"It was low energy, low focus", Hawkeyes sneak past UIC with a 4-1 win

It was by no means a dominating performance, but Iowa Baseball managed to come away with a sluggish 4-1 win over Illinois-Chicago on Tuesday evening at Duane Banks Field.

The pitching staff found themselves in several jams throughout the game, mostly created by free bases, but managed to escape on almost every occasion. Offensively, the Hawkeyes had some success early in the game but totaled four runs on just five hits.

“I am happy we found a way to get it done. We had some pitchers really step up in some tough situations that allowed us to hang on and win that game,” said head coach Rick Heller. “I just thought it was a low energy, low focus game on a really nice day, big crowd and was really disappointed.”

“There’s a certain level of toughness that you have to have to not go out on Tuesday and take a step back with your focus and energy. I think that has to be experienced and learned.”

With the win, the Hawkeyes move to 11-8 on the season and have now won seven of their last nine games. They’ll host Ohio State for a three-game series this weekend.

Players of the Game

• LHP Ben DeTaeye: DeTaeye closed the game out, earning a six-out save, totaling four strikeouts. He threw 17 of his 28 (60.7%) pitches for strikes.
• C Reese Moore: Moore recorded two of the Hawkeyes five hits, including hitting a solo home run, his fourth of the season in the first inning.
• LHP Brant Hogue: Hogue tossed a scoreless fifth inning, recording a pair of strikeouts. He threw 9 of his 15 (60.0%) pitches for strikes.

Reese Moore hits his fourth home run of the season; Hawkeyes score in each of the first three innings

Iowa found themselves in an early hole after freshman right-hander Tyler Guerin’s start went awry. He gave up three free bases in the first, while an errant throw by Jaixen Frost gave UIC an early 1-0 lead.

The bottom of the first didn’t get off to a great start, with Ben Wilmes and Gable Mitchell going down on just six pitches. Facing a potential 1-2-3 inning after allowing a run to open the game, Reese Moore got things back on track with a solo home run to left-center field. Reese has been swinging a hot bat lately, totaling 17 hits, including three home runs over his last ten games.

Hawks on the board!💣💥

E1 | Iowa 1, UIC 1#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/S9liCPzRp1

— Iowa Baseball (@UIBaseball) March 18, 2025

Iowa offense struggles to create run scoring opportunities

The Hawkeye offense was able to take advantage of some free bases, with RBI doubles from Ben Swails (2nd) and Miles Risley (3rd) to open up a 3-1 lead. However, outside of that early game success, Iowa struggled to create run scoring opportunities and were never able to break the game open with a crooked number.

“If you watched batting practice, we were just killing the ball, and I thought it was going to be a great day,” said Heller. “I thought our pitch selection was poor, we were off with the pitches that we should have swung at and the ones that we did, we were just off.”

On the day, the Hawkeyes totaled just five hits, batting 5/28 (.179 overall), as well as 0/8 (.000) leading off innings and 3/10 (.300) with runners on base. It’s just the second time this season where the offense has had five hits or less.

The Hawkeyes created dangerous situations with ten free bases, but never let it bubble over

Offensively, UIC did not bang the ball around the park, finishing with just hits, none of which went for extra bases, but they still managed to threaten in a number of innings. The Iowa pitching staff gave up ten free bases and threw just 91 of 166 (54.8%) pitches for strikes. Still, when they needed to get out of jams, they managed to make the pitches to do it.

In the second inning, the Flames loaded the bases with a pair of singles and a walk, but Ganon Archer was able to retire UIC’s best hitter, Luke Nowak, to retire the side unscathed. In the third, facing two runners on and one out, Chas Wheatley came in, got a strikeout and then retired the side with a lineup to leave the bases loaded after issuing a two-out walk. Then in the sixth, with the bases full due to three walks, Sam Hart struck out UIC’s power hitter Jackson Bessette to keep the then 3-1 lead intact.

“We were in plenty of situations where it could have taken a turn and we got blown out, but we made pitches when we needed to, got out of some jams.”

The Flames put multiple runners on base in five innings, but the Iowa pitching staff allowed just a single run, holding them to 1/14 (.079) hitting with runners on base.

Ben DeTaeye earns the six-out save, trending in the right direction as of late

Ben DeTaeye entered the season expected to be one of the top arms, if not the top arm in the Hawkeyes bullpen. However, in his first three appearances of the season, DeTaeye gave up seven runs over 5.1 innings.

Over his last four outings, Ben has looked like the Ben that the coaching staff was hoping to see this season. He has allowed zero runs on two hits over 5.1 innings, including seven strikeouts and no walks. During that stretch, DeTaeye has thrown 44 of 68 (64.7%) pitches for strikes.

In the win over UIC, DeTaeye earned the six-out save, only allowing a bunt single in the top of the ninth. He struck out four Flames hitters and threw 17 of his 28 (60.7%) pitches for strikes.

“That is great to see. He’s definitely going to get used on the weekend, for sure,” said Heller. “Just having guys that you can trust at the end of the game, to see him kind of come back around after he’d been off to a rough start, kudos to Ben for fighting back and getting it figured out. He was really good tonight.”

Rick Heller not happy with the “low energy, low focus” day from his team

Although the coaching staff was happy to get the win, they were not happy with the effort that they saw from their team. With upcoming midweek road trips to Illinois State, Milwaukee and Bradley, the Hawkeyes will need to be sharper going forward.

On the best weather day of the season, with one of the larger home crowds of the year, Iowa never truly seemed to be in control facing a UIC team that entered the day with a 3-15 overall record. The Hawkeyes did enough on the mound and at the plate, but it was far from a clean and crisp day.

“You want to talk about putting yourself in position to win a (Big Ten) championship or put yourself in position to go to a regional, these kinds of days can’t happen,” said Heller. “They just can’t. Those teams don’t have days like that. They might have off days, but it’s never like that (game was).”

What’s next for Rick Heller and Co?

Iowa finishes off their eight-game homestand with a three-game series against the Ohio State Buckeyes this weekend at Duane Banks Field. First pitch on Friday is set for 4:02pm CT on BTN+.