Hawkeyes run-ruled in series opener against Oregon

The biggest series for Iowa Baseball in over three decades has gotten off to a deflating start. The visiting fifth-ranked Oregon Ducks, playing as well as anyone in the country, continued their torrid stretch, defeating the Hawkeyes via run-rule, 10-0 in seven innings. It’s the first time Iowa has been run-ruled this season.

“We hadn’t had a game like, really all season long, where a team just came out and just beat us,” said head coach Rick Heller. “I feel like you can walk out of here, hold your head up that you just got beat, and you wipe it away with a short memory (before tomorrow).”

With the loss, the Hawkeyes fall to 32-18-1 on the season and 21-7 in Big Ten play. In other news, UCLA dropped their series opener to Northwestern 9-4, so Iowa will go into Friday still holding a 1.0-game lead atop the standings.

Player of the Game

• DH Reese Moore: Moore had one of the two hits for the Hawkeyes and drew a walk. He accounted for two of Iowa’s four baserunners.

Ducks strike first; Hawkeyes leave two stranded in the first inning

After retiring the first hitter of the game, the Ducks recorded three consecutive singles off of Cade Obermueller to get on the board first. Consecutive shift-busting hits set the table for Drew Smith who delivered an RBI single into left field.

“Ran into a team that was seeing it well. Two chartbuster hits and then a solid single to score a run. Tip your hat.”

In the bottom of the first, Grayson Grinsell put two runners on base, hitting Gable Mitchell with a pitch, before issuing a walk to Reese Moore. With two on and one out, Grinsell was able to get Caleb Wulf to fly out and Daniel Rogers to pop out to end the inning.

“First inning, we get two guys on and needed somebody to step up and get a hit and we didn’t,” said Heller. “After that, (Grinsell) was pretty tough on us.”

Carter Garate grand slam breaks the game open, Oregon tags Obermueller for eight runs

After Oregon got on the board in the first inning with three consecutive singles, Cade Obermueller got into a bit of a groove. He retired eight straight hitters, including back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the second and third. Things quickly went south for him in the fourth and fifth.

Drew Smith led off the fourth with a double, followed by a single from Anson Aroz, putting runners on the corners, with no outs. A bunt single from Burke-Lee Mabeus made it 2-0 Ducks, but the big blow came after a five-pitch walk was issued to Ryan Cooney. Nine-hole hitter Carter Garate sent a sky-high fly ball to right field on the first pitch he saw, and it left the yard for a grand slam, opening up a 6-0 lead for Oregon.

“I thought he went out and he pounded the zone. He didn’t give them a lot, a couple of walks as the game went on, but he didn’t have his best fastball, he didn’t have his best slider,” said Heller. “Cade went out and competed for us…They swung it well tonight.”

In the fifth, after a one out walk, Maddox Molony drove a two-run, opposite field home run to right field, pushing the Ducks lead to 8-0. In 5.0 innings of work, Obermueller allowed eight runs on eight hits, including eight strikeouts to three walks. He threw 65 of his 90 (72.2%) pitches for strikes.

Grayson Grinsell was as advertised, wins all seven 3-2 counts he faced

The way he has been pitching over the last five weeks, left-hander Grayson Grinsell is making quite the case to win Big Ten Pitcher of the Year. Entering Thursday’s start, Grinsell was averaging 7.2 innings per start over his last four outings.

He was as advertised, tossing 7.0 scoreless innings, including eight strikeouts to two free bases and two hits allowed. Grinsell threw 63.8% of his 116 pitches for strikes and averaged 16.6 pitches per inning.

After missing an opportunity to score in the first inning, the Hawkeyes did not get a runner past first base. They finished the game 0/9 with runners on base.

“He’s very good and I was really impressed with how he pitches and how he competes,” said Heller. “We were getting some fastballs to hit, but it’s kind of unique. He’s really got good extension, so the fastball plays better than what you see on the board, and he hides the ball, he’s got good deception…We just didn’t do any damage when we had fastballs to hit.”

On the surface, a 7.0 inning complete game in a 10-0 win is not a good look for the Hawkeye offense. However, they did a decent job of laying off of Grinsell’s changeup and worked deep into counts. They just didn’t win at-bats. Iowa hitters faced five 2-2 counts and seven 3-2 counts, but went 0/12 in those plate appearances.

“We we’re trying to stay off the changeup as best we could because it’s a plus pitch. We weren’t perfect, but we did a decent job,” said Heller. “That’s kind of our superpower, winning the 3-2 counts and getting on base and he beat us in all seven tonight, which was really the big key.”

What’s next for Rick Heller and Co?

The Hawkeyes will look to stave off a third consecutive series loss and set up a Saturday rubber match against the Ducks. Aaron Savary will be on the mound for Iowa, while it will be Collin Clarke for Oregon.