Hawkeyes split a Friday doubleheader with Michigan State

It was a long day for everyone in attendance at Duane Banks Field on Friday afternoon. With weather conditions set to deteriorate as the weekend goes on, the Hawkeyes and Spartans got the first two games of the series out of the way on day one. Michigan State took the opener 12-8 in 11 innings, but Iowa bounced back to even the series with a 7-3 win in game two.

“(In game one), we just got beat, they had 18 hits, five or six home runs…They pitched better, they hit better, not a lot better, but they did,” said head coach Rick Heller. “(In game two), it was so important that Savary came out and absolutely dealt.”

Offensively, the Hawkeyes totaled 15 runs on 20 hits, including three hits each from Daniel Rogers, Reese Moore and Ben Swails. On the day, they batted 8/27 (.296) with two outs and 10/31 (.323) with runners on base. The pitching staff allowed 15 runs on 27 hits over 18.0 innings (7.50 ERA), but forced Spartan hitters to earn it, giving up just four free bases and throwing 218 of 334 (65.3%) pitches for strikes.

With the split, the Hawkeyes head into Saturday with a 9-8 overall record and will look to take the series on Saturday afternoon.

Players of the Day

• RHP Aaron Savary: After the Hawkeyes lost the first game of the day, they needed a bounce back and Savary delivered. He allowed two runs on six hits over a career-high 7.1 innings, including four strikeouts. He threw 62 of his 95 (65.3%) pitches for strikes.
• C Daniel Rogers: Rogers had a big game in the opener, totaling three hits and three RBI’s, including a three-run home run. In game two, he walked twice and drove in a run with a sac fly.
• DH Reese Moore: Moore finished the day with three hits, three walks and three runs scored, including a three-run home run in game one.

Series opener between aces Dzierwa-Obermueller turns into a slugfest

A lot of the talk coming into the series was centered around the high-level matchup on the mound that was going to kick off the series. A pair of lanky left-handers, Joseph Dzierwa (0.70 ERA) and Cade Obermueller (2.20 ERA) were expected to deliver a low-scoring affair, but it was anything but that.

The Spartans starter, Dzierwa, completed 6.0 innings, but allowed a season-high four runs, three earned on eight hits. Reese Moore drove a three-run, opposite field home run to left-center field, giving Iowa a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning. Back-to-back doubles from Ben Wilmes and Gable Mitchell tagged Dzierwa for another earned run in the seventh inning.

As for Obermueller, his start wasn’t a clean one either. He allowed five runs on nine hits over 5.2 innings, including home runs from Sam Busch and Randy Seymour. Hawkeye pitchers, in the first game, threw a lot of strikes, but left too many pitches up in the zone and on a windy day at Duane Banks, MSU hitters took advantage.

Hawkeyes rally, send the game to extra on home runs from Rogers and Guerin

After Obermueller departed in the sixth inning, MSU nine-hole hitter Jacob Anderson hit a solo shot off of Daniel Wright for back-to-back home runs. Nick Williams added a two-run home run in the seventh and the Spartans had opened up a commanding 8-3 lead. However, the Hawkeyes battled back.

After consecutive doubles from Wilmes and Mitchell knocked Joseph Dzierwa from the game, Iowa got back into the game against the MSU bullpen. In the eighth, after a single and a walk, Daniel Rogers clubbed a sky-high three-run home run to cut the deficit to 8-7 going into the ninth inning. Sam Hart put up a zero on the mound and turned it back over to the offense. Blake Guerin completed the comeback with a pinch-hit, one-out, 2-2 count solo home run to tie the game, but the Hawkeyes were unable to find the winning run in the ninth or the tenth inning.

ALL TIED UP.#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/nhU3w3WYyB

— Iowa Baseball (@UIBaseball) March 14, 2025

Spartans steal game one with a four-run top of the 11th inning

After failing to find the walk off run in the ninth and tenth inning, the Spartans blew it open in the top of the 11th facing Anthony Watts. Ryan McKay hit a one-out solo home run to make it 9-8 MSU, but back-to-back singles from Caleb Berry and Nick Williams kept the threat alive. Sam Busch delivered the knockout blow, a three-run home run, extend the lead to four runs. That was enough for the Spartans to grab a win.

