In the top of the fifth inning on Friday night, Iowa was in deep trouble. The Hawks held a narrow 3-1 lead over Western Illinois, but the bases were loaded with none out. Ace Brody Brecht had just been chased from the game after allowing a double and two walks to start the inning. Iowa's bullpen would need to come in and slam the door, something it has rarely done in Iowa's difficult start to the season.

This was a series that Iowa needed to sweep for many reasons. Western Illinois entered the series at just 4-11. The Hawkeyes need to add wins to their NCAA Tournament resume and need to build momentum heading into the start of Big Ten conference play next Friday.

Luckily for Iowa, its bullpen was up to the task Friday night. Jack Young came in and recorded the three outs Iowa needed in the fifth in 10 pitches. Iowa escaped the inning without allowing a run, and the bats finally came to life. Iowa ultimately won Friday night 11-1 in eight innings.

Approximately 19 hours later, Young entered the second game of the series in the fifth inning in very similar circumstances. Iowa had taken a 4-0 lead in the game, but Western Illinois scored three runs in the fifth to chase starter Cade Obermueller. This time, Iowa called on Young to preserve a one run lead with runners on first and third and one out.

Young briefly looked like he would repeat history, getting a strikeout on three pitches. Then Western Illinois' Brock Lummus lifted a high fly ball to right-center. The wind was blowing hard out in that direction, and the ball rode the wind all the way out of the ballpark for a homer. Suddenly Western Illinois had a 6-4 lead and Iowa was on the ropes.

This time, it was the Iowa bats to the rescue. The Hawkeye hitters pummeled Leatherneck pitching from there, scoring 13! runs in the fifth through eighth innings to coast to a 17-7 victory.

The final game of the series looked like it might be the least dramatic of the three for all the wrong reasons. The Leatherneck offense scored five runs in the first three innings, then tacked on four more in the top of the fifth to take a 9-4 lead. Iowa couldn't muster anything in the bottom of the fifth, and it looked like Iowa might drop another game.

Then Iowa's offense exploded again. Eight of Iowa's first nine batters scored in the bottom of the sixth, and Iowa tacked on six more runs in the seventh for good measure. That gave Iowa an 18-9 lead, and the Hawks closed out a 19-9 victory in the eighth.

By Saturday night, Iowa had three wins in three games, but none of them came easy.

WP: Jack Young (1-0)--1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 K, 0 BB
LP: Jason Buhl (0-3)--4.1 IP, 6 H, 7 ER, 2 K, 4 BB

Iowa Other Notables

SP Brody Brecht: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 8 K, 6 BB
2B Gable Mitchell: 4-5, 2B, 5 RBI

Brecht's first two innings were fine. Western Illinois' Chris Hege led off the game by reaching on an error. Liam Bushy then hit a weak seeing-eye single and the Leathernecks had two on with no outs. Brecht worked around the runners with two strikeouts in the first, then struck out the side in the second.

Then the trouble started. Brecht allowed two walks, two singles on weak contact, and a run in the third. He allowed two more walks in the fourth but worked around them to escape trouble.

It was clear Brecht had lost his control by the fourth, but Iowa sent him out for the fifth in hopes of getting through one more inning. Instead, Brecht allowed the double and two walks and Iowa head coach Rick Heller had to go get him.

One thing to monitor is Brecht's velocity. By the fifth he was only hitting 93 or 94 on the stadium's radar gun, down from his typical 96-98. Whether that was Brecht trying to find his command or some other factor isn't known. Still, Brecht's fastball was more hittable Friday than it has been most of the season.

Overall this was probably Brecht's worst outing of the year when also considering the opposition. Still, he allowed just one run, and kept Iowa in a position to win.

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Young escaped the fifth by going right at Western Illinois' hitters and making them try to beat him. They couldn't, thanks largely to Iowa's stellar defense.

Young started his outing by inducing Brock Lummus into a weak fly ball to right. The fly was shallow enough that the Leathernecks decided not to test Andy Nelson's arm in right with none out.

Young then got a relatively weak groundball to short. Initially it looked like Iowa might trade an out for a run, as the ball wasn't hit hard. Iowa's infield had other ideas.

Shortstop Michael Seegers ranged to his right, snagged the ball and made a quick and hard throw to second. Second baseman Gable Mitchell made a quick turn at second and made a strong throw to first given the circumstances. First baseman Blake Guerin then made a great pick at first to complete the improbable double play.

Aside from the early error by Seegers, Iowa's infield was spectacular on the day. Seegers, Mitchell, and third baseman Raider Tello each made tough plays look routine, and Guerin was solid at first. Iowa's defense helped Brecht surrender just one run, then helped the bullpen throw four scoreless innings.

Iowa's offense also deserves credit. The Hawks started slow, but then scored seven runs in the fifth and sixth innings to put the game out of reach. Mitchell had the best day with four hits and five RBIs, but seven Hawkeyes had hits in the game and seven Hawkeyes also drove in runs. Overall, this game was just what the doctor ordered for Iowa in its first home series of the year. The bullpen stepped up, the defense helped out the pitchers, and the offense got going.

