VIDEO: Iowa Baseball pitchers vs Mississauga

The Iowa Baseball team kicked off their fall slate of games on Friday evening with a matchup against the Mississauga Academy Tigers. The Hawkeyes won by a final score of 25-6 in 14 innings. On the mound, the pitching staff led by second-year pitching coach Sean McGrath put together a very solid day. Iowa pitchers struck out 27 Tigers hitters and walked eight, while six of the 14 pitchers recorded 1-2-3 innings.

“It’s going to be interesting how things shake out in the spring, but we’ve got some really high quality arms to choose from in the bullpen and some tough decisions to make,” said head coach Rick Heller. “Trying to put together the best matchups and best situations for those pitchers is going to be our challenge, but it sure is nice to see that extra depth and quality depth on our pithching staff.”

HawkeyeReport was at the game on Friday evening and got video of (nearly) every single pitch from the Hawkeye pitching staff.

RHP Brody Brecht

Brody Brecht got the start on the mound for the Hawkeyes and threw a scoreless first inning in his first appearance against live batters since his time with Team USA down in Cary, North Carolina. The coaching staff opted to have Brody shut things down for a period of time rather than finishing the season in the Cape Cod League with his Chatham Anglers team. Brecht threw a bullpen at last weeks scout day and is still working to ramp back up for the fall.

In one inning of work, Brody threw 19 pitches and registered a pair of strikeouts, while he did issue one walk. His fastball sat in the mid 90’s and was up to 95. No surprise to see the velocity down given the fact that he took some time off. It will ramp back up as the fall continues. Slider was in the mid 80’s and was the pitch he used to get his two strikeouts. Brody was recently listed as the #6 prospect in the 2024 Top 100 Prospects list by D1Baseball.com.

RHP Marcus Morgan

A very short outing for Marcus Morgan, but a very effective inning of work. He went three up, three down and threw all seven of his pitches for strikes. He worked with a fastball up to 93 and a cutter that was right at 90, while his slider was in the mid 80’s. Marcus was recently tabbed as the #88 prospect on the 2024 Top 100 Prospects list by D1Baseball.com. It will be interesting to watch him the rest of the fall to see if he can continue to show improvement with the control of his pitches. Friday was a good start.

LHP Cade Obermueller

There are a lot of eyes on Cade Obermueller this fall. He came in as a freshman last year and had a lot of hype associated with his name for obvious reasons. Cade put together a season similar to the one that Brody Brecht had as a freshman and now the hope is that he can make a similar jump in his sophomore campaign. If this summer was any indication, there is a jump on the horizon for the Iowa City native. He was named to the Cape Cod All-League Team, finishing with 30 strikeouts to nine walks over 17.0 innings and a 2.12 ERA.

On Friday, Cade threw under 15 pitches and completed a 1-2-3 third inning with a strikeout. His fastball was in the 92-93 range, while his slider was still showing a ton of snap on it. The Mississauga lineup was heavy with left-handed hitters, but any predominately right-handed lineup that faces Obermueller will have to deal with his slider going from the first base side of the mound to the inside corner.

Freshman LHP Elliot Cadieux-Lanoue

This is a guy that the coaching staff is really high on. The true freshman out of Saint Pie, Quebec has a chance to break into a role in his first year, similar to the one that Aaron Savary carved out last season.

He allowed a pair of hits to begin the fourth inning, but buckled down and struck out three batters in a row to finish off a scoreless inning. As a freshman trying to showcase what he can do to the coaches, Elliot did a really good handling adversity and not pressing when he got into trouble.

“That’s a good sign and he’s shown that since he got here,” said Rick Heller. “He’s a confident kid, he believes in himself. A little bit wild for him compared to what we’ve seen to this point and then settled in. Didn’t let it phase him at all. Just whiped it away and went to the next pitch…To this point he’s shown that he’s mature beyond his age with his mental game and his focus.”

Cadieux-Lanoue had his fastball working in the 90-91 range, with a slider in the mid 70’s. He also showed the ability flip in some big breaking, slow curveballs at 69-70.

Creighton transfer RHP Anthony Watts

Anthony Watts was the first of five transfers to take the mound for the Hawkeyes on Friday. As a true freshman last season for Creighton, Watts made six starts and appeared in 11 games. If the coaching staff opts to go with someone other than Cade Obermueller as the Sunday starter, that other someone could be Anthony Watts.

In one inning of work, Watts went 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to first base. His fastball was in the low 90’s, while his slider was working in the 87-88 range and looked really good. Keep an eye on him throughout the fall.

RHP Aaron Savary

Aaron Savary worked his way into the bullpen last season during his freshman season and ended up with a 3.22 ERA over 12 appearances. Now, he is looking to take the next step in his sophomore season and become an even more reliable option for Heller and McGrath.

He tossed a scoreless sixth inning, with a pair of strikeouts and one walk. His fastball was right around 90, while the offspeed pitches looked pretty good as well.

