Baumann's path to success

The Iowa Hawkeyes have been on an incredible hot streak, while playing their way into a projected spot in the NCAA Tournament. There have been many contributing factors to the flip in team performance from the first 11 games, but Cam Baumann has been one of the best stories this season.

I was able to sit down and do a phone interview with Cam on Tuesday to talk a little bit about his season on the mound and his path to where he is now.

Despite, being the #3 starter in the Iowa starting rotation, Cam Baumann has been part of the reason why the Iowa Hawkeyes have been able to win 14 of their last 17 games. Baumann has been particularly great over his last five starts and the Hawkeyes have won each of those games, but it has not always been this way for him.

At the beginning of the season Cam Baumann was very similar to the start the team had, in the fact that they both got off to a low start. In Baumann’s first start vs Michigan, he went just three innings, allowing six runs, including a grand slam. His second start vs Ohio State was better, but only went four innings and allowed another home run. “It was hard mentally,” said Baumann, after the Northwestern game, on getting through the struggles early in the year.

“Really I just wasn’t settled in. Didn’t have much confidence in all of my pitches and (I) was trying to throw the perfect pitch, instead of pounding the zone and letting the hitters get themselves out,” said Baumann on what went wrong in the first two starts.

Going into the third week of the season, Cam did not appear in weekend rotation vs Nebraska, his spot was filled by Duncan Davitt. Even going back to 2019, he was a consistent starting pitcher, starting 14 games over the course of the season, so falling out of the rotation was not something he was used to, but he had thrown some games out of the bullpen. I asked Baumann if he had some extra motivation knowing he had to work for his spot back, “Oh 100%,” but he also praised the talent this team has saying, “The great thing about our team…We have so many good players and everybody is pushing each other. If somebody is not in the game playing, they definitely have the talent to play.”

Obviously, as a teammate of Davitt’s, Cam was happy to see Duncan get the start, but Cam also wanted that spot in the starting rotation, and he knew he had to change some things for that to happen. Luckily, the next weekend featured a four-game pod series in Columbus, and he got a chance to show that he was ready to be in the starting rotation again.

I described Cam’s start against Ohio State that weekend, as an audition to get a spot in the next weekend’s three-man rotation, but he said that was not his thought process. “I wasn’t really thinking much (about it). When pitchers think about all the external factors that go into it you don’t pitch well.” Baumann came out and threw seven innings, allowing just a single run on five baserunners, while striking out five Buckeyes. “You really just have to go into it with a clear mind…That’s what I did.”

The next week vs Purdue, Cam was back in the three-man weekend rotation and has been ever since. In the four starts, after the game vs Ohio State, Cam Baumann has thrown 23 innings, allowing just four runs on 15 hits, while striking out 14 and walking just five batters. That is an ERA of 1.57 and a WHIP (walks/hits per innings pitched) of .87!

(Pre-Northwestern Start)

“I just haven’t been thinking about other things…I just go out there and believe in all of my stuff,” said Baumann on his recent success, while also adding, “I just changed my mentality. Started pounding the zone and having the most confidence in all of my pitches and that’s really what the biggest difference was between then (early season) and now.”

While gaining confidence in his pitches has been a huge step towards turning his season around, there is always physical things done in practice that contribute to successful starts and Cam Baumann is no different. “I’ve been doing a lot more flat ground work and getting on the mound as much as I can…Pretty much every day I’m getting on the mound and throwing to a catcher…Getting the feel for all my pitches. That has really helped me a lot.”

Baumann has put in the work, during the week, when no fans are in the stands, whether it is building confidence in his pitches or just throwing on the mound, he has worked hard to get to this point.

When Baumann is on the mound, he gets great run support from his offense. The Iowa bats have produced 54!! runs over Baumann’s last five starts, which is a mind-blowing 10.8 runs per game. “It is a lot easier when you have a lot of run support behind you, but I still don’t change my mentality or composure whether it’s a 0-0 game or if (we are) up ten runs,” said Baumann on the offense scoring runs around him.

I asked Cam about what it means to him to have fans back in the stands at Duane Banks Field cheering him on while he is throwing the best ball of his career. “It’s awesome. Everybody loves the crowd behind us cheering. It keeps all of us in the game more and gets us excited,” said Baumann, “Brings a whole new aspect to the game.”

With some of the biggest games of the season still to come, Cam knows he needs to keep this streak of good pitching rolling, “(I need to) do what I’ve been doing. Don’t change anything,” but he mentioned he still has things he wants to improve on. “Even though I might be good at some things. I’m still not succeeding to where I would like to be succeeding in some parts of my pitching.”

To wrap up I asked Cam about how the team is going about blocking out the growing postseason buzz and sticking to the plan. He replied, “We just have to keep playing game by game and not look at that big picture, even though we know we have a good shot at making it… (Coach Heller) has always preached that to us. Pitch by pitch. Play by play. He really hits hard on having a great day of practice and getting better every day…Focusing on every little thing in practice and in the weight room.” As the Hawkeyes come down the stretch those things will be important, as they push for an NCAA Tournament bid.

As for Cam Baumann, he will look to keep his string of quality starts going, in what is being touted as the biggest series of the season vs Indiana. Baumann has overcome a slow start to the season with a lot off of the field work and unrelenting belief in himself. Cam has certainly been a big key in the success of the Hawkeyes this season and will continue to be down the stretch.