The Hawkeyes kept their postseason hopes alive for another day, as they took down Michigan State and clinched a series win this afternoon. Iowa fell behind early, but rebounded to win 7-4 at McLane Stadium.

Drew Irvine started on the mound for the Hawkeyes and got through four innings, but allowed the Spartans to strike first in the third inning. Gabe Stores led off the inning with a single and then back-to-back brilliant bunt singles loaded the bases for MSU. Zaid Walker got the Spartans a 1-0 lead with the third infield single of the inning, but Michigan State would not stop there. A Mitch Jebb double and Bailey Peterson RBI groundout, brought in three more runs and gave MSU a 4-0 cushion.

Jackson Bennett was on the mound for Michigan State and despite, allowing baserunners in the first four innings he pitched, he did not give up any runs.

“On offense, it was a weird game. (Jackson) Bennett was effectively wild. He gave us a lot of opportunities, but he didn’t give up a lot of contact once when got into scoring position,” said Coach Heller on the performance of the Spartan pitcher.

However, his luck ran out in the top of the fifth inning. Ben Norman led off with a double and then a Peyton Williams sky high fly ball found some grass along the left field line to put Iowa in prime scoring position.

Austin Martin got Iowa in the scoring column with an RBI single and then Peyton Williams would come across on a wild pitch, to cut the lead to 4-2. The Spartans brought in Jesse Heikkinen to relieve Bennett, but a bases loaded walk brought in a run and knocked him from the game.

Trailing, 4-3 in the sixth, with two runners on base, Peyton Williams delivered a rocket double into the left center gap. Both Michael Seegers and Ben Norman scored to give Iowa a 5-4 lead. Williams had three doubles on the day.

In relief, of Drew Irvine, Duncan Davitt did his job. Davitt threw 3.1 innings and did not allow a run, while striking out four MSU batters. For Michigan State, Will Christophersen threw two scoreless innings out of the Spartans bullpen, but Iowa added some insurance off of him in the top of the ninth.

After a one out walk, Matthew Sosa flared a Christophersen slider into right field and Brayden Frazier would follow with a single under the glove of 3B Casey Mayes to give Iowa a 6-4 lead. The Hawkeyes would plate another run on a squeeze bunt and headed to the bottom of the ninth up three runs.

Dylan Nedved got the final two outs in the eighth and then shutdown the MSU bats in the ninth to lock down a 7-4 win, getting Iowa to 25-18 on the season and keeping their NCAA Tournament hopes alive.

Coach Heller was happy with how the team found a way to win. “On a day when they gave us a bunch of free bases, we failed to take advantage of it, but the good thing is we kept playing and plugging and found ways to score runs. Peyton got the big double to score two and we were able to get a few more.”

All season, the bracket projections have showed four Big Ten teams making the NCAA Tournament and the Hawkeyes still have a shot to hit that mark. The Michigan Wolverines lost two of three vs Nebraska, putting them in the #3 spot at 27-17. #4 Indiana got swept in a doubleheader vs Maryland and currently sits at 25-17 overall, while Iowa sits a half game back of the #4 spot at 25-18.

If Iowa can win tomorrow vs Michigan State and Maryland can finish off the sweep of Indiana, Iowa would be putting themselves in the spot that has been perceived as a bid worthy position all season.

The Hawkeyes take on the Spartans in the season finale tomorrow at 12:05pm, looking to close out the season with a sweep. I will have more information tomorrow on Iowa’s case to make the tournament, if they win.

Notes

- Izaya Fullard extended his on-base streak to 26 games

- The Iowa batters had runners on base in eight of nine innings

- With three doubles today, Peyton Williams is up to 15 for the season