Iowa Baseball Preview - at Penn State

WEEKEND SERIES – AT PENN STATE (23-14)

The Iowa Baseball team comes into the weekend on a five-game winning streak, including a three-game sweep of rival Nebraska. The Hawkeyes knocked the Huskers starting pitcher out in 3.0 innings or less in all three games, while they got 6.0+ inning starts from Marcus Morgan and Ty Langenberg. They followed up their sweep with a 16-0 win over Upper Iowa on Tuesday. Up next, a trip to State College to face the Penn State Nittany Lions.

PSU comes into the series with a 23-14 record, but they are way down in tenth place in the Big Ten with a 5-7 record. Despite that, the Nittany Lions have wins over #17 Miami FL, #25 Indiana and #21 West Virginia this season. They have won nine of their last 12 games, including a three-game sweep of Ohio State last weekend.

“They’re a scary team to play. They have a bunch of older hitters and some really good arms on the mound,” said head coach Rick Heller. “I said before the season that they could be a team that was a surprise in the Big Ten…They’re kind of hitting their stride and we’ve all noticed that. I think they’re a really good team.”

THE NUMBERS

OFFENSE: IOWA: 8.1 runs (35th), 9.4 hits (152nd), .291 AVG (74th) PENN STATE: 8.1 runs (32nd), 10.5 hits (32nd), .300 AVG (44th)

PITCHING: IOWA: 4.8 runs (28th), 7.0 hits (7th), 11.1 SO/9 (8th) PENN STATE: 5.9 runs (104th), 8.9 hits (99th), 9.2 SO/9 (86th)

DEFENSE: IOWA: 33 errors, .976 fielding percentage (52nd) PENN STATE: 43 errors, .968 fielding percentage (157th)

IOWA PITCHING PROBABLES

FRIDAY- Soph RHP Brody Brecht

Brody Brecht was very upfront with his feelings about his outing last weekend against Nebraska. After allowing four runs on two hits and seven walks, Brecht called his performance “bad” and “not acceptable”. Despite that, he has allowed two runs or less in seven of his ten starts this season. His last two starts have not been up to his standards and he will be looking to get back on track against Penn State.

SATURDAY- TBA (Marcus Morgan)

After a bumpy start to the season, Marcus Morgan has started to figure things out when the Hawkeyes need him most. Over his last three starts, he has allowed just two runs over 16.0 innings, including going 6.0 scoreless against Nebraska on Saturday. He has retired 48 of the last 63 hitters he has faced and has left 87% of those that reached base stranded.

SUNDAY- TBA (Ty Langenberg)

Much like Marcus, the hope is that Ty Langenberg is also turning a corner. Two of his last three outings have been really good, including a 7.0 inning start in the series finale against Nebraska. Ty was able to throw all of his pitches for strikes and retired 21 of 24 batters faced after a giving up a leadoff home run to Brice Matthews. If Morgan and Langenberg can continue to their success on Saturday and Sunday, the ceiling for this baseball team jumps up a level or two.

PENN STATE PITCHING PROBABLES

FRIDAY- Jr RHP Jaden Henline

Henline will get his sixth start of the season and it marks his fifth straight week in the Friday role. He comes in with a 3.40 ERA over 47.2 innings and 11 appearances. Henline has just 31 strikeouts, but his 6.4% walk rate is the best on the team. He has also been able to deep into outings, as he is averaging 6.0 innings over his last five starts. Last time out against Ohio State, Henline allowed three runs on nine hits over 7.0 innings.

SATURDAY/SUNDAY- Several Options

Travis Luensmann has made six starts this season and opened the year as the Nittany Lions Friday night man. He owns a 2.91 ERA over 46.1 innings, including 51 strikeouts to 29 walks. His .272 opponent batting average on balls in play amonst the Nittany Lions four starters. Last time out against Ohio State, Luensmann allowed one earned run over 5.0 innings, but had five strikeouts to five walks.

Lefthander Jordan Morales has made five starts this season and has a 5.12 ERA over 38.2 innings. He has racked up 34 strikeouts to 15 walks. Last weekend against Ohio State, Morales appeared in two games. He combined to throw 4.1 scoreless innings and allowed just two hits.

West Virginia transfer Daniel Ouderkirk has made nine starts this season with a 5.72 ERA over 39.1 innings. He has racked up an impressive 57 strikeouts, but has walked 29. Teams are hitting just .216 off Ouderkirk, but when they aren’t striking out, they can get on base. Opponents are batting .326 on balls put in play. Last time out against Ohio State, Ouderkirk allowed two hits over 2.2 innings, but five walks helped the Buckeyes score three runs.