The Hawkeyes went down in order in the bottom of the tenth, dropping the series opener 12-8 and starting the 40-minute clock for game two.

“When you fight back like we did and then you get an incredible pinch-hit home run to tie it, you’ve got to find a way to win that game,” said Heller. “We didn’t walk a lot of guys, they just hit our best guys, and you tip your hat to that. We had some empty at-bats that really hurt us. You get a bit knock like that to tie the game in the ninth at home and you’ve got to find a way to win.”

Aaron Savary sets the tone on the mound in game two, saves the series

The Hawkeyes starting pitching has been, for the most part, pretty strong through the first four weeks of the season and Aaron Savary has been the real deal in his role as the Saturday arm.

“I was just trying to do my part to help the team win, so I was really happy with the outcome,” said Savary.

Aaron did more than enough when it came to setting the tone for the Hawkeyes and giving them a chance to earn a doubleheader split. He retired 12 of the first 15 batters he faced, putting four zeros on the board, while the Hawkeye offense worked to crack MSU starter Nolan Higgins.

After a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth, Savary ran into some trouble in the top of the seventh, with Parker Picot reaching with a leadoff double. Aaron responded, retiring the next three MSU hitters, including a pair of strikeouts. A two-run home run from Ryan McKay cut the Iowa lead to 6-2 in the eighth. The long ball spelled the end of the day for Savary, but it was, arguably, the best day of his career. He allowed two runs on six hits over a career-high 7.1 innings, including four strikeouts to one walk. Aaron threw 92 of his 95 (65.3%) pitches for strikes.

“The first game, there were a lot of runs put up on the board, so I knew trying to be efficient and get deep into the game was going to be huge,” Aaron said. “I wasn’t expecting to put up that many zeros, but that’s just what the result was. Everything was working well for me and keeping them off balance.”

🤠

Savl gets him lookin.#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/UkiuKtlH9s

— Iowa Baseball (@UIBaseball) March 14, 2025

Iowa takes advantage of free bases, Jaixen Frost home run breaks it open

A 0-0 game going into the bottom of the fifth inning, the Hawkeyes had put traffic on the bases in three of four innings, but had not been able to drive in any runs. They finally broke through in the fifth inning, taking advantage of free bases from MSU starter Nolan Higgins. He walked the bases loaded with nobody out, while reliever Zach Maxey came on and drilled Miles Risley in the ribs to put Iowa in front 1-0. Daniel Rogers followed with a sacrifice fly to extend it to 2-0, but Caleb Wulf flew out, putting the Hawkeyes on the verge of missing a chance to hang a crooked number.

Insert redshirt freshman Jaixen Frost.

Frost took the first pitch from Maxey and sent in 447 feet over the fall for a three-run home run to blow the doors open. It took just two hits, but Iowa put up six runs in the fifth inning to turn what was a 0-0 pitchers dual into a 6-0 Hawkeye lead. It’s Jaixen’s first career home run.

“It was great to see,” said Heller. “Jaixen has had some big hits for us this year already and he’s probably had more two-out hits, two-out RBI’s than anybody.”

“That was so big at that time because it was just back and forth, nobody able to get anything going. We had a little more traffic than them and then it looked like they were going to get out of it with two runs. The home run really, really helped.”

Ben DeTaeye closes the game out in relief

The 6-0 lead was not enough to get the Spartans to lay down and turn their focus to game three on Saturday. They plated three runs in the eighth inning, including back-to-back singles from Caleb Berry and Parker Picot to cut the Iowa lead to 6-3. Rick Heller made the call to the bullpen and brought Ben DeTaeye on in relief of Chas Wheatley who took over for Savary.

DeTaeye retired four of the five hitters he faced, including getting Randy Seymour to fly out with runners on the corners in the eighth inning. Seymour, who homered in game one, represented the tying run at the plate. In the ninth, DeTaeye allowed a one-out double, but retired JT Sokolove and Ryan McKay to close out the Hawkeyes 7-3 win, setting up a series deciding game three.

What’s next for Rick Heller and Co?

Iowa will look to take the condensed three-game series on Saturday, with first pitch set for 1:00pm CT on BTN+. It would be the first time in program history that the Hawkeyes started Big Ten play with consecutive series wins that did not include a win in the opener.