Iowa takes two out of three from Purdue
The Iowa Hawkeyes traveled to West Lafayette, Indiana to take on the 3-11 Purdue Boilermakers in a 3-game series over the weekend. The Hawkeyes entered the weekend looking to get above .500 for the first time all season. With next week’s opponent being last place Minnesota, the Hawkeyes were looking to add some W’s to the record.
Game 1
The Hawkeyes looked a little flat out of the gates on Friday and the Purdue Boilermakers gave Iowa all they could handle for 9+ innings.
Brendan Sher would double to lead off the game and Ben Norman would follow with an RBI single to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead, but Purdue starter Calvin Schapira would settle in nicely. He would retire 11 of the next 13 Iowa batters, striking out four of them.
The Boilermakers bats would manufacture a run in the 2nd inning, with a Mason Gavre hit by pitch coming in to score on a Justin Walker Jr sacrifice fly. Then in the 3rd inning, Ben Nisle would take Trenton Wallace deep to left for his third home run of the season, giving Purdue a 2-1 lead. Trenton Wallace would go 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on six hits and striking out eight, but the Hawkeyes still trailed. In the 5th, with a runner on second base, Brendan Sher would hit a fly ball into right field, but RF Miles Simington’s sliding attempt would knock the ball out of his glove. Brett McCleary would score on the error and tie the game at 2. T
he Hawkeyes would load the bases in the 8th and 9th, but Nick Alvarado and Eric Hildebrand would each get out of trouble to send the game to extra innings.
In the 10th, Purdue reliever Landon Weins would walk Peyton Williams and Tyler Snep, before giving way to Nolan Daniel. After an intentional walk, Brett McCleary would deliver the clutch hit Iowa was looking for. A single to right field would plate two runs and give Iowa a 4-2 lead. Dylan Nedved was spectacular going 3.2 innings, allowing just one hit, while striking out five in relief of Trenton Wallace. Nedved sat down the Boilermakers in order, in the 10th, to secure a 4-2 extra inning win.
Game 2
Game 2 was a back and forth contest with a total of 18 runs scored, but again was a case of the Purdue Boilermakers giving the Hawkeyes a nine-inning fight and this time Iowa did not fair as well. Drew Irvine was on the mound for Iowa and didn’t have a bad day on the mound.
Purdue hopped on the board first with a two-run double from Tyler Powers and then added another run in the 5th on a Miles Simington double.
Going into the 6th inning it was 3-1 Boilermakers. It was a parade of runs for both teams in the 6th inning, starting with a Ben Norman three-run home run, to put the Hawkeyes into the lead 4-3. Two batters later, Peyton Williams muscled one out to right center field for the second home run of the inning and Iowa led 5-3.
Purdue fought back in the bottom of the inning, starting with a leadoff single by Zac Fascia to knock Drew Irvine from the ballgame. Jack Guzek entered and did not get help right away when Jake Parr reached via error. Guzek would then walk a batter and allow a double from Cam Thompson. Guzek departed with the score tied, but the scoring didn’t stop. Jackson Payne came on and Evan Albrecht singled in the tie breaking run. Purdue would score three more in the inning on a sacrifice fly and a single. All the sudden, Purdue led 9-5 after six innings.
Iowa got one in the 7th and then in 8th, Peyton Williams would hit his second long ball of the game to cut the Boilers lead to 9-7. Later in the inning, the Hawkeyes would have bases loaded, but Purdue would turn the unconventional 3-2-3 double play on a Dylan Nedved ground ball to end the threat.
Every time Iowa cut the Purdue lead, the Boilermakers would respond, and it was no different in the bottom of the 8th. Zac Fascia would triple off of Grant Leonard, scoring Ben Nisle from first, extending the lead back to three at 10-7.
The Hawks would attempt to rally in the 9th, scoring a run on a Peyton Williams single, but Avery Cook would shut the door, with a strikeout and a fly out to preserve a 10-8 Purdue victory. The Boilermakers scored runs in three of the five innings Iowa scored in to keep the Hawkeyes at bay and earn the win.
Game 3
Through 7 innings in this one it was a 1-1 tie between the Boilermakers and Hawkeyes. Iowa plated a run in the 3rd, when Ben Norman scored on a wild pitch to give the Hawkeyes the early lead. Purdue would tie the game in the 4th, when Miles Simington and Cam Thompson hit back to back doubles, but for the most part Cam Baumann had a solid start for Iowa. He threw 5 innings, allowing just one run on five hits and walking none.
Trent Johnson had a quality start as well, going 7 innings, allowing just one run on five hits and did a great job of getting out of trouble. Iowa stranded eight runners in scoring position through 7 innings, which has been an issue all season.
The 8th inning, however, provided a much different story. The Hawkeyes would explode for seven runs, led by a Matthew Sosa RBI single, Izaya Fullard RBI single, Dylan Nedved two-run double and a Zeb Adreon RBI single.
The Boilermakers would put four pitchers to the mound in the 8th and Calvin Starnes would finally get out of it, but Ben Norman would add another run on a sacrifice fly.
In the bottom of the 8th, Purdue would get the bats going vs Iowa reliever Duncan Davitt, with three hits, but they could get just one run across the plate.
Then in the 9th vs Dylan Nedved, the Boilermakers once again would get the bats going with three straight hits to begin the frame. Miles Simington would double over the head of Norman in CF to cut the lead to 8-3. The Boilermakers would get an RBI groundout and a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 8-5, but Dylan Nedved would get Steve Ramirez to groundout to preserve the Easter Sunday win.
Weekend Analysis
The Boilermakers pushed Iowa on three straight days and came out with a win on Saturday to spoil the Hawkeyes four game win streak. Iowa should use this weekend as a lesson for next weekend’s series vs Minnesota, that any given day in the Big Ten a team can give you a nine-inning battle.
Weekend Notes
Trenton Wallace- 6.2 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 8 strikeouts, 2 walks – Friday
Dylan Nedved- 3.1 innings, 5 strikeouts, Save – Friday
Matthew Sosa- Hit by pitch Saturday, 11th of the season
Peyton Williams- 4/8, 2 home runs, 4 walks, 2 intentional walks