Hawkeyes sweep doubleheader with Minnesota, move to 10-2 in Big Ten play

The Iowa Baseball team is off to their hottest start in Big Ten play since 2015, defeating Minnesota 13-0, 7-6 in a Friday doubleheader to pull off their second consecutive series sweep. With the wins, the Hawkeyes move to 17-9 on the season and 10-2 in Big Ten play, securing at least a share of first place in the standings going into next week.

“Really proud of our guys,” said head coach Rick Heller. “It was a total team effort with a bunch of guys stepping up in all three games.”

HawkeyeReport has a full recap of Friday’s doubleheader, taking a look back at what led to the Hawkeyes wins.

Players of the Day

• LHP Cade Obermueller: Obermueller was exceptional, tossing 6.0 scoreless innings, including a career-high 11 strikeouts to two walks and three hits allowed. He threw 67 of his 103 (65.0%) pitches for strikes.
• RHP Anthony Watts: When Cade came out, Watts came in and there wasn’t any letdown. Anthony struck out five over 2.0 innings and did not allow a hit. He threw 23 of his 38 (60.5%) pitches for strikes.
• DH Reese Moore: Moore totaled five hits and four RBI’s on the day, but had a huge second game, with two home runs and two doubles. He now has nine home runs on the season.
• C Daniel Rogers: Rogers totaled four hits and three RBI’s on the day, including a two-run home run and a clutch RBI double in game two.

Cade Obermueller, Anthony Watts and Jaron Bleeker combine for 19 strikeouts

The Hawkeye pitching staff put together a pitching clinic in the first game of the doubleheader, shutting out the Gopher offense and recording 19 of 27 outs via the strikeout.

After earning his first win of the season last week against Ohio State, Cade Obermueller was dialed in against the Gophers, tossing 6.0 scoreless innings, including a career-high 11 strikeouts to just two walks and three hits allowed. He ran into one jam, facing two on, no outs in the sixth inning. Obermueller retired the next three Minnesota hitters, including a strikeout of Jameson Martin to end the inning. He threw 67 of his 103 (65.0%) pitches for strikes.

After Obermueller departed, Anthony Watts and Jaron Bleeker kept the strikeouts coming, securing the final nine outs of the game, with eight strikeouts. Watts completed 2.0 scoreless innings and ran into some 3-2 counts but won all four he faced and struck out five of the seven batters he faced. The freshman Bleeker came on for the ninth and gave up a pair of walks, but struck out the side, including back-to-back strikeouts looking to end the game. He threw just 14 of his 25 (56.0%) pitches for strikes, but finished off the 13-0 win.

Andy Nelson’s three-run home run breaks things open in Game #1

Leading 3-0 in the top of the sixth inning, the game was still up for grabs, despite the way that Cade Obermueller was going on the mound. After a walk and a hit by pitch to begin the inning, Gophers reliever Joe Sperry came on and retired consecutive hitters, putting himself on the verge of escaping the inning.

Andy Nelson, making his first start since March 7th, took the 2-1 offering from Sperry and sent it 404 feet to centerfield for a clutch two-out, three-run home run. That broke the game open, giving the Hawkeyes a 6-0 lead. With Jackson Beaman in a rough patch over the last few games, it would be huge if Nelson could step back into the lineup as a starter and produce.

Hawkeyes pour on seven runs in the ninth, put up 10+ runs for the 11th time in 16 games

Rick Heller was impressed with how his team continued to push runs across in the later innings of Thursday’s 16-7 win and they did the same thing in the first game of the doubleheader. Leading 6-0 in the top of the ninth, the Hawkeyes blew the doors open.

After Andy Nelson began the inning with a 4-3 groundout, Iowa reached base in ten straight at-bats, including nine hits. Back-to-back doubles from Ben Wilmes and Gable Mitchell stretched the lead, while Reese Moore singled to make it 9-0. Later in the inning, Kooper Schulte bounced a pinch-hit two-run single through the left side to extend the lead to 13-0. The seven-run, nine-hit ninth inning put the Hawkeyes over the 10-run mark for the 11th time in 16 games.

