No. 20 Iowa Goes 2-1 at Swig and Swine College Classic

Iowa went 2-1 at the Swig and Swine College Classic this weekend, defeating Seton Hall 5-2 and Ball State 5-0 before dropping the finale to Lehigh, 8-4.

The Hawkeyes' first 22 innings on the mound went about as well as they could've hoped. Iowa's starters dominated, throwing 14 innings and striking out 27(!) while allowing just four hits and one earned run. The bullpen was nearly as good, surrendering just one earned run in the first two contests before reliever Reece Beuter allowed six earned runs in the collapse against Lehigh.

In the first two games, Iowa wasn't dominant offensively, but did enough to earn comfortable victories. Against Lehigh on Sunday, though, the bats went cold. Iowa turned things over to the bullpen in the 5th inning hoping to preserve a narrow 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, that's when things went sideways. Four hits and two walks later, and Iowa faced its first true deficit of the season at 6-1. Iowa plated three more runs in the game, but couldn't complete the comeback and fell 8-4.

Overall there were plenty of positives in the season's opening weekend for Iowa. The starters looked as nasty as advertised. The bullpen was largely good. Left fielder Sam Petersen looks like a force offensively.

But the offense also struggled as a whole against lesser competition, and one bad inning was the difference in being 2-1 instead of 3-0.

WP: Jack Whitlock (1-0) — 3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 K
LP: Daniel Frontera (0-1) — 3.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 6 K

Iowa's Top Stars

SP Brody Brecht: 4.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 11 K, 6 BB, 1 HBP
LF Sam Petersen: 3-5, HR (1), 2B, 3 R, RBI, 2 SB

Coming into the season, Brody Brecht is ranked as Baseball America's #25 draft prospect in the 2024 MLB Draft. Brecht has some of the best stuff in baseball, and is nearly unhittable at his best. Brecht's control leaves a lot to be desired, though, and that's why he doesn't rank higher.

The season opener was the full Brody Brecht experience in a single game. At his best, Brecht was dominant: he faced 21 batters and struck out 11 of them, accounting for all but two of his 13 outs recorded. Brecht surrendered just one hit (a single), picking right up after leading college baseball in hits allowed per 9 IP last year.

But Brecht's downside was also evident. Brecht surrendered six walks and a hit batter without getting out of the fifth inning, and had to scatter numerous baserunners as a result; Brecht left five runners on in the first two innings alone. Reliever Jack Whitlock also helped Brecht in the 5th, coming into a bases-loaded jam and getting two strikeouts to escape trouble. Whitlock's clutch pitching helped Iowa preserve a 5-1 lead through five.

Iowa built its 5-1 lead thanks largely to Sam Petersen. Petersen had a nearly perfect first three at-bats. He homered on the first pitch of the season he saw, then doubled in his next at-bat before singling and stealing a base in the fourth — crossing the plate on all three occasions.

Petersen is a decent draft prospect in his own right. His speed is his carrying tool, but he also has decent power to his pull side, and has a strong arm in left. Depending on Petersen's health and productivity this year, he could work his way into the first 10 rounds of the 2024 Draft.

Iowa’s bullpen had a solid debut, going 4-and-2/3 innings and surrendering just one run. Whitlock, Sam Hart, and Zach Voelker allowed seven baserunners, but largely managed to escape trouble. The biggest threat came in the ninth inning when Seton Hall loaded the bases with one out, but Voelker managed to get back-to-back strikeouts to close the door on the Hawkeyes' season-opening win.

Offensively, strikeouts were a major issue for Iowa, as hitters struck out 16 times in the game, including eight with runners on base in the first six innings alone. Those "unproductive outs" took pressure off Seton Hall’s defenders and limited opportunities for Hawkeye baserunners to create havoc on the basepaths.

WP: Marcus Morgan (1-0) — 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 9 K, 2 BB
LP: Logan Schulfer (0-1) — 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 K, 4 BB, 1 HBP

Iowa's Top Stars

SP Marcus Morgan: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 9 K, 2 BB
RP Anthony Watts: 3.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 6 K, 1 BB
LF Sam Petersen 2-3, 2 R, 3 SB, BB, HBP

Marcus Morgan would be the ace on many pitching staffs across the country. He is ranked as Baseball America's 93rd best prospect in the 2024 Draft, and could work his way into the first two or three rounds depending on how his season goes. Saturday, he got off to a fantastic start.

