Strong pitching leads Iowa Baseball to an 11-3 win over Loras College

The Iowa Baseball team handled business in their home opener, defeating DIII Loras College 11-3 on Monday evening. With the win, the Hawkeyes unofficially improve to 5-6 on the season.

11 different Hawkeye batters recorded a hit, but Reese Moore led the way with four. Blake Guerin broke the game open with a three-run home run in the sixth inning, while four more runs in the seventh further extended Iowa’s lead.

Head coach Rick Heller was adamant about getting this game on the schedule, albeit at the last second, as he wanted to get a number of pitchers some more in-game work before Big Ten play begins this weekend. The pitching staff was impressive holding the Duhawks to three runs on four hits.

Players of the Game:

• DH Reese Moore: After a slow start, Moore seems to be finding his rhythm at the plate. He totaled a team-high four hits, two runs scored and two RBI’s.
• RHP Sam Hart: A reliever the Hawkeyes will need going forward, Hart threw 10 of his 14 pitches for strikes and recorded two strikeouts in one inning.
• RHP Chas Wheatley: The junior threw just 14 pitches in a 1-2-3 5th inning and struck out the side.

Despite sending nine arms to the mound, the results were balanced and dominate

Generally, midweek games can have a mixed bag of results on the mound. You’re sending a new arm to the mound every inning, and a lot of times, those arms haven’t seen a ton of time on the weekend or are some of the younger guys on the pitching staff. Rick Heller sent a mix of weekend bullpen arms, young pitchers and guys that are looking to earn larger roles as the season goes on. The results were the same from the entire staff. Dominant.

“It was great to see, especially after a lot of those guys had a rough first outing Thursday when we played Washington State,” said head coach Rick Heller. “That was really the reason we wanted to play this game tonight, was to get them back out there with conference play starting in week four.”

“I didn’t want them to have that bad taste in their mouth going into league play this weekend…It’s a pretty good night, really impressive performance by the staff.”

The Iowa pitching staff saw nine pitchers combine to allow three runs on four hits over 9.0 innings, totaling 14 strikeouts to just two free bases. They combined to throw 80 of their 122 (65.6%) pitches for strikes, which is the definition of pounding the zone. Freshman Jaron Bleeker got the start, tossing a scoreless first inning, including a strikeout and things were almost entirely smooth sailing from there. The lone blip on the night was Georgia transfer Will Pearson, who allowed a two-run double in the seventh inning.

Ben DeTaeye and Sam Hart, both arms that will be used a lot in Big Ten play, each recorded scoreless innings, while Chas Wheatley struck out the side in the fifth inning. Eight of the nine Iowa pitchers totaled a strikeout, while four pitchers recorded multiple strikeouts.

Reese Moore leads the way at the plate, totaling four hits

A bat that Iowa needs to have in the lineup every day, redshirt sophomore Reese Moore seems to be getting into a rhythm at the plate after a slow start over the first couple of weeks of the season. In Sunday’s run-rule win over Washington State, Moore hit a three-run home run and had an RBI single. He followed that up with a team-high four hits against Loras, including two runs scored and two RBI’s. Moore has raised his batting average to .342, while his on-base percentage has increased to .452 after the last two games.

“Reese had a really, really good game and to see him stick to his plan and not expand the zone, which he was really close, the last three, four games, he’s really stayed disciplined, and his zone discipline has been really solid.”

Blake Guerin’s three-run home run in the sixth inning extends the Hawkeyes advantage

After plating four runs in the bottom of the first inning, the Hawkeyes offense ran into a bit of a lull, going silent for the next four innings. Leading 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth, singles from Gable Mitchell and Reese Moore set the table for Blake Guerin who came off the bench for a pinch-hit at-bat.

He took the first pitch of his plate appearance for a ball and then fouled off seven consecutive pitches, setting up a key swing moment in the game with two runners on and two outs. Both dugouts were starting to get amped up as the at-bat continued on. Guerin delivered a 109 mph, 426-foot, three-run home run off the batter’s eye in centerfield to give the Hawkeyes a 7-1 lead. Winning the at-bat proved to be crucial, as Loras scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning. Not only was it a big hit for the team, but it was a big hit for Blake, who came into the game batting just .111 over 13 plate appearances this season.

“Blake’s home run was really big, I mean, that was a great at-bat,” said Heller. “That was a really big at-bat, and the way it worked out, it would have been 4-3 after the next inning, so that gave us the cushion that we needed.”

Blake kept battling 🙌

Seven straight foul tips ➡️ 426 ft HR‼️

E6 | Iowa 7, Loras 1 pic.twitter.com/vrcYYafusm

— Iowa Baseball (@UIBaseball) March 4, 2025

Hits start to fall, Iowa bats drive in runs with two outs and runners on base

The Iowa offense, through the first couple of weekends, has done a very good job of setting the table and creating run scoring opportunities, but have struggled to get the big hits to put crooked numbers up on the scoreboard. Their lack of clutch hits with two outs and runners in scoring position has been part of the reason why they have suffered some early losses.

Finally, the Hawkeye hitters saw some hits fall in clutch scenarios, totaling 10 hits with two outs and eight hits with runners in scoring position. Although they were just 1 of 8 (.125) in lead off situations, that has been the strength of the offense thus far. Coach Rick Heller believes that wins over Washington State and Loras College, where hits fell with runners on base is a step towards producing in those moments with more consistency going forward.

“It was good to see some guys clutch up because once that happens, it just kind of takes the edge off,” said Heller. “There’s so much to be said for having a day like today when you can go play and hopefully have some success, see the hits fall and get a couple two out knocks and drive guys in with runners in scoring position. Then, the next thing you know, you’re not even thinking about it and that’s what we need to get to.”

Anthony Watts closes out the ‘blueprint’ midweek win for Iowa

Junior right-hander Anthony Watts came out in the ninth with some extra fire on his fastball, hitting 95 mph and put the finishing touches on the Hawkeyes 11-3 victory. While he did give up a free base with a hit by pitch, Watts recorded a pair of strikeouts and threw 11 of his 18 (61.1%) pitches for strikes.

Getting Watts a positive outing going into Big Ten play, where he will be a major piece out of the bullpen, was one of the reasons why playing Loras was so important. Anthony had a call go against him in the season-opener against USF, which led to the go-ahead grand slam, while he allowed a couple of runs on Thursday against Washington State.

“Watts was working on some stuff and I thought he looked better than where he had been and was just more consistent and around the zone.”

Rick Heller said that the Hawkeyes overall performance on the mound, if it continues throughout the season, will give them a chance to rack up a lot of midweek wins.

“That’s exactly the blueprint for a having a chance to win a lot of midweek games, when your pitchers are all coming in with confidence,” said Heller. “They all came in and pounded the strike zone. The intent that they threw each pitch with was the way you want to see it.”

What’s next for Rick Heller and Co?

Iowa will be back in action on Friday afternoon when they travel to Piscataway for the first of a three-game series against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. First pitch is set for 3:00pm CT on BTN+.