Kleberg Bank Classic Preview
The Hawkeyes go from South Carolina to Corpus Christi, Texas, where they will take part in the Kleberg Bank Classic. Iowa appeared in the tournament back in 2013, defeating New Mexico and Texas A&M Corpus Christi, while falling to Oklahoma.
Coach Rick Heller’s squad went 3-0 in the Swig & Swine Classic last weekend and are looking to continue their undefeated start. They will go with the same weekend rotation that they went with for the opening weekend.
Pepperdine Waves (Friday, February 25th – 2:00pm)
Last season the Waves were a pretty average, going 20-25 and finishing in 7th place in the West Coast Conference. They did grab a two-game sweep of NCAA Tournament participate Grand Canyon, as well as a win over Gonzaga.
However, Head Coach Rick Hirtensteiner has his team off to a hot 4-0 start. They swept Villanova in their season opening series, before picking up a big midweek victory over UCLA on Tuesday night.
Pitching Match-up – Redshirt Soph Adam Mazur vs Soph Brandon Llewellyn
The Hawkeyes will go with Mazur on the mound again and his debut performance last Friday against Air Force was spectacular. He struck out nine over 6.0 innings and allowed just one run on a single hit. The Waves will go with Brandon Llewellyn, who made the Saturday start against Villanova. He went 6.0 innings striking out four, walking two, and like Mazur allowed one run on a single hit. Llewellyn started four games last season, but was used out of the bullpen the majority of the time. He posted a 3.37 ERA, striking out 43 and walking 23 over 50.2 innings pitched.
The Waves lost five of their top six hitters from last season, but SS John Peck has been an early leader on the offensive side. Peck batted .256 last season, with seven home runs, but a great summer in the West Coast League (.323) has carried over to the early part of this season. Peck has racked up eight hits, 10 RBIs and two home runs in just four games. He was a preseason All West Coast Conference selection.
OF Connor Bradshaw is the leading returner from last season, batting .291 a year ago, including 15 extra base hits, while leading the team with eight stolen bases. INF Charles Masino and INF Greg Mehlhaff played sparingly last season, but are off to good starts this season. Masino started just 15 games last season, posting a .283 batting average. This season, in a pair of starts, he has four hits in nine at bats and has scored four runs. Mehlhaff has seven hits and six runs scored in four starts this season, after appearing in just five games in 2021.
INF Ryan Johnson (.237 in ’21), freshman 2B Cam Conley (.211 this year) and OF Mike Malinchak (injured ’21, .286 this year) are also expected to be in the lineup on Friday.
Only three pitchers with 10+ innings pitched turned in below a 5.00 ERA for the Waves last season. One departs, while the other two are now in the starting rotation, so Pepperdine is looking for some arms to step up and contribute. The staff was also among the nation’s worst in strikeouts per nine innings, as well as strikeout to walk ratio.
So far this season, strikeouts are up (7.75 SO/9) compared to last season’s numbers (6.53 SO/9). The strikeout to walk ratio was bad last year (1.26), but has improved in the early going this season (1.94).
Jack Baird was one of the more used bullpen arms last season, pitching in 32.0 innings over 12 games. However, he posted a 5.63 ERA and walked more batters than he struck out. So far this season, he has allowed three runs in 3.1 innings. Tyler Murrah posted better numbers in 11 appearances, including a 5.00 ERA, 17 strikeouts and just nine walks in 18.0 innings.
It is a little hard to get a gauge on their bullpen this early in the year, but freshman Davis Luikart, Hayden Walker, Trevor Hinkel and Georges Grant look to be some options. Luikart threw two scoreless innings in his debut against Villanova, while Hayden Walker has thrown 1.1 scoreless innings in two appearances, after seeing just 5.2 innings last year.
Texas A&M Corpus Christi (Saturday, February 26th – 4:00pm)
The Islanders finished 25-29 last season, but a 20-14 conference record was good for a second-place finish in the Southland Conference. They finished 3-7 against NCAA Tournament teams, with all three wins coming in a season opening sweep of Central Michigan.
This season, they started off with series victory on the road against UT Arlington, a team who was 27-30 last season. This week, the Islanders lost a pair of midweek games to #1 Texas, so they sit at 2-3 coming into the weekend.
Pitching Match-up – GSr Connor Schultz vs Sr Leo Perez
Connor Schultz will take the mound for the Hawkeyes on Saturday, as he comes off a 4.0 inning outing against Ball State. Schultz ran into some trouble with three walks early, but struck out nine and allowed just one run on two hits. The Islanders will send senior Leo Perez to the mound. Perez picked up a win in his first outing the season, going 5.0 innings, allowing two runs on nine hits and two walks, while striking out three against UT Arlington. He appeared in 15 games a year ago, and posted a 6.59 ERA over 42.1 innings pitched.
As a team, the Islanders are batting just .209 as a team and are striking at a rate of 25.1%, which bodes well for the Iowa pitching staff.
OF Brandon Petkoff, 2B Leo Markotic and INF Diego Johnson have been the leaders so far this season, combining for 15 of the teams 34 hits and 10 of the teams 21 runs scored. Markotic was a starter last season, posting a .257 average and a .344 OBP in 41 starts. Petkoff (.189) and Johnson (.175) saw just a combined 25 starts last season, but are in bigger roles this season.
OF Brendan Ryan returns after finishing second on the team with a .305 batting average last season. Through five games this season, he leads the team in total bases (12) and hits (6). OF Josh Caraway batted .291 last season and led the team in extra base hits with 24. Strikeouts were an issue, as he struck out in nearly 30% of his plate appearances. He is off to a slow 0/8 start this season, with four walks.
