It was another windy day at Duane Banks Field, this time for the rubber match on Sunday afternoon vs Nebraska. Duncan Davitt took the mound for the Hawkeyes, but was not his usual strike throwing self.

In the 1st, a leadoff walk would score on a Cam Chick sacrifice fly to give the Huskers a 1-0 lead. The Hawkeyes struck back in the bottom of the 1st, with a three-run home run off the bat of Tyler Snep, his second of the weekend, putting Iowa up 3-1.

The top of the 2nd was a long one, starting with back to back triples by Mojo Hagge and Jack Steil, to cut the Iowa lead to 3-2. Hits by Luke Roskam and Jaxon Hallmark would knock Davitt from the ballgame and tie the game at 3 apiece. Jacob Henderson would come in in relief, but back to back walks and a single from Max Anderson made it 6-3 Huskers.

Cam Baumann would come in to finally get out of the inning, but before that a balk plated another run making it 7-3.

Coach Heller was deservedly displeased with the pitching he saw today. “Really didn’t pitch well at all. That’s the story. Didn’t have any shutdown innings…We fell behind in the count and they made us pay.”

The first nine outs of the ballgame took 64 minutes and 10 runs were scored.

In the 3rd, Tyler Snep would triple and then score on a passed ball to cut the lead to 7-4, but the Huskers weren’t done scoring. Nebraska added one in the 4th and then three more in the 6th on a Max Anderson home run to left center field, extending the lead to 11-4.

Ben Norman kept his hot hitting going with a rocket home run to right center field, a two-run shot, to cut it 11-6. Then in the 8th, down 13-6, Ben Norman skied one to right center again, just clearing the wall for his second home run of the day, this time a three-run shot. However, rounding first base Norman passed Dylan Nedved, so Norman was called out.

“A very weird play. I think both of us just got caught looking at the ball,” said Ben Norman on the rare play.

The play kept Nebraska up five runs rather than four, but the Hawks could not rally in the 9th to make it matter. Max Schreiber pitched the 8th and the 9th for the Huskers, nailing down the final outs of a 13-8 Nebraska win.

The Hawkeyes, outside of a couple games, haven’t been able to put together good hitting with good pitching and the last two games are an example, with 16 runs scored, but two losses. “We’re just not clicking…just got to keep fighting and the next guy in has to do a job,” said Coach Heller.

As for the status of Izaya Fullard, he exited yesterday’s game after coming up limping on a ground out, but did pinch hit in todays game. Coach Heller said it is a hamstring injury and it will be monitored, but it will likely be the end of the week before they make a decision on if he is healthy enough to go vs Ohio State.

Next week, the Hawkeyes travel to Columbus to face the Ohio State Buckeyes and Maryland Terrapins, as a part of the Big Ten pod scheduling. Iowa will face Ohio State on Friday and Saturday, then Maryland on Saturday and Sunday.

Notes

- Matthew Sosa was hit by a pitch for the 8th time this season.

- Ben Norman hit two home runs, bringing his total to four on the year, but was called out after overrunning Dylan Nedved on the basepaths.

- Tyler Snep has reached base in his last seven at bats, including two home runs.

- Coach Heller mentioned that Peyton Williams is playing at roughly 70% right now, but did not elaborate on what injury was hindering him.

- The weekend series had 13 home runs, including seven by Iowa.