in the fourth and two in the fifth inning to build a commanding 15-0 lead. They finished with 15 hits, including seven that went for extra bases. Iowa tied a season-high with four home runs.

On the mound, Cade Obermueller was making his final start before an upcoming appearance at the Big Ten Tournament. After missing two starts and a rough first outing back last week at Illinois, Cade was looking to put together a solid start for some momentum heading to Omaha.

“I felt good mentally. I think it was just a little bit of a trust deal (last week). My first outing in three weeks and I wasn’t 100% yet. Now I’m feeling right there, so I think that’s a little bit of the difference,” said Obermueller.

The difference was a big one. After allowing five runs over 1.2 innings against Illinois, Cade came out and put up 5.0 scoreless innings, including seven strikeouts to just one walk. He threw 42 of his 68 pitches (61.8%) for strikes and allowed just three baserunners.

“Obviously last week wasn’t results, but I knew I was going to come out and be like this today. I felt like I was in a good place to pick back up where I left off against Rutgers,” said Obermueller. “Today was a good showing and I feel like I’m in my stride right now and it’s a good place to be going into the postseason.”

“He said to me earlier in the day and even the last couple of days that he felt good and he was in a good pace mentally and was ready to go,” said Heller. “He was really sharp.”

Seven Iowa hitters finished with two hits, while Andy Nelson, Gable Mitchell and Michael Seegers each had three RBI games. Will Mulflur was the only starter to go hitless, but walked three times and scored two runs.

Up Next, the Hawkeyes will look to close out the regular season with a win in the rubber match against Florida International. First pitch is set for 12:00pm CT on BTN+.