Hawkeyes hammer Indiana, run-rule the Hoosiers 13-2 in 7 innings

For as tense and nail-biting as the Hawkeyes series opening win over Indiana was on Friday night, game two of the series was mostly the opposite. Iowa jumped out to an early lead and were in control the whole way, run-ruling the Hoosiers 3-12 in seven innings. They will go for their fourth sweep of the conference season on Sunday.

“I was really pleased how we showed up today and played after last night, with the way that game ended. There was no celebration hangover,” said head coach Rick Heller. “The guys showed up really dialed in. I thought we played outstanding in all phases of the game.”

With the win, the Hawkeyes move to 30-12 on the season and 19-4 in Big Ten play, which ties the program record for their best ever start in conference play. They have won 17 of their last 19 in Big Ten play since starting 2-2, including three sweeps.

Players of the Game

• RHP Aaron Savary: Savary allowed just two runs on seven hits over 6.2 innings, recording all but one out in the Hawkeyes win. He struck out six and walked one.
• OF Ben Wilmes: Wilmes led the way offensively, tallying a game-high three hits and six RBI’s, including the game-ending grand slam in the 7th.
• 3B Jaixen Frost: Frost finished with two hits, two RBI’s and two runs scored on the day. His two-run home run in the 2nd gave Iowa the early lead.

Hawkeye offense drives up Cole Gilley’s pitch count, Jaixen Frost gives Iowa the early lead

The Iowa coaching staff had a perfect game plan in place to face IU starter Cole Gilley. Despite giving up just four walks over 27.1 innings in seven appearances Big Ten play, Hawkeye hitters were able to work deep into counts early in the game to drive up Gilley’s pitch count.

“I thought we executed our plan at an extremely high level today. Got the pitch count up, but just passing the baton to the next guy,” said Heller. “One through nine, everybody was just grinding them out and laying off the edges and doing exactly what we try to do with our offense.”

The Hawkeyes went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first, while Gilley retired the first two in the bottom of the second. Although it was a five up, five down start, Iowa hitters managed to see 25 pitches. Those quality at-bats started to go the Hawkeyes way, with Blake Guerin working a six-pitch walk to keep the inning alive. The walk proved to be major, as Jaixen Frost took the 1-0 offering from Gilley and gave Iowa a 2-0 lead, with a 396-foot home run to left field.

“We went 1-2-3, didn’t get a runner on base, but came back in and Coach Marty Sutherland said, hey, those are three great at-bats even though the results didn’t show,” said Ben Wilmes. “We just stuck with it, tried to get any base runner on and from there, we just scored when we needed to score.”

Frost Warning 🥶#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/MaswKFp5sh

— Iowa Baseball (@UIBaseball) April 26, 2025

Productive outs help extend the Iowa lead

It was pretty clear from the jump that the Hawkeye hitters were seeing Cole Gilley well and were confident in their approach at the plate. After Frost’s two-run shot gave Iowa the lead, they extended their advantage, tallying runs in three consecutive innings to take a 7-0 lead.

In the third, Iowa put the pressure on quickly, with Ben Wilmes drawing a walk, followed by a Gable Mitchell single, putting two in scoring position with nobody out. Limiting empty at-bats had become a recent focus, but Hawkeye hitters had a number of productive outs. Reese Moore and Miles Risley came up with back-to-back RBI groundouts to make it 5-0.

“I thought we executed so well today,” said Heller. “If we needed a ground ball to get the run in, we did it. We got some bunts down. I was really pleased.”

Then in the fourth, Iowa broke it open. Consecutive free bases after a Jaixen Frost double had Indiana on the ropes. Ben Wilmes came up and ripped a two-run single up the middle, spelling the end of the day for Gilley. Reliever Aydan Decker-Petty got out of the mess, but not before Gable Mitchell laid down a sac bunt to drive in another run, giving Iowa a 7-0 lead.

Entering today’s contest, Cole Gilley had posted a 4.28 ERA in Big Ten play. He lasted just 3.0 innings, allowing seven runs on six hits, while he gave up four free bases and struck out just two.

Aaron Savary gives another quality start, mostly shuts down the dangerous IU offense

Just a couple of rough outings short of a really impressive season stat line, Aaron Savary put together another start that makes it easy understand why the Hawkeyes are now 8-0 in Big Ten play with Savary on the mound.

“We got exactly what we needed out of Savary, with Aaron pitching another gem,” said Heller. “Almost making it a full seven innings against that offense was really impressive.”

The junior right-hander was locked in early in his start, striking out five through two innings, while working around a couple of baserunners. With Iowa leading 7-0 in the fifth, the Hoosiers were able to put a little pressure on.

The 7-8-9 hitters in the IU order, Brenczewski, Malamazian and Stadler, recorded hits, with Stadler delivering an RBI single to get on the board with still no outs in the inning. With the Hoosiers turning things over to the top of the order and runners on the corners, a little bit of uneasiness started to creep in. However, it was short-lived, as Savary got Will Moore to ground into a 6-4-3 double play. Devin Taylor tacked on another Indiana run with an RBI double, but Aaron retired Korbyn Dickerson to end the inning.

After limiting the Hoosiers rally in the fifth, Savary came back on tossed a three up, three down sixth to keep the lead in a comfortable spot. He allowed two runs on seven hits over 6.2 innings, including six strikeouts to one walk, although he did have three hit by pitches. It seems when Savary is able to throw 60%+ strikes he’s at his best and he threw 58 of his 89 (65.2%) pitches for strikes on Saturday.

“Felt like I was controlling all of my pitches and that was just the big thing for me,” said Savary. “I had a lot of strikeouts early and then after that, it was just trying to get quick outs to continue the outing a little bit more…The offense was there for me. It wasn’t like they put up a big number, but just a constant, two runs, three runs every inning.”

Ben Wilmes finishes off Iowa’s sixth Big Ten run-rule victory

Trailing 8-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer was not too keen on using his top bullpen arms in what was quickly working towards being a losing effort for his squad. That allowed the Hawkeyes to end the game early.

True freshman Brayton Thomas only faced three hitters, putting all of them on base, including two hit by pitches. The Hoosiers turned to right-hander Seth Benes and he got an out, but walked Ben Swails to bring in a run, bringing Ben Wilmes to the plate with a chance to end it.

“I was just trying to score some runs in any way possible,” said Wilmes. “That pitcher has a really good fastball, so just trying to get on top of it.”

Behind in the count 1-2, Benes hung a breaking ball and Wilmes didn’t miss. He sent a 344-foot grand slam to left field for the 13-2 run-rule victory. It’s the sixth time this season that Iowa has won via run-rule in Big Ten play.

“I fouled a cutter straight back and then I fouled a fastball straight back,” said Wilmes. “Made a small adjustment, get your foot down early with two strikes. Threw me that slider, curveball, whatever off speed he has, and I just let my hitting habits take over.”

Grand slam to go home early 🫡#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/lBHnUCgLoz

— Iowa Baseball (@UIBaseball) April 26, 2025

What’s next for Rick Heller and Co?

The Hawkeyes will go for their fourth series sweep in Big Ten play on Sunday afternoon. It will be Reece Beuter on the mound for Iowa, while Indiana has not yet announced a starter. First pitch is set for 1:02pm CT on BTN+.