RHP Jack Whitlock

The Hutchinson CC transfer did not even travel with the Hawkeyes on a couple of their early weekend trips last season. He burst onto the scene in Big Ten play and was one of the best arms in the bullpen by the end of the season. Whitlock appeared in 19 games with a 2.02 ERA and 38 strikeouts to eight walks over 35.2 innings. Now, Jack is set to be one of the top options for the Hawkeyes this upcoming season.

“Whitlock was the same Jack (that we’ve seen). He just went out and dominated.”

He sailed through the seventh inning with three strikeouts. The fastball was in the mid 80’s and up to 86, while the slider was sitting in the mid 70’s. Whitlock isn’t going to overpower hitters with an electric fastball, but he executes his pitches at and elite level.

Dallas Baptist transfer RHP Reece Beuter

Reece Beuter did not have the best outing on Friday, as he allowed four runs on four hits and two walks. The good news is that it’s September and it was one outing, so there is nothing to worry about. Beuter was really good for Kirkwood as freshman in 2021 and last year at DBU was his first season off of Tommy John surgery.

Outside of a wild pitch, the tape shows that Reece was around the zone with most of his pitches and the hits he allowed were on the ground through holes in the infield. He did get some swing and miss on the slider as well. The fastball was up to 91, while he also threw a slider and a changeup.

Indian Hills transfer RHP Sam Hart

The coaching staff believes that Sam Hart can be a back end of the bullpen arm for the Hawkeyes next season. Last year at Indian Hills, Hart finished with 13 saves and a 1.19 ERA, including 37 strikeouts to 12 walks. When you watch him throw, the first name that comes to mind is Jacob Henderson with a extra bit of velocity.

Hart issued a couple of walks in the ninth inning, but struck out a pair of batters and worked around the traffic for a scoreless inning. His fastball was in the 89-91 range, while his slider was around 80 with some pretty good movement.

LHP Ben DeTaeye

The best story of the fall so far. DeTaeye transferred to Iowa from Iowa Central and appeared in ten games for the Hawkeyes during the 2021 season. He injured his arm warming up the bullpen during the season finale series against Indiana and missed all of last season after getting Tommy John surgery.

On Friday, Ben was lights out, striking out the side in the tenth inning. His fastball was up to 90 and his slider was in the mid to upper 70’s. Heller mentioned that DeTaeye has been looking good through the early portion of the fall.

“The one that made me the most happy because he’s coming off Tommy John and to see where he’s at and how hard he’s worked to get out there for the first time against another team. He’s been pitching really well in our scrimmages and he pitched great tonight.”

Kirkwood transfer RHP Ganon Archer

Ganon Archer was with Sam Hart, as the two guys to announce their transfer to Iowa way back in the fall prior to their seasons at Kirkwood and Indian Hills. Archer finished with a 6.37 ERA for the Eagles, but allowed one run or less in three of his last four outings of the season.

On Friday, Archer threw a scoreless inning, including two strikeouts and one walk. His fastball was in the 88-91 range, while he has shown the ability to reach the 92-94 range in the past. He also threw a slider and curveball in the upper 70’s.

TCU transfer RHP Justin Hackett

Justin Hackett was a fringe draft prospect out of Winterset and opted to attend TCU for his freshman season last year. Things did not go as planned in his first year and Hackett decided to transfer back home to Iowa.

Justin threw the 12th inning against Mississauga and put up a zero. He allowed a leadoff single, but bounced back with a pair of strikeouts and got the final out on a check-swing ground ball back to him on the mound. The fastball topped out at 87, which is a few miles per hour below his normal, so it will be interesting to see if it stays that way or kicks up a notch throughout the fall. Hackett also threw a curveball and mixed in a couple of changeups in the 70’s.

RHP Zach Voelker

There were a lot of good innings from Hawkeye pitching on Friday, but his was, in my opinion, the best of the night. Voelker allowed just three runs over 18.2 innings to begin last season, but allowed 27 over his last 25 innings for a 6.18 ERA. When he is at his best, he has the ability to be one of the top guys on the Iowa pitching staff and they will need that if they want to make a deep postseason run. Friday was a really good start.

He threw just nine pitches and went 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts. The fastball had some juice on it, reaching as high as 95, while he also showed a cutter at 86 and a slider at 80.

“It’s just about finding the role that’s the best fit for Zach to stay consistent and the best role to help the team win a championship. That guy tonight was electric.”

Freshman RHP Drew Deremer

The final man to throw in Friday’s exhibition against Mississauga was true freshman Drew Deremer out of Millard West High School in Omaha. He was a First Team Super-State selection as a senior and Marty Sutherland named him as a freshman that could be an immediate contributor.

His inning started a little sideways with a runner reaching via error and then a single, but he settled down after that. The single scored a run, but Deremer retired three of his last four batters faced and finished with one strikeout. His fastball was in the 88-90 range.