It was another very poor weather day at Duane Banks Field, with real feel temperatures sitting in the mid-20s for the entirety of the game, but it didn’t affect Central Michigan, as they dominated in a 10-1 victory.

“We’ve got to have guys step up when we’re losing like this and nobody stepped up,” said Sam Petersen. “Losing a game like this, it’s pretty embarrassing, so tomorrow we want to respond.”

Dylan Nedved got through two innings smoothly, but after that, the Iowa pitching staff struggled. A couple walks helped set the table for CMU, with Jakob Marsee bringing in the game’s first run with a sacrifice fly. Garrett Navarra and Danny Wuestenfeld followed with RBI singles to make it 3-0 Chippewas. Wuestenfeld intentionally got in a pickle on the base paths and was able to mess around long enough for Navarra to score, before being tagged for the third out.

Five fourth inning walks by Iowa pitchers helped the cause, while Robby Morgan IV extended the lead to 6-0 on a two-run home run. At that point, the Chippewas were off and running. Central Michigan added one more in the inning, as well as two in the fifth and one in the seventh to total 10 runs for the game.

At the plate, Iowa could never get things rolling, as they struck out 16 times and totaled just five hits. Andrew Taylor was on the mound for CMU, and he was outstanding, striking out seven in just three innings. The Hawkeye batters worked Taylor for an average of nearly six pitches per at bat, but could not win any battles.

“There is a reason he was an All-American,” said Coach Heller. “He looked really good today. I thought we battled in some at-bats, but we got punched out…That set the tone. Once we fell behind, it just felt like it was over today.”

As mentioned, the weather conditions were not favorable, with winds in the 20-25 mph range and wind chills in the mid-20s, but one team came with energy and the other did not. Sam Petersen knows that has to change tomorrow.

“Both teams played in it and the tougher team won today, so tomorrow we’ve got to respond…there is no excuse, and you can’t use it as an excuse. It’s unacceptable.”

Michael Seegers reached base three times, including a pair of singles, while Sam Petersen reached with a pair of walks and had two diving catches in the outfield. The pitching staff walked 11 Chippewa batters and five of them came around to score.

The Hawkeyes fall to 11-9 on the season and will look to bounce back tomorrow and win the series. Ty Langenberg will be on the mound for the Hawkeyes, while it will be Logan Buczkowski for Central Michigan. First pitch is set for 1:05pm and the game will be streamed on BTN+.