Skip to main content
iowa logo

Missed chances cost Iowa Baseball against Notre Dame

On3 imageby:Kyle Huesmann•about 19 hours•

HuesmannKyle

The Hawkeyes fell to Notre Dame in the Stetson Tournament opener. (Photo by Dennis Scheidt)
The Hawkeyes fell to Notre Dame in the Stetson Tournament opener. (Photo by Dennis Scheidt)

A wild pitch, a fly ball or a bloop single, the Hawkeyes didn’t need much to win it. Twice, they had the winning run standing 90 feet from home plate, but twice, Notre Dame was able to wriggle out of danger. Those squandered chances haunted the Hawkeyes as Notre Dame’s Connor Hincks stepped up and delivered a solo home run in the top of the 11th to give the Irish the 2-1 victory in the opener at the Stetson Tournament. Although still early in the year, the Hawkeyes now have a 1-3 record.

Cade Obermueller took the mound for his second start of the season, and even though he wasn’t quite as sharp as last weekend, he gave the Hawkeyes a solid start. Obermueller was tagged for one run on four hits over 5.1 innings, including eight strikeouts to three walks. He threw 59 of his 99 (59.6%) pitches for strikes.

Notre Dame starter Jack Radel was equally as effective, but Iowa was able to get on the board in the fourth inning. Miles Risley led off the Hawkeyes half with a double down the left field line. Later in the inning, with two outs, freshman Jaixen Frost drove one over the head of RF Jayce Lee for an RBI double to put Iowa in front 1-0.

Obermueller left the game in the top of the sixth inning, turning the ball over to reliever Anthony Watts with runners on the corners. A check swing infield single from Jared Zimbardo drove in a run and tied the game, but Watts was impressive for the rest of his outing, retiring eight of the next nine batters he faced, including four strikeouts. After his first relief appearance of the season went haywire at USF, Anthony bounced back, throwing 26 of his 44 (59.1%) pitches for strikes.

The game remained tied into the ninth inning, setting the stage for a potential walk off win for the Hawkeyes. Back-to-back singles from Reese Moore and Jaixen Frost, followed by a wild pitch had the winning run on third base in the form of pinch-runner Kellen Strohmeyer. The ensuing at-bat delivered a disastrous end to the inning. Andy Nelson, searching for his first hit of the season, hit a groundball on the infield and the pinch-runner, Strohmeyer, got caught hesitating of his decision to go home or stay at third base. He was tagged out in a rundown, while Nelson was then thrown out after straying too far off of first base.

As heartbreaking as the ninth inning was, the tenth was arguably worse. With bases loaded and just one out, Miles Risley and Gable Mitchell failed to put the ball in play, striking out in consecutive at-bats to leave the winning run stranded at third again.

Ben DeTaeye was solid in his stint out of the bullpen, however, the wasted chances came back to bite, as Connor Hincks sent a solo home run to right field in the top of the 11th. The Hawkeyes went down in order in the bottom of the inning and the Irish pulled out the 2-1 win.

Pitching Stat Lines

IOWA: Cade Obermueller (5.1 INN, 1 ER, 4 H, 8 K, 3 BB), Anthony Watts (2.2 INN, 0 R, 1 H, 4 K, 1 BB), Ben DeTaeye (3.0 INN, 1 ER, 2 H, 6 K, 2 BB)

NOTRE DAME: Jack Radel (5.0 INN, 1 ER, 3 H, 5 K, 1 BB), Ricky Reeth (2.0 INN, 0 R, 1 H, 2 K), Chase Van Ameyde (2.0 INN, 0 R, 4 H), Tobey McDonough (2.0 INN, 0 R, 2 H, 2 K, 1 BB)

Up Next: Iowa will face the host Stetson Hatters on Saturday evening at Conrad Park. First pitch is set for 4:00pm CT on ESPN+.

You may also like