Reese Moore and Daniel Rogers power Iowa to an early lead in Game #2

The offensive effort in the first game was balanced, but Reese Moore and Daniel Rogers took the reins in game two, helping Iowa build a 6-2 lead after four innings.

About an hour after the scoring stopped in the top of the ninth, the scoring started up again in the top of the first. After a one out double from Gable Mitchell, Reese Moore took a 2-2 pitch from Kyle Remington and deposited it over the wall in right-center for a two-run home run. In the second, Moore doubled, putting two in scoring position and Miles Risley drove in a run with a 4-3 groundout.

The long ball came back into play later, with Daniel Rogers slugged a 423-foot, two-run shot over the scoreboard in right field. It was an immediate answer, after the Gophers put up two runs in the third inning. Then, in the fifth, Reese Moore took reliever Noah Rooney a foot further (424 feet) for a solo shot, extending the advantage to 6-2. On the day, Rogers and more combined for nine hits, seven RBI’s and three home runs.

Moore to the moon 🚀

The reigning B1G Player of the Week hits his second home run of the game!#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/fRASQL2mjr

— Iowa Baseball (@UIBaseball) March 28, 2025

Daniel Rogers provides some insurance in the eighth inning

While Iowa pitchers were living on the edge, seemingly working out of a jam every single inning, Daniel Rogers tacked on an important insurance run in the eighth inning. Leading 6-3, the Hawkeyes felt comfortable with just six outs left to get, but the free bases were piling up and it felt like Minnesota was due for a couple of runs if the jams continued.

The inning started in a unique way, with Blake Guerin reaching base via wild pitch. He struck out swinging for what appeared to be the first out, but the pitch kicked away from catcher Weber Neels, allowing Guerin to reach. Blake advanced two second base on a wild pitch during the ensuing at-bat and Daniel Rogers drove him in with an RBI double into the opposite field gap.

At the time it felt like an insurance run to give the Hawkeyes some more breathing room, but it ended up being the winning run.

Free bases cause a mess, Tyler Guerin steps up, closes out the sweep

It seemed like every time Rick Heller went to the bullpen and brought another arm into another jam, they had no trouble escaping. However, every single time they took a seat for a half inning and came back out to start the next inning, things went south quickly. Chas Wheatley got out of a bases loaded, one out jam in the sixth, but put the first two runners on in the seventh. Brant Hogue came on and escaped the two on, no out jam, recording a pair of strikeouts, but then allowed consecutive hits. Hogue managed to retire two straight, but Sam Hart came on the get the final out of the eighth on one pitch.

They almost played with fire one too many times. In the ninth, two hit by pitches, a single and an error allowed Minnesota to cut the deficit to 7-4. Freshman Tyler Guerin came on and got a strikeout, but walked Landen Lozier with the bases loaded. After an Easton Richter sacrifice fly, pinch-hitter Jake Perry stood at the plate, with the tying run on second and the winning run on first. Guerin got Perry to bounce one to his brother Blake at first base and that was the game.

“The big story in this game was just us not throwing strikes and giving them a chance to come back,” said Heller. “You don’t like to see that, but we found a way to hold on in the end, and I could not be happier to get the sweep.”

The Iowa pitching staff walked eight and hit four batters, while six bullpen arms combined to throw just 69 of 119 (57.9%) pitches for strikes. They managed to get out of jams and did just enough to secure the win, holding the Gophers to 4 of 22 (.182) hitting with runners on base and 2 of 16 (.125) with runners in scoring position.

What’s next for Rick Heller and Co?

The Hawkeyes continue their nine-game road trip with a midweek matchup against the Bradley Braves on Tuesday evening at Dozer Park in Peoria, Illinois. First pitch is set for 6:00pm CT on ESPN+.