C Justin Taylor batted .333 over 21 starts last season, but has gotten off to a very poor start this season in five starts. He is 1/18 (.056) with 11 strikeouts.
Tyler Miller was arguably the most reliable option out of the bullpen for the Islanders last season, but he moves to the starting rotation. Freshman Zach Garcia has been very good in two relief appearances, allowing just one run in 8.0 innings on five hits, while striking out four. Jaime Ramirez Jr has had a couple rough outings to start the season, but posted a 7-2 record and 4.27 ERA over 52.2 innings of work last season. He struck out 51 batters, but walked 28.
JT Moeller’s 4.50 ERA last season was a product of allowing 30 hits, not walks. He walked just five, while striking out 23 in 24.0 innings of work as a freshman. He has not appeared in game yet this season. Daniel Nelson (14.40 ERA ’21) and Henry Bird (6.75 ERA ’21) have both put up scoreless outings so far this season.
Wichita State Shockers (Sunday, February 27th – 11:00am)
Last season, the Shockers finished 31-23, while an 18-13 record in American Athletic Conference play landed them in third place. They were in the discussion for the NCAA Tournament bubble, but were ultimately left out like the Hawkeyes. They finished 5-8 vs tournament participants, including a series split with East Carolina and South Florida, as well as a win over Arizona.
This season has gotten off to a somewhat surprisingly rocky start for the Shockers, as they got swept by Louisiana Tech over the weekend and then dropped a midweek game against Oklahoma. While those are NCAA Tournament level opponents an 0-4 start was a bit of a shock. They are looking to get into the win column Thursday night with a game at Texas State.
Pitching Match-up – Fr Marcus Morgan vs Soph Will Stevens
Marcus Morgan will take the mound again on Sunday, after he made his first career start last Sunday against Bucknell, going 4.0 scoreless innings. After a jittery first inning, the freshman settled in and struck out six batters, while allowing just one hit. The Shockers will start Will Stevens on the mound, and he is coming off a short outing in his opener vs Louisiana Tech. Stevens made it just 2.0 innings, allowing four runs on two hits and four walks. He spent the last two seasons with Iowa Western CC, posting a 2.28 ERA and a 4-0 record last year with the Reivers. Stevens notched 41 strikeouts in 27.2 innings of work.
The Shockers coaching staff is one of the more notable, led by head coach Eric Wedge. Wedge played three years in the MLB and managed the Indians and Mariners for a combined 10 seasons. Pitching coach Mike Pelfrey most notably pitched for the New York Mets and retired from the MLB rather recently in 2017. Both Wedge and Pelfrey played their collegiate baseball at Wichita State.
The Shockers batting lineup has a lot of talent, as you would expect from a good program like Wichita State, but they are off to an uneven start.
INF Garrett Kocis led the team in home runs (12), extra base hits (24) and SLG% (.654), but the senior from Omaha, NE is off to a rough .133 start, including eight strikeouts in 15 plate appearances. INF Jack Sigrist was third on the team in average (.321) and total bases (101) a year ago and tied for the team lead in hits (69) and doubles (14). He is off to a slow .182 start. C Ross Cadena (.274, 14 2B ’21) and highly touted freshman INF Xavier Casserilla are a combined 4/27 to start the year.
OF Couper Cornblum (.333) and OF Seth Stroh (.462 OBP) have gotten off to good starts. Cornblum batted .285 last season and stole 12 bases. Stroh batted just .231, but the major issue was a 27.8% strikeout rate. The Shockers have gotten early lineup help from a pair of transfers, starting with Northeast Texas CC 2B Sawyre Thornhill. Thornhill landed as a Second Team NJCAA Region 14 Eastern Conference selection, posting a .375 batting average, 12 doubles and seven home runs for the Eagles. He is off to a 5/15 (.333) start, while Seminole State transfer INF Brock Rodden is 4/14 with three walks (.389 OBP). Rodden combined for a .364 average, 21 doubles, eight triples and 16 home runs in two seasons for the Trojans.
A .225 team batting average and a 32.4% strikeout rate is not indicative of this team. The Hawkeye pitching staff will have their hands full, as the Shockers have talent throughout the lineup, despite not quite showing it so far.
Despite losing Aaron Haase, their closer from last season, Wichita State returns three of their top five bullpen arms from last season. LJ McDonough posted a 2.49 ERA, including 1.14 WHIP and 36 strikeouts to just eight walks in 25.1 innings of work. He struck out four in 1.2 innings against Louisiana Tech last weekend, while allowing a run on two hits and a walk.
Ryan Steumpfig allowed three runs on three hits, without recording an out in his first outing, but had a 3.11 ERA and a 6-0 record last season in 37.2 innings. Cameron Bye appeared in just ten games last season, posting a 4.97 ERA as a freshman. He threw two scoreless innings in his first appearance against Louisiana Tech, including three strikeouts.
Seminole State transfer Caden Favors averaged 9.48 strikeouts per nine innings last year for the Trojans and threw three scoreless innings in his debut with Shockers against Louisiana Tech. Finally, they added a familiar face in Adam Ketelsen, who is a grad transfer from Iowa. Ketelsen was injured in 2021, but did not allow a run over 7.2 innings pitched back in 2020 for the Hawkeyes. He has appeared in two games this season, allowing three runs on three hits in 3.0 innings of work, but has struck out six.
Final Thought
Set the Over/Under for the weekend at 2.5 again. This prediction is a bit more ambitious than last weekend, however the slow start by Wichita State and the excellent start for the Hawkeye pitching staff has me thinking another 3-0 weekend is possible. The Shockers are still a solid squad and the hot start by Pepperdine is intriguing ahead of that match-up.