Iowa Baseball Weekend Preview: Western Illinois

WEEKEND SERIES: VS WESTERN ILLINOIS (4-11)

Who would have ever thought that through one month of the baseball season, we would be saying that the Iowa Hawkeyes NCAA Tournament chances were in trouble? Well, after losing two of three on the road at Jacksonville State and dropping their midweek game at Georgia, the Hawkeyes sit with a 7-9 record. Their lone marquee win is against Ole Miss and that came in a weekend series loss. There is a lot of work to do for Iowa going forward.

The Leathernecks come into the weekend with a 4-11 overall record. They opened the season with 1-5 start in games against Austin Peay and St Louis, who have combined for a 26-6 record this season. WIU picked up a series win against Eastern Kentucky, but was swept by Northern Kentucky last weekend. They split with Cincinnati this week in a pair of midweek games.

Western Illnois Last 10 Games

Feb 25 vs St Louis: L 8-5 March 2-3 at Eastern Kentucky: W 5-3, L 4-0, W 5-3 March 5 at St Louis: L 14-4 March 8-10 at Northern Kentucky: L 11-2, L 6-1, L 17-5 March 12-13 at Cincinnati: W 12-11, L 8-3

IOWA HAWKEYES PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS

RHP Brody Brecht (Friday) – It has been a good start to the season for Brody Brecht. He has a 1.40 ERA, including 42 strikeouts to 15 walks and nine hits over 19.1 innings pitched. His walk rate is down a touch (18.4% to 16.9%) so far, while his strikeout rate is up (32.9% to 47.2%). There’s still things to clean up in the free base department, but three earned runs through four starts is good. Brecht drew the short end of the stick against JSU, as his outing ended after just 72 pitches due to rain. He tossed 4.0 scoreless innings, including nine strikeouts to three walks.

RHP Cade Obermueller (Saturday) – Talk about a bounce back performance. After having his first rough start of the year at Ole Miss, Cade went 5.2 scoreless innings, including nine strikeouts to three walks and two hits against JSU. A great sign to see him put together his best start of the year after his worst start of the year. Obermueller has posted a 1.93 ERA over 18.2 innings.

RHP Marcus Morgan (Sunday) – The concern level for Marcus is rising quickly. He has allowed 14 earned runs over his last 10.2 innings, including 19 free bases to 12 strikeouts. With no one in the bullpen currently showing the ability to start, Marcus is going to be forced to figure things out on the mound.

The Key for the Staff: Continue to build on some positive results – Brody Brecht and Cade Obermueller put together good starts against JSU, while the bullpen has started to make some positive strides. Although Iowa is just 2-3 over their last five games, the bullpen has cut down on the free bases. They have racked up 40 strikeouts to 16 walks over the last 30.0 innings, but have allowed 28 hits, which has led to 19 earned runs (5.70 ERA). Still, the good news is that the walks are decreasing and this week should be a chance to continue that positive momentum.

WESTERN ILLINOIS LEATHERNEKS PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS

LHP Jason Buhl (Friday) – Western Illinois with go with Heartland CC transfer Jason Buhl on Friday. A year ago for the Hawks, Buhl posted a 4.06 ERA over 51.0 innings, including 59 strikeouts to 18 walks. This season, he has not had the same luck. In four starts, Buhl has allowed 16 earned runs over 16.0 innings, including 15 walks to 12 strikeouts. Opponents are batting .314 against him, including nine doubles and six home runs.

Saturday & Sunday TBA – Although the Leathernecks have not announced a starter for the final two days of the weekend, expect RHP Caden Kratz to get a fair share of innings. He has appeared in seven games with two starts and has a team best 0.63 ERA over 14.1 innings. Kratz has allowed just one earned run, while striking out 10.06 per nine innings. He has four saves, but don’t be shocked if he’s on the mound early in the game, rather than late.

The other name to know is LHP Tyler Kapraun. He has made five starts this season, posting a 9.00 ERA over 18.0 innings. Kapraun has allowed 22 hits and has 14 walks to 13 strikeouts. A year ago, he had a 5.55 ERA over 61.2 innings, including 44 strikeouts to 34 walks. He still allowed 69 hits, including 28 extra base hits.

The Key for Iowa hitters: Take advantage of a struggling staff – It has not been a very successful start to the season for the Leathernecks pitching staff. They have allowed 170 hits over 121.2 innings and have 107 walks to 97 strikeouts. Their 10.13 team ERA ranks 282nd in the country, while a whopping 54.1% of their hits allowed have gone for extra bases, including 31 home runs. The Hawkeyes need to continue that trend this weekend.

LEATHERNECKS PLAYERS TO WATCH

1. LF Maxton Polad – A transfer from Southeastern CC, Maxton Poland is the top hitter for Western Illinois. Polad is batting .364, with a .500 on-base percentage, including six doubles, two home runs and a team-high 13 RBI’s. In 61 career games at Southeastern, he batted .305 with 18 doubles, 12 home runs and 61 RBI’s.

2. DH JR Heavilin – The designated hitter for the Leathernecks, Heavilin is second on the team with 12 hits, including three doubles and a home run. Through 41 at bats, his walk rate is 0.0%, as he has ten strikeouts to zero walks. He batted .243 last season with seven doubles and two home runs in 144 at-bats.

3. RF Liam Bushey – Bushey is batting just .231, but leads the team with 14 runs scored and is second with 12 hits. He has two doubles and two runs, but has walked a team-high 14 times to give himself a .382 on-base percentage. A transfer from Mineral Area College in Missouri, Bushey batted .427 with 12 doubles, three triples and five home runs last season for the Cardinals.

4. 2B Chris Hege – A transfer from Lansing CC in Michigan, Hege is batting .275 for WIU this season and is third on the team with 11 hits. He has 12 walks to nine strikeouts, which puts him in second on the team with a .434 on-base percentage. Last season at Lansing CC, Hege batted .377, including eight doubles, six home runs and 48 RBI’s.

FINAL THOUGHT

Sweep. That has to be the goal this weekend for Rick Heller’s squad. Anything less and the hole to dig out of will only get deeper. The Leathernecks have finished 261st, 296th and 287th in the RPI over the last three seasons, so any loss would be incredibly damaging to the Hawkeyes resume. With Big Ten play just around the corner, Iowa needs some sort of positive momentum going into the Purdue series (March 22-24). A sweep this weekend and a midweek win over Grand View would give the Hawkeyes some good vibes going into the conference portion of the schedule.