Offense explodes for 36 runs, Hawkeyes sweep Western Illinois in a doubleheader
The Iowa Baseball team desperately needed a get right weekend before heading into Big Ten play. They came into the weekend having won just two of their last seven weekend games, but Western Illinois, on paper, appeared to be a team that they could handle. On Saturday, the Hawkeye bats were hot, while the pitching staff did enough to earn two more run-rule victories. Iowa won the game one of the day 17-7 (8 Inn) and followed it up with a 19-9 (8 Inn) victory to close out a three-game sweep of the Leathernecks.
“It gives us confidence for sure. It lets us know that we’re all very good hitters, our pitchers are very good…It doesn’t take one facet of the game, it takes all facets and a weekend like this going into Big Ten play is gigantic,” said Raider Tello. “We’re going to control what we can control and hopefully get out there and keep winning. Starting on Friday we’re 0-0.
Game 1 – Iowa 17 Western Illinois 7 (8 innings)
The Hawkeyes got off to a steady start offensively scoring runs in three of the first four innings to get out to a 4-0 lead. Davis Cop got things going in the first with a two-out, two-run single to put Iowa on top. In the third, Reese Moore delivered an RBI double off the wall in right-center field. Then in the fourth, Sam Petersen smoked an RBI triple off the wall in right field to make it 4-0.
On the mound, Cade Obermueller worked around a couple of free bases, but struck out five to keep the Leathernecks scoreless through four innings. However, things fell apart in the fifth inning. An error and a walk set the table for leadoff hitter Chris Hege. His RBI single got WIU on the board. Obermueller would hit back-to-back batters and then got a groundout, but exited the game with two runners on base in a 4-3 contest.
“Cade gave us a great start, but then when things started to unravel, we didn’t stop it. It turned into a six spot and that can’t happen,” said Rick Heller. “The message there is when something happens, an error or a mistake happens, he steps up, shuts it down and takes charge. That’s growth and maturity that’s there (with him) and it’s coming.”
Jack Young came out of the bullpen to try to get out of the jam and while he recorded two strikeouts, one wind aided hit changed the game. Brock Lummus launched a sky-high fly ball to right field and it carried out of the park for a three-run home run to make it 6-4 Leathernecks.
From there, the Iowa offense took over. Davis Cop answered the WIU rally with a two-run home run to tie the game up in the bottom of the fifth inning. Then in the sixth, an two-run double from Kyle Huckstorf into the right field corner made it 9-6 Hawkeyes.
Aaron Savary came on in relief and pitched the final three innings of the game. JR Heavilin cut the Iowa lead to 9-7 on an RBI double in the seventh, but Savary retired eight of the 11 batters he faced, including a 4-6-3, inning ending double play in the eighth.
The long ball extended the Hawkeyes lead in the seventh. Sam Petersen sent a three-run shot over the right field wall to make it 12-7. It was a likely insurmountable lead for the Leathernecks, but Rick Heller’s squad wanted to get things done early.
In the eighth, Michael Seegers kept the scoring going with a two-run home run to make it 14-7. An RBI single from Raider Tello and a two-run single from Davis Cop gave the Hawkeyes a 17-7 run-rule victory in 8 innings. Tello led the way with four hits, while Cop had a game-high six RBI’s. Six Iowa hitters recorded multiple hits.
“It was good to see them step up with confidence and our pitch selection all weekend against these guys was really good. For the most part we dominated the zone,” said Heller. “We were taking fringe pitches early in the count. We weren’t afraid to wait them out and get to two strikes if we had to. There was no panic.”
Final Pitching Stat Lines
IOWA
Cade Obermueller: 4.1 INN, 5 R, 2 ER, 3 H, 5 K, 4 BB Jack Young: 0.2 INN, 1 R, 1 H, 2 K Aaron Savary: 3.0 INN, 1 R, 3 H, 1 K
WESTERN ILLINOIS
Kyle Rosenfeld: 5.0 INN, 6 R, 3 ER, 10 H, 4 SO, 1 BB Cole Dale: 1.0 INN, 4 R, 1 H, 4 BB Eric Cunning: 1.2 INN, 7 R, 8 H, 3 K, 2 BB
Game 2 – Iowa 19 Western Illinois (8 innings)
In the second game of the doubleheader, things did not get off to a very good start. Marcus Morgan allowed five runs on seven hits over 2.2 innings. He threw 58.9% of his 78 pitches for strikes and gave up four free bases. In the first inning, two walks and a single loaded the bases with no outs, while a hit by pitch put WIU on top 1-0 before an out was recorded. Morgan struck out three in a row to limit the damage.
