Iowa's offensive surge overwhelms Rutgers, Hawkeyes take the series in Piscataway
In what was the highest scoring game of the series, Iowa’s offense came through in the 12-6 win over Rutgers. After dropping the series opener on Friday, the Hawkeyes bounced back, winning the final two games of the weekend to secure a series victory.
The Hawkeyes took an early lead 4-2, scoring runs in each of the first three innings, but the Scarlet Knights answered with four runs in the fourth inning. Iowa cut into the deficit with a run in the fifth and then exploded for seven runs, including three home runs in the sixth and seventh to open up a 12-6 lead. Anthony Watts was brilliant in relief, tossing 4.2 scoreless innings to close out the game.
Over the past five games, the Iowa offense has put up 57 runs (11.4 per gm) and hit 13 home runs, led by three each from Jackson Beaman and Blake Guerin. They hit ten home runs during the weekend, including six on Saturday, marking their most in a single game since 2018.
“Lots of guys up and down the lineup were productive, and that’s the type of team we need to be,” said head coach Rick Heller. “Everybody in the lineup do their part, and we’re pretty good when we do that and when we play clean baseball.”
Iowa moves to 7-7 on the season and 2-1 in Big Ten play. They will host Michigan State for a three-game series next weekend.
Players of the Game
- RHP Anthony Watts: Watts tossed 4.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen. He threw 65.2% of his 46 pitches for strikes, totaling two strikeouts and just one hit allowed.
- OF Jackson Beaman: The Missouri transfer hit his third home run of the weekend and his seventh of the season. Also singled and scored a run in the seventh inning. Only Iowa hitter with multiple hits.
- 2B Ben Swails: The redshirt sophomore reached base four times, including three walks. Hit his second home run of the weekend, a three-run shot to make it 12-6 in the seventh.
Hawkeyes score first, Jackson Beaman blasts his seventh home run of the season
For the second consecutive day, Iowa scored in the first inning. Rutgers starting pitcher Preston Prince walked the bases loaded with no outs, but managed to escape a big inning, getting Caleb Wulf to ground into a 6-4-3 double play. Still, it drove in a run and gave Iowa a 1-0 lead before the Scarlet Knights came to bat.
The Hawkeyes tacked on a run in the second on a Jaixen Frost RBI single, but Rutgers responded with two runs in the bottom of the second to tie the game 2-2. It was a short-lived tie game, as Jackson Beaman hit his third home run and seventh of the season. A two-run shot that traveled 412 feet put Iowa back in front 4-2.
On the season, Beaman is batting .317, with a .440 on-base percentage, including seven home runs and a team-high 15 RBI’s. Still a small sample size, but Jackson is averaging a home run every 7.15 plate appearances.
Rutgers appears to flip the momentum with a four-run fourth inning
Leading 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth, the Hawkeyes had all of the momentum. Reece Beuter retired JT Thompson and Pablo Santos on six pitches, giving him five straight batters retired, but Rutgers delivered a tough blow, plating four runs with two outs.
The bottom of the Scarlet Knights order got the rally going, with Brennan Hyde and JD Jones each recording singles. Leadoff hitter RJ Johnson Jr earned a walk, setting the table for the top two hitters in the Rutgers lineup. Trevor Cohen and Peyton Bonds came through, with back-to-back two run singles and all of the sudden, they led 6-4. Reliever Brant Hogue came on to retire Ty Doucette and get the Hawkeyes out of the inning.
For the first time all season, Reece Beuter got a little roughed up. He allowed six runs on six hits over 3.2 innings, recording three strikeouts and giving up a pair of walks. Despite the final stat line, Beuter still threw 39 of his 69 (66.1%) pitches for strikes.
Iowa regains the lead with four runs in the sixth inning
The Rutgers lead held through the fifth inning, although the Hawkeyes cut into the deficit with a run on a successfully executed double steal that brought Gable Mitchell in from third. Much like on Saturday afternoon, when the Iowa bats got going, they were hard to stop.
The top of the sixth got going with Mitch Wood and Ben Swails reaching base via hit by pitch and walk. After a Jaixen Frost sac bunt advanced the runners, Rick Heller doubled up with the small ball and Ben Wilmes laid down a fantastic bunt single to tie the game. Later in the inning, Miles Risley stepped up to the plate and gave the Hawkeyes the lead back with a three-run home run, his third of the season. Putting together their sixth multi-run inning of the weekend, Iowa took a 9-6 and never let it go.
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“It was a really great day for us. For the first time this year, when we got punched in the mouth, we fought back,” said Heller. “I really feel like the team came together this weekend. I feel like they really understand and know what we have to do to be a good team, and they showed that these last two days.”
Ben Swails delivers the knockout blow with a three-run home run in the seventh inning
The redshirt sophomore Ben Swails has gotten some time on the infield early in the season and he was a critical part of the win in his fifth start of the season. He hit a home run in Saturday’s 16-0 run-rule win, but had more to contribute.
Jackson Beaman opened the seventh inning with a single, while Reese Moore followed, working a five-pitch walk, giving the Hawkeyes two runners on base, with no outs. Swails came to the plate with one out and sent the 2-2 offering from Rutgers reliever Quinn Berglin over the left field wall for a three-run, exclamation point home run to make it 12-6 Iowa.
Anthony Watts dominates in relief, closes out the Hawkeyes win
A hot topic of debate amongst the coaching staff prior to the season was whether or not to use Anthony Watts as a starter, or as a reliever. He came out of the bullpen on Sunday, but put together a starter length outing, tossing 4.2 scoreless innings to finish off the 12-6 win.
Trailing 6-5 in the fifth inning, Watts entered the game with Nick Tomasetto standing on second base with just one out. He retired Pablo Santos (5-3) and Brennan Hyde (F-7) to end the inning and was impressive the rest of the way, putting up zeros, so the offense could blow the game open.
The only trouble he ran into came in the sixth inning. Nine-hole hitter JD Jones reached base to lead off the inning, after Anthony bobbled a slow roller out in front of the mound. However, he struck out RJ Johnson Jr and then got Trevor Cohen to bounce into a 1-6-3 double play that was anything but routine. Watts nabbed the chopper behind his back and delivered a strike to shortstop Gable Mitchell, who fired to Blake Guerin at first for the inning ending double play. Watts retired 13 of the 16 batters he faced, allowing one hit and striking out two. He threw 30 of his 46 (65.2%) pitches for strikes.
“The bullpen and Anthony Watts bounced back, too. He shut them down the rest of the way,” said Heller. “I couldn’t be prouder of our team. I feel like this is a big weekend for us to get a Big Ten series on the road after losing game one and getting a chance now to go home for two weeks and rest up from traveling.”
What’s next for Rick Heller and Co?
Iowa meets up with DIII Augustana College for a midweek battle on Tuesday afternoon at Duane Banks Field. First pitch is set for 4:05pm CT on BTN+.
