Hawkeyes bounce back, run-rule St Thomas

The Iowa Baseball team has had to deal with some adversity on several occasions this season, particularly early in the year when things weren’t going their way. With the way that they handled those moments, it wasn’t surprising that the Hawkeyes were not fazed by the disappointing loss on Tuesday to Western Illinois. Rick Heller’s team came back 24 hours later and delivered a 15-5 run-rule win over St Thomas on Wednesday night at Duane Banks Field.

“The biggest thing was, don’t panic, because we’ve done a lot of great things this year,” said junior infielder Gable Mitchell. “We knew that we’d be able to come back out today and have a chance to bounce back. That’s exactly what we did.”

With the win, the Hawkeyes move to 28-12 on the season, now having won 25 of their last 31 games since starting the season with a 3-6 record.

Players of the Game

• LHP Ben DeTaeye: DeTaeye set the tone on the mound, allowing two runs on four hits over 4.0 innings, including six strikeouts. He threw a career-high 64 pitches, with 41 (64.1%) going for strikes.
• SS Gable Mitchell: Mitchell led the way with a team-high three hits and two runs scored, extending his on-base streak to 41 games.
• C Daniel Rogers: Rogers came up with a couple of clutch hits, going 2 for 5, with two hits and a team-high three RBI’s.

Ben DeTaeye gives a crucial four-inning start, with limited pitchers on the board

A double midweek always stretches and tests the depth of a team’s bullpen, but going off schedule against Western Illinois put the Hawkeyes in a tight situation for game two of the week. Needing a good start to set the tone on the mound, left-hander Ben DeTaeye did exactly what the coaching staff asked of him.

DeTaeye made it through 4.0 innings, allowing two runs on four hits, including six strikeouts to no walks. He retired the first six batters he faced, including three strikeouts, but St Thomas got on the board with two runs in the third. With two on and two outs, Ben was unable to cover first base on a ground ball and Max Moris made it hurt with a two-run double.

“The one negative from Ben’s start was he didn’t cover first base. If he gets over and covers first base, he doesn’t give up a run,” said Heller. “He was mad at himself for that, but wipe that away, his outing was really good tonight.”

Despite the mental mistake, DeTaeye got Matthew Maulik to ground out to end the third and then came back with a zero in the fourth inning. After a leadoff double from Joe Roder, Ben retired three straight, including two strikeouts to finish off a career-high 64-pitch outing. He threw 41 of his 64 (64.1%) pitches for strikes.

“I hope that it continues to build on his confidence,” said Heller. “Ben and I had a good talk last week and he told me his confidence has never wavered…He did a really good job against a team that had good numbers. It was great to see him have success. It was good to have him pick up the team tonight.”

Iowa offense gets back on track early, score multiple runs in three of the first six innings

In the Hawkeyes 7-3 loss to WIU on Tuesday, they struck out ten times, batted .190 with runners on base and were retired on three pitches or less nine times. It wasn’t the type of offensive performance that has allowed Iowa to rank as the top offensive team in the Big Ten. They entered Wednesday’s contest looking to get back on track at the plate.

“The main message offensively today was, stay off the edges and everyone knows the pitches that you do damage on and the locations you do damage on, so let’s get back to being the team that’s the best in the country at not swinging at those pitches,” said Heller.

Offense came early and often, with Miles Risley getting Iowa on the board with an RBI single in the first inning. In the second, Ben Swails drove in a run with an infield single, while Ben Wilmes extended the advantage to 5-0 with a towering 375-foot two-run home run to left.

Their best inning of the night came in the sixth. Leading 7-2, UST reliever Nolan Phillips retired consecutive Hawkeye hitters after a Ben Swails leadoff single, and it seemed like a zero was going to go on the board. Instead, Reese Moore and Miles Risley patiently earned walks to load the bases. Daniel Rogers and Kooper Schulte came up with the run-producing hits, with each delivering two-run singles to blow the game open, making it 11-2 Iowa.

“We went back to playing the game and have fun, trying to be good at what we’re good at. I thought that started when we got a run in the first and then we had a big second inning,” said Heller. “The sixth inning was awesome and kind of how our season has been and why we’ve been good. You get three runs, couple walks, couple hits, all with two outs…every guy was worrying about getting to first base and not themselves.”

Benny 💣

Wilmes ties a career-high with his fifth home run of the season!#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/4kyje2fEiW

— Iowa Baseball (@UIBaseball) April 23, 2025

Reese Moore finishes off the run-rule with a two-run double in the eighth

Leading 11-2 in the sixth, Ben Swails struck out with the bases loaded to send the game to the seventh just one run short of a potential run-rule. One more run would have given Iowa a chance to end it with three more outs.

Instead, St Thomas put up a crooked number taking advantage of three free bases from Iowa pitchers. Max Moris came through with his second two-run double of the game, cutting the deficit to 11-5. However, the Hawkeyes tacked on a run in the bottom of the seventh and then won it in the eighth.

With the bases loaded and no outs, Gable Mitchell slashed an RBI single to left field, driving in a run to make it 13-5. In the ensuing at-bat, Reese Moore took the 2-1 offering from UST reliver Nolan Kemp and hit a ground-rule double into the right-center gap. Two runs scored on the play, giving the Hawkeyes a 15-5 run-rule victory.

Hawkeyes put together an important bounce back performance ahead of the Indiana series

It was two entirely different games for the Hawkeyes this week. In Tuesday’s loss to Western Illinois, they outhit the Leathernecks, but were unable to come up with the big hit to turn the momentum. Team captain, Gable Mitchell, said he felt like there was pressing, for no reason, that led may have contributed to some of the struggles.

In the Hawkeyes run-rule win over the Tommies, they hit .500 (10/20) with runners on base and .800 (4/5) with runners on third and less than two outs. Their plate discipline was much better, totaling 14 free bases to just six strikeouts a day after they struck out ten times against WIU.

“We have this quote, just 40 dudes having fun and I feel like we approach that the same way every day,” said Mitchell. “Some days when you hit well, you don’t really worry about that stress, but (against WIU), it was a slower start, and I felt like we didn’t handle it great. There was just a little bit of tension in the dugout that we didn’t need.”

The Hawkeyes tallied 13 hits, with eight players recording a hit, including four players with multiple hits. For the eighth time this season, Iowa won via run-rule and scored 10+ runs for the 17th time.

“You see the capability that we have, and we’ve done it many times this year. This is the type of team that we want to be. Just do our best to keep it going into Indiana…there’s not much more to say about. It’s just come out, play hard, be locked in and we’ll be in a good spot.”

What’s next for Rick Heller and Co?

The Hawkeyes are set to host the Indiana Hoosiers for a three-game series at Duane Banks Field, with the series opener set for Friday night. First pitch is set for 6:05pm CT on BTN+.