Hawkeyes handle Upper Iowa, reach 30 wins
Fayette, Iowa is a small town in northeast Iowa with about 1,250 people and is home to Upper Iowa University. It’s probably not the first school mentioned when someone thinks of Iowa. They might be the fifth, sixth or seventh school mentioned, but for head coach Rick Heller, the Hawkeyes midweek baseball matchup against the Peacocks meant a considerable amount. Heller played college baseball at Upper Iowa from 1982-1986 and then was head coach of the program from 1988-99. Despite all of the fond memories of his time in Fayette County, the head coach of the Hawkeyes was not going to take his former school lightly. He recalled a matchup against the Peacocks during his time at Northern Iowa.
“I didn’t take it for granted, they came to Riverfront Stadium and it was just the opposite way,” said Heller. “We had three walks and a double down the line before we can get somebody ready and we’re behind four and five to nothing. The kid they threw carved us up for seven innings and we couldn’t get a hit and we ended up losing.”
That past result was probably stuck in the back of Coach Heller’s mind as today’s game began to unfold. However, that bad memory most likely left the yard with the home run ball hit from Sam Petersen in the bottom of the first inning. His grand slam home run capped off a 12-run first inning for the Hawkeyes. It was the most runs scored in an inning since the Iowa offense put up 15 runs in the fourth inning against Northern Iowa way back in 1985.
“I was really impressed with the focus that we had and that’s what we talked about before the game. Don’t try to do too much, don’t chase balls off the plate. Just be disciplined like we were this weekend and make them throw it over the plate,” said Heller. “I don’t know if it would have mattered who was playing the way the offense came out that first inning and that was a great sign for me that after this weekend there was absolutely zero lack of focus.”
Zach Voelker faced three batters in the top of the first inning and it was time for the Upper Iowa to take the field and go up against the Iowa offense. Brennen Dorighi got the Hawkeyes on the board with an RBI double into left center, but it was just the beginning of a dominate inning at the plate.
Raider Tello drove in a run with an RBI groundout, but after back-to-back outs from Upper Iowa starter Jason Jennerjohn the Hawkeyes had just a 2-0 lead and two outs in in the inning. The Iowa offense proceeded to string together four hits in five at-bats, including a two-run double from Michael Seegers and an RBI single from Ben Wilmes. Three walks knocked Jennerjohn from the game and brought in Landon Stoppelmoor from the bullpen. He got a rude welcome from Sam Petersen. Petersen hit the aforementioned grand slam to put Iowa up 12-0.
From there, it was smooth sailing for the Hawkeyes. The pitching staff racked up eight strikeouts to three walks, while the Peacocks managed only four hits. Their best chance to score came in the third inning against Jared Simpson. Back-to-back singles from Bryce Hall and Ryan Hull put two runners on base with one out, but Simpson got a groundout and a strikeout to end the frame. Nick Gotilla and Chas Wheatley threw scoreless innings, while Cade Obermueller struck out two in a scoreless sixth inning.
“The pitching staff, for the most part, did a really nice job. Limited free bases and got a four-hit shutout,” said Heller. “We got out of it, what we needed. For those pitchers that threw, it’s much better than an intrasquad or a bullpen.”
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The Hawkeyes added onto their lead in the second inning. An RBI single from Brennen Dorighi was followed by a Raider Tello sacrifice fly to make it 14-0. A couple of bases loaded walks in the sixth inning extended the Iowa lead to 16-0 and Will Christophersen came on from the bullpen to finish off Iowa’s 30th win of the season. He struck out all three Peacock batters he faced in the seventh and the Hawkeyes picked up the 16-0 victory in seven innings.
At the plate, Iowa racked up 14 hits. 11 players recorded a hit, including two hits from Brennen Dorighi, Brayden Frazier and Kyle Huckstorf. Four players tallied multiple RBI’s. The Hawkeyes were 9/19 (.474) with runners in scoring position and 8/13 (.615) with two outs.
For Coach Heller, it was a stressless game and it allowed him to enjoy the moment. He reflected on his time at Upper Iowa as a young coach fresh out of school.
“That’s where I developed pretty much everything that we do. Was really young when I got the job and tried to learn as much as I could, as fast as I could,” said Heller. “Had a really good program, with great kids and it was a prideful time for a guy that played there…To be able to go back to your alma mater and coach a team and win championships and go to the World Series and do a lot of positive things. It’s a great place, I love Upper Iowa, love the people there and it’s a wonderful place.”
“I just want to say how much we appreciate Upper Iowa doing this. We were supposed to play Western Illinois, but something happened with the new coach and somehow he didn’t have it down…Coach Ische agreed to come down and then they’re heading to Sioux Falls to play tomorrow.”
Up next for the Hawkeyes…
With the win, Iowa moves to 30-10 on the season. The Hawkeyes have now reached at least 30 wins in the eight full seasons played under Rick Heller. Up next for Iowa is a trip to State College to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions. They have won nine of their last 12 games and are 13-3 at home this season. First pitch on Friday is set for 4:00pm CT on the Big Ten Network. Rain is in the forecast.
