It was a pair of wildly different games Sunday afternoon in Lincoln, as the Hawkeyes and Huskers split the doubleheader. Nebraska run ruled Iowa 12-1 in seven innings in the first game of the day, while the Hawkeyes bounced back with a 5-3 extra inning win the second game. With the win, Iowa picked up the series victory and avoided what could have been a devastating late season series loss.

Game 1

The first game of the day was a disaster from the start and Garrett Anglim became the story of the opener. The redshirt freshman hit three home runs in his first three at bats and helped the Huskers knock Hawkeye starter Connor Schultz out of the game after just 2.1 innings. Schultz allowed eight earned runs on nine hits and walked four Husker batters.

On the other side, Emmett Olson threw a complete game for Nebraska and held the Hawkeyes to just one run on a Sam Petersen solo home run. Olson went 7.0 innings and held the Hawkeyes to just four hits, while striking out seven and walking none.

Garrett Anglim racked up five RBIs on his three home runs, while Brice Matthews added a three-run home run. Nebraska used three multi-run innings to open the game, including a six run third inning to build a 12-1 lead. That score stayed the same over the last four innings and the Huskers picked up the run-rule victory.

Game 2

The second game of the day almost felt like a must win, as a series loss to a struggling Nebraska squad this late in the season could have delivered a fatal blow to the Hawkeyes RPI. Ty Langenberg knew the importance of the game and put together a bounce back outing after struggling his last couple of appearances.

The sophomore tossed 5.0 innings, allowing just one run on three hits, while striking out six and walking just one. The outing was much needed, after Langenberg had allowed 11 runs over his last 10.1 innings of work.

Iowa jumped out in front early with a solo home run off the bat of Keaton Anthony. The home run was his eighth of the season, but unfortunately the lead did not last long. Cam Chick and Garrett Anglim started off the bottom of the inning with back-to-back singles, while a bobble in the outfield allowed Chick to score.

The Hawkeyes took the lead back in the third inning courtesy of a Peyton Williams two-run moonshot to right field. Williams leads the team with ten home runs on the season. Iowa took a 3-1 lead into the sixth inning, but Nebraska battled back to tie the game off of Dylan Nedved.

The Huskers loaded the bases with three singles, while Core Jackson was able to draw a walk to cut the lead to 3-2. Gabe Swansen followed with an RBI fielder’s choice groundout and all the sudden the game was tied 3-3.

However, the game turned into a battle between two bullpen arms. Dylan Nedved settled down and threw three straight scoreless innings, while Nebraska’s Braxton Bragg put together an impressive five scoreless inning performance out of the Huskers bullpen. That sent the game into extra innings.

Luckily, the Hawkeyes got to Bragg in the tenth inning to give themselves a lead. Anthony Mangano and Michael Seegers each singled, while Nebraska elected to intentionally walk Peyton Williams to load the bases. Keaton Anthony put Iowa up 4-3 with a sacrifice fly, which knocked Bragg from the game. Izaya Fullard added an RBI single off of Tyler Martin to push the lead to 5-3.

In the bottom of the tenth, a leadoff single from Cam Chick forced Heller to go to the bullpen and bring in Ben Beutel to nail down the win. Beutel struck out Garrett Anglim and then got Griffin Everitt to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to end the ballgame.

With the doubleheader split, the Hawkeyes move to 26-14 on the season and 10-5 in Big Ten play. Iowa currently sits at #70 in the RPI, but they got the series win and avoided a devastating series loss that would have felt eerily similar to last season. The Hawkeyes will return to Duane Banks Field on Tuesday for some midweek action against the Illinois State Redbirds. First pitch is set for 6:05pm and will be streamed on BTN+.