“It’s pretty much just lack of command. He got nickel and dimed a little bit today with some bloop hits, but for the most part, he was his own worst enemy,” said Heller. “You can’t walk two guys and hit a guy to lead the game off and expect to have much success.”
The Hawkeye offense continued to stay hot and put up a crooked number in the first inning against WIU starter Tyler Kapraun. Sam Petersen clubbed his second triple of the day to drive in Andy Nelson after a leadoff walk. Raider Tello and Davis Cop each delivered RBI singles to make it 4-1 after one inning.
The Leathernecks responded in a big way. RBI singles from Kyree Alexander and JR Heavilin cut the lead to 4-3 after two innings, while Grant Palmer and Chris Hege added RBI singles in the third to make it 5-4 WIU. That marked the end of Marcus Morgan’s outing.
“Hopefully he and Sean (McGrath) can get together and get things cleaned up before next week. We know it’s there and obviously we’re not going to give up, but Marcus has to step up soon,” said Heller.
In the fifth inning, the Leathernecks put up a crooked number against reliever Jack Whitlock and looked like they were on their way to a series finale win. An RBI double from nine-hitter Justin Jang made it 6-4, while Kyree Alexander followed with a three-run home run to extend the WIU lead to 9-4. Iowa was staring a resume crippling loss in the face.
“For a while there, it looked like they wanted one out of three more than we wanted three out of three,” said Heller.
That feeling didn’t last long. In the sixth inning, the Hawkeyes took advantage of free bases to start a crazy comeback. Andy Nelson drew a bases loaded walk, while Connor Hennings scored on a wild pitch. Sam Petersen and Raider Tello followed with back-to-back RBI singles to cut the deficit to 9-8. Later in the inning, Davis Cop crushed a three-run home run to give Iowa a 12-9 lead. An eight-run inning not only put them in front, but showed the maturity of the team to not panic.
“Being down 9-4 against anybody is tough. You can be down 9-4 to a little league team and you can get into your head,” said Raider Tello. “Being able to come back, maintaining focus and staying through out end goal and making sure we’re getting to where we need to be is huge.”
Zach Voelker put up 1.2 scoreless innings, while Elliot Cadieux-Lanoue added 2.0 scoreless innings, including a pair of strikeouts. That allowed the offense to put the finishing touches on a third run-rule victory.
In the seventh, three straight RBI singles from Raider Tello, Reese Moore and Kyle Huckstorf added to the lead, while a Michael Seegers bases clearing, three-run double put the Hawkeyes on the brink of a run-rule with an 18-9 lead. In the eighth, Will Mulflur delivered a pinch-hit RBI single to close the game out. Over two games, Iowa scored 36 runs on 35 hits, including ten total multiple hit games.
“I think they showed a lot of toughness and we talked about it at 9:20 this morning. Whatever it takes, we have to do whatever we have to do to get this done,” said Heller. “It was a good weekend for us to build on and hopefully we take a lot of confidence into this week and Big Ten play starting Friday.”
Raider Tello racked up nine hits in 12 plate appearances during the doubleheader, including five hits in the second game. For the weekend, Tello reached base in 13 of 17 plate appearances, including ten hits and five RBI’s.
“I hit after the game (Friday) to try to tweak some stuff and it was really keeping the hands inside the ball and not trying to get pull happy,” said Tello. “(Today) just making sure I’m seeing the pitches well, making sure I’m swinging at the right pitches because if you swing at a bad pitch, you’re probably not going to get a hit. Made sure I stayed within the zone and within myself…some days they fall, some days they don’t and today they all fell.”
Final Pitching Stat Lines
IOWA
Marcus Morgan: 2.2 INN, 5 R, 7 H, 4 K, 3 BB Jack Whitlock: 1.2 INN, 4 R, 5 H, 3 K Zach Voelker: 1.2 INN, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB Elliot Cadieux-Lanoue: 2.0 INN, 0 R, 0 H, 2 K, 1 BB
WESTERN ILLINOIS
Tyler Kapraun: 5.0 INN, 4 R, 6 H, 5 K, 3 BB Jacob Greenan: 0.0 INN, 2 R, 1 BB Colton Kachinsky: 0.1 INN, 4 R, 2 H, 2 BB Mason Telford: 0.2 INN, 2 R, 1 H, 1 K, 1 BB Billy Humprhey: 0.1 INN, 6 R, 5 ER, 5 H, 1 BB Chase Golden: 0.2 INN, 2 K Jackson Rodgers: 0.0 INN, 1 R, 2 H, 1 BB
Up Next, the Hawkeyes will take the field for one more tune up before Big Ten play begins next weekend. Iowa will face the NAIA Grand View Vikings on Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is set for 4:05pm CT and the game will be streamed on BTN+.