Morgan was downright perfect in his first four innings, not allowing a baserunner before ceding two weak singles in the fifth — and striking out the side around them.

In the sixth, Morgan got a little wild, walking two. He also generated a double-play ball to help clean up his mess, and at just 87 pitches, Morgan likely would’ve gotten a chance to at least close the inning out if it weren’t his first start of the season.

For Morgan's dominance, reliever Anthony Watts was somehow even better, striking six out in 3-1/3 innings to close the game out while allowing just one baserunner on a walk.

This season, Iowa is aiming to use a piggyback system with its pitching: starters go 4-6 innings (or more, if they're cruising) then a long reliever comes in for multiple innings, getting in their own rhythm. Watts and Whitlock excelled as the second halves of the "piggybacks" in their season debuts.

Petersen picked up right where he left off Friday, going 2-3 and reaching base four times in the game. He also stole three more bases — giving him five in his first two games — and scored a pair of runs.

Petersen’s example of manufacturing runs on the basepaths might be the model for Iowa’s offense to follow, with less pop in the Hawkeye lineup than last year. Against Ball State the Hawkeyes stole 4 bases, putting added stress on the Cardinal defense by keeping runners in scoring position (and, often, out of double-play scenarios).

WP: Teddy Tolliver (1-0)--6.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER (3 R), 2 K, 0 BB
LP: Reece Beuter (0-1)--1 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 1 K, 2 BB

Iowa's Top Stars

SP Cade Obermueller: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 7 K, 2 BB, 1 HBP
DH Davis Cop: 2-4, 2 RBI

Cade Obermueller mostly served as a relief option for Iowa last year, throwing 22 innings in 15 games. In those games, his great stuff was evident (he had 36 strikeouts), but like Brecht, his control was a concern. He is ranked as Baseball America's #104 draft prospect for the 2024 draft, but is still largely a blank slate at the college level.

In Obermueller's first true weekend start, he ended up somewhere between Morgan and Brecht in terms of effectiveness. On the positive side, he struck out seven and only allowed one hit. But he was also effectively wild, running the count full with five different batters and throwing three wild pitches.

The third was his most taxing inning. He walked the first two hitters, and threw a couple wild pitches that let the first walk end up on third. Despite the tough start, Obermueller rallied back, getting a force out at the plate, a strikeout, and a groundout to escape the inning without surrendering a run.

In hindsight, coach Rick Heller might regret not sending Obermueller out to start the 5th. Instead, Iowa turned to Reece Beuter and Beuter just didn’t have it.

Lehigh’s 5th started innocently enough, as Beuter allowed a single, then recorded two consecutive groundouts. Ryan Cochran then singled to tie the game at one, but Iowa looked like it might escape further damage.

It didn’t. Beuter walked the next two batters, then surrendered a lazy fly ball to left from Tyler Young. Petersen didn’t get a great read on the ball, and his diving effort to catch it came up short. Lehigh scored three runs on the play, officially scored a double, to take a 4-1 lead.

Two pitches later, things went from bad to worse, as Lehigh first baseman Justin Butler took Beuter deep to right field, and suddenly Iowa found itself down 6-1.

Iowa’s offense scored three more runs after Lehigh’s outburst, but a seventh-inning Hawkeye rally evaporated with the bases loaded, and Iowa never seriously challenged again in an 8-4 defeat.

Overall, Iowa’s offensive performance in the first weekend was somewhat concerning; 13 runs over three games, with two against mid-major foes, is unlikely to satisfy Heller if the Hawkeyes are to maintain their semi-darkhorse status as a College Baseball World Series contender.

Unlike the Seton Hall game, Lehigh’s pitchers weren’t overpowering Sunday, only forcing two Hawkeye strikeouts. But Iowa’s hitters also generated far too much weak contact while only walking once. Iowa’s hitters will need to be more patient — and prudent — with their swings moving forward.