Hawkeyes complete sweep of Spartans

The Iowa Hawkeyes wrapped up the regular season on a high note, finishing up a series sweep of the Michigan State Spartans with an 11-3 win Sunday afternoon. Iowa finishes the season in a tie for 4th in the Big Ten, with Indiana, at 26-18.

Cam Baumann was on the mound for the Hawkeyes and per the usual Baumann got loads of run support. Senior Jarret Olson made the start for the Spartans, coming back from injury and struggled in the first inning, hitting three Iowa batters with one out. A Matthew Sosa sacrifice fly got Iowa a 1-0 lead, but Olson got out of the inning without further damage.

The Hawkeyes built their lead in the third inning off of Sam Benschoter, who would have been the normal Sunday starter. Iowa sent 13 batters to the plate, while they tallied five hits and five walks/HBP to plate nine runs in the inning. This opened the lead to 10-0. Doubles by Zeb Adreon and Brayden Frazier, as well as a triple by Ben Norman scored two runs each to help build the commanding lead.

Michigan State was able to scratch a run across in the bottom of the inning on a Bailey Peterson RBI double, but Iowa got the run back in the fifth on an RBI single from Matthew Sosa. The Spartans got a run on a Mitch Jebb double in the fifth and a Reese Trahey RBI triple in the sixth, but Iowa rolled to an 11-3 win in the season finale.

Coach Heller once again was happy with the team’s performance saying, “This is exactly what I was looking for. Yesterday was a similar situation where we had a bunch of freebies handed to us and (we) didn’t get the hit and allowed them to stay in the game. Today was a different story.”

Cam Baumann went six innings on the mound, allowing three runs on 11 hits, while striking out four and walking just one.

“We got a great start out of Cam. Cam did a great job of pounding the strike zone and inducing early contact,” said Coach Heller. Grant Leonard retired all five batters he faced in the eighth and ninth innings, in what could have been his final game with the Hawkeyes.

The series sweep was Iowa’s second of the season, with the other coming against Minnesota. The NCAA Tournament Selection Show is Monday at 11:00am on ESPN2.

Notes

- Izaya Fullard extended his on-base streak to 27 games.

- Iowa outscored Michigan State 30-8 this weekend.

- The Hawkeyes 26 conference wins is their most in a single season.