Iowa ended its 2023 baseball regular season on a hot streak, winning eight of its final ten games. That hot streak continued into the postseason on Tuesday, as Iowa opened up the Big Ten Tournament by blasting 6-seed Michigan 13-3 to advance in the tournament.

The win was so lopsided that Iowa even managed to end the game early -- the Big Ten Tournament operates under a run rule -- if one team manages to get a 10-run lead, the game is over. Once Iowa scored its 13th run in the bottom of the 8th inning (opening up a 13-3 lead), the game was finished and the Hawkeyes could begin thinking about the next game of the tournament on Thursday.

Iowa sent Marcus Morgan to the mound to lead off its Big Ten Tournament efforts; he was matched up against Connor O'Halloran, the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year this season. Pitching carried the day early in the game, with neither team's hitters able to get the breakthrough hits at the plate.

The only runs scored in the first four innings came in the second inning. Michigan scored a run on two hits in the top half of the inning, while Iowa answered with run in the bottom of the inning thanks to a Kyle Huckstorf sacrifice fly. Sam Hojnar led off the inning with a single and advanced to third courtesy of a throwing error by the right fielder, which put him in position to score on Huckstorf's sacrifice fly. Still, also Iowa left two men on base to end the inning.

Missed opportunities was a recurring them for both teams in the early innings. Michigan left the bases loaded in the top of the second inning, while Iowa left two runners on to end both the second and third innings. Whichever team was able to make the most of its chances figured to have the edge in the game.

The fifth inning proved to be the turning point in the game. Morgan struggled to locate the strike zone all day in his start -- 40 of his 85 pitches on the day were called balls and he had three walks (and two wild pitches) as he entered the fourth inning. Some timely strikeouts and good defensive plays had limited the damage from Michigan's offense, but it seemed like he was playing with fire.

When Morgan walked the first two batters in the inning (bringing him to five walks in four innings), Iowa coach Rick Heller turned to the bullpen, bringing in hard-throwing reliever Jack Whitlock (and his 1.04 ERA) to put out the brewing fire. Whitlock took a minute to settle down -- he walked his first batter, loading the bases -- but then got the next three Michigan hitters to all strike out swinging. From a bases-loaded, no-outs position, Michigan scored zero runs thanks to Whitlock's strikeouts.

Iowa's bats came to life in the bottom of the inning -- though not immediately. Ben Wilmes drew a walk to start the inning, but Sam Petersen and Brennen Dorighi each struck out. Raider Tello singled (advancing Wilmes to third base) and then stole second. Hojnar laced a single into left field that scored two and gave Iowa a 3-1 lead. Michael Seegers added another single and Huckstorf got hit by a pitch to load the bases for Brayden Frazier -- who proceeded to empty the bases with a game-breaking grand slam.

Frazier's grand slam gave Iowa a 7-1 lead and swung the game firmly in favor of the Hawkeyes. The fact that it came in the same inning that Iowa managed to wiggle out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam without surrendering a run only made the offensive eruption feel even more significant -- especially as all six Iowa runs came with two outs.

Whitlock gave up a solo home run in the sixth inning but avoided any other trouble. Iowa left two more on base in the bottom of the inning, but the bats came to life again in the seventh and eighth innings. In the seventh inning, Seegers scored on a Huckstorf single after a lead-off walk and a wild pitch. Petersen knocked in three more runs a few batters later with Iowa's second home run of the game.

Iowa ended the game in the eighth inning after scoring two more runs and triggering the 10-run rule. Hojnar reached on a fielding error to lead off the inning; Gable Mitchell (pinch running for Hojnar) scored a few batters later on a passed ball. Seegers scored Iowa's 13th and final run of the game after an RBI single from Cade Moss.

Brayden Frazier led Iowa at the plate, going 3/5 with a grand slam and 4 RBI. But it was a solid team effort from Iowa's batters: four other Hawkeyes had at least two hits and eight of nine Iowa starters had at least one hit. Petersen went 2/4 with a home run and 3 RBI, while Hojnar (2/4), Seegers (2/3), and Moss (2/5) also posted two-hit games.

Whitlock was the star for Iowa on the mound -- he got the win (his 7th of the season), while giving up one run on one hit and a walk while striking out three over two innings. Pitching Iowa out of that bases loaded jam in the top of the fifth inning set the stage for Iowa to be able to take control of the game in the bottom of the inning.

The win today gives Iowa an extra day of rest; the Hawkeyes don't play again until Thursday. They'll play the winner of the Indiana-Illinois game (Indiana leads 2-1 in the sixth inning as of this writing) at 2 PM CT on Thursday, May 25. BTN will televise the game.

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