NITTANY LIONS PLAYERS TO WATCH

1. C Thomas Bramley- The Mount St Mary’s transfer has been the best on-base guy for the Nittany Lions this season. He leads the team with a .338 batting average, while a 20.9% walk rate gives him a .471 on-base percentage. Bramley is second on the team with 31 RBI’s and has 14 extra base hits, including four home runs. He has 15 multi-hit games, including three last weekend against Ohio State.

2. SS Jay Harry- Jay Harry is the hardest out in the Penn State lineup. Not only does he lead the team with 50 hits, 18 extra base hits and six home runs, but he also does not strike out. In 170 plate appearances, Harry has struck out just 11 times. His 6.3% strikeout rate is third amongst all hitters in the power conferences. He has 16 multi-hit games this season.

3. DH Bobby Marsh- The true freshman from Bellefonte, PA got off to a slow start with a batting average as low as .256 in late march, but a hot month of April has him in second on the team with a .333 average. Marsh is 20/57 (.351) this month with seven multi-hit games and 20 RBI’s. He is going to swing the bat when he is up, as he has just an 8.2% walk rate. That is the second lowest among the regular starters for PSU.

4. 2B Kyle Hannon- One of the more dynamic players in the lineup, Kyle Hannon is a threat on the bases. He ranks sixth amongst power conference players with 24 stolen bases. Hannon is also batting .295 with a .414 on-base percentage, as well as eight doubles and six home runs. He has a hit in 31 of 36 games and has reached base in 33 games.

5. CF Johnny Piacentino- Piacentino is having a career best season when it comes to batting average (.321) and on-base percentage (.384). He is also second on the team with seven stolen bases and fourth with 36 hits. Piacentino has 11 multi-hit games thi season.

6. 3B Grant Norris- The leader in RBI’s for PSU is a dangerous hitter when he can put the bat on the ball. He is batting just .313, but leads the team with a .435 average on balls put in play. Issue is, he is second on the team with 35 strikeouts and a 30.4% strikeout rate. Still, Norris has nine doubles, four home runs and ten multi-hit games.

7. RHP Steven Miller- Miller is the most relied on arm out of the PSU bullpen. He has appeared in 14 games with 12 of them coming from the bullpen. He brings in a 4.05 ERA over 33.1 innings and knows how to limit free bases. Miller has 42 strikeouts to just 11 walks and his 3.82 K/BB ratio leads the team.

MIDWEEK GAME – VS ILLINOIS STATE (15-22)

The Hawkeyes have had a tough time against the Redbirds over the last couple of seasons. They have dropped three in a row in the series, including a 5-3 loss in Normal back on March 28th.

The Redbirds are 2-5 this season against Big Ten teams. They were swept by Indiana State, but took a series from Bradley in Peoria. Illinois State faces Southern Illinois in a three-game series this weekend.

REDBIRDS PLAYERS TO WATCH

1. OF Daniel Pacella- The true freshman out of Mundelein, IL has been a standout in his first season with Illinois State. He leads the team with a .303 batting average, as well as 46 hits, 12 home runs and 42 RBI’s. Pacella has racked up 16 multi-hit and ten multi-RBI games. He recorded two hits, including an RBI double in the first meeting against the Hawkeyes.

2. CF Auggie Rasmussen- After a slow start to the season, Auggie Rasmussen has gotten hot over the last 11 games, with seven multi-hit performances. He leads the team with 20 extra base hits, including ten doubles and eight home runs. In the first meeting, Rasmussen was just 1/4, but he has been a different hitter as of late. During his hot stretch, he is batting .422 with four home runs and 15 runs scored.

3. 2B Greg Nichols- Nichols may be sixth on the team in batting average and lead the team in strikeouts, but he is a dangerous batter to face with runners on base. He is second on the team with 18 extra base hits, including 12 doubles and six home runs. Nichols has raised his batting average from .250 to .278 over the last eight games. He has recorded a hit in seven of those eigtht games, including five multi-hit games.

FINAL THOUGHT

Set the over/under at 3.5 wins for the week. The Nittany Lions are solid team and are playing good baseball as of late, but anything other than a series win would be disappointing for the Hawkeyes. Couple that with what should be revenge win on Tuesday over Illinois State and Iowa will be looking at 3-1 or 4-0. The key is the starting rotation. Can Brody Brecht bounce back and can Morgan/Langenberg continue to pitch well?

First pitch on Friday in State College is set for 4:00pm CT on the Big Ten Network. Saturday is set for 1:00pm, while first pitch in the series finale is set for 12:00pm. The final two games will be streamed on BTN+.