WP: Aaron Savary (1-0)--3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 K, 0 BB
LP: Cole Dale (1-1)--1.0 IP, 1 H, 4 ER, 0 K, 4 BB, 1 HBP

Iowa Other Notables

SP Cade Obermueller: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 5 R (2 ER), 5 K, 4 BB, 2 HBP
LF Sam Petersen: 2-5, HR, 3B, 1 R, 5 RBI
DH Davis Cop: 3-5, HR, 1 R, 6 RBI, BB
3B Raider Tello: 4-5, 2B, 4 R, 1 RBI, BB
C Reese Moore: 3-4, 2B, 3 R, 1 RBI, BB

Iowa City rarely produces a great run-scoring environment in mid-March, but it absolutely did in this one. The wind turned right field and right-center into a launching pad where routine flyballs ended up as easy homers.

Once Iowa saw Lummus' ball go out in the fifth, it was like a light flipped on. From there, the Hawkeye offense started targeting right, and it worked wonders. Davis Cop, Sam Petersen, and Seegers all hit homers to right or right-center, and the Iowa offense in general thrived in the final four innings. Credit to Iowa's hitters for making an adjustment and taking advantage of the elements.

Obermueller's start shows just how quickly things can go south in baseball. Obermueller wasn't perfect in his first four innings. He allowed two runners in the first and loaded the bases in the third. But when the fifth inning started, Iowa had a comfortable 4-0 lead, and by the end of the frame the Hawks faced a deficit.

Like Brecht on Friday, Obermueller just lost his command in the fifth. After a leadoff error, he walked a batter, gave up a single, and hit two batters on consecutive pitches. He did battle back to record a fielder's choice out, but by that point the score was 4-3 with two on and Iowa was in danger.

Iowa's bullpen had another solid game overall. Young likely would have escaped the fifth without surrendering the lead if the game took place on a normal weather day.

Aaron Savary then came in and locked down the rest of the game, allowing just a single run despite the ominous pitching conditions. Savary's performance allowed Iowa's offense to build its lead and also preserved other Hawkeye arms for the series' final game.

WP: Zach Voelker (1-0)-- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 K, 1 BB
LP: Colton Kachinsky (0-2)--0.1 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 0 K, 2 BB

Iowa Other Notables

SP Marcus Morgan: 2.2 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 4K, 3 BB, 1 HBP
LF Sam Petersen: 3-5, 3B, 4 R, 2 RBI, BB
3B Raider Tello: 5-6, 2B, 3 R, 3 RBI
C Davis Cop: 2-5, HR, 1 R, 3 RBI

Iowa's breakout sixth inning at the plate was as impressive as it was simple. The Hawks didn't start hitting a ton of homers into the wind or start getting extra-base hits by finding gaps. Instead, they took their time and took what the Leatherneck bullpen was giving them.

The first four hitters of the inning reached base by walk or being hit by the pitch. Petersen and Tello then singled, before Reese Moore grounded out and Kyle Huckstorf walked. Cop finally homered to score Iowa's seventh and eighth runs of the inning on Iowa's first extra-base hit of the inning.

The seventh was similar. Iowa recorded four singles and a walk before Seegers' bases clearing double gave Iowa an 18-9 lead. It was the only extra-base hit of the inning.

Iowa had plenty of big performances in its two wins Saturday, but Raider Tello stands out. Tello combined to go 9-of-11 on the day, while scoring seven runs and driving in four.

It's officially time to be concerned about Marcus Morgan. Morgan looked great in his first start of the year against Ball State, but has been shaky ever since. Western Illinois was Iowa's worst weekend opponent to date, so it was supposed to be an opportunity for Morgan to get right. Instead, he got shelled. Morgan faced 19 batters in the game. 11 of them reached base by hit, walk, or hit batter.

Last year, Morgan allowed 38 hits in 65 innings. He struggled with walks last year, but keeping teams from getting hits helped him escape trouble and maintain a 3.72 ERA.

Thus far in 19 innings Morgan has surrendered 22 hits. He's still struggling with walks and hit batters, but now he's not missing as many bats. The result is a 9.00 ERA after Saturday's start.

With Big Ten play looming, Iowa needs Morgan to find his mojo again sooner rather than later.

Iowa's offense had a spectacular weekend even when considering that the Hawks were playing a weaker opponent. Iowa scored 47 runs in 24 innings, and basically everyone contributed in at least one of the games.

Even more impressive was the Hawkeyes' resilience. Iowa went down in game two and went down big in game three, yet the offense battled back to ten-run the Leathernecks in each game.

Iowa's bullpen was also much better this weekend. There were one or two blips still, but overall this was the best the bullpen has looked since the first two games of the season. The quality of Iowa's opponent has to be considered, of course, but at the moment Iowa will take good results from the bullpen any way it can get them.

Unfortunately, it was a rough week for the starters. None of them were great, and they also didn't get very deep into their starts. Against a better opponent, Iowa likely would have been in deep trouble.

Marcus Morgan's continued problems are particularly concerning. He's had four consecutive rough starts now, and his issues appear to be getting worse, not better.