Coach Rick Heller and his squad kicked off the Big Ten season with a statement series win in Ann Arbor over the Michigan Wolverines. The Hawkeyes rolled to a 10-3 victory Sunday afternoon, and they move to 14-10 on the season.
Ty Langenberg had another strong outing, going 5.2 scoreless innings, holding Michigan to five hits, while striking out 11 and walking just two. Ty has now lowered his ERA to 1.86 for the season and he has allowed just two runs over his last 14.2 innings on the mound. He had to work through jams early, as he allowed runners in scoring position with less than two outs in the first three innings, but the sophomore held the Wolverines scoreless.
Langenberg settled in from there and retired ten in a row, before he was taken out in the sixth inning after a couple baserunners reached, but it was another great outing that put Iowa in a position to win. The Hawkeyes got on the board right away in the first inning courtesy of a Peyton Williams RBI double and the offense was off and running.
Sam Petersen made it 2-0 in the third inning with his third home run of the season, while a Kyle Huckstorf RBI triple and Ben Tallman RBI single pushed it to 4-0 in the fourth inning. Keaton Anthony blew the game open with a three-run home run in the sixth inning to make it 7-0. The home run came with two outs and after back-to-back hit by pitches from Wolverine reliever Chase Allen.
The Hawkeyes added three more runs on three hits and three walks to extend it to 10-0 in the eighth inning, but Michigan was able to get on the board in the bottom of the inning. Tito Flores drove in the first of three runs with an RBI double, but Luke Llewellyn put things away in the ninth inning and gave Iowa a 10-3 victory, as well as a big series victory.
Every Iowa starter reached base at least once, while five players had at least two hits. Peyton Williams and Keaton Anthony each had three hits, while Anthony drove in four runs. Izaya Fullard had two hits and scored twice in just his second game back from injury.
After going 1/14 with runners on base yesterday, the Iowa hitters were able to go 8/20 with runners on base and they struck out just five times compared to 16 from the Michigan offense.
Looking ahead at the schedule, it opens up and gives the Hawkeyes the opportunity to really get the ball rolling. A midweek match-up against Bradley awaits on Wednesday, while Illinois and Minnesota come to Iowa City the next two weekends. If Iowa hit and pitch like they did over this weekend, it is not out of the question that Iowa could head to Rutgers towards the end of the month with as good as a 22-11 record.
Circling back to the game against Bradley, the Hawkeyes will travel to Peoria on Wednesday for some midweek action. Neither team has announced a starting pitcher. The Braves come into the match-up with an 8-14 record, after losing their weekend series against Southern Illinois. The game is at 6:00 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
