Olympic Spotlight: Iowa Baseball Goes 4-0, Now No. 23 Nationally

The calendar turning to March is usually a nice light at the end of the tunnel for spring sports. They can finally start looking forward to practices that don't involve hats and gloves, and the prospect of home games doesn't have to be met with trepidation at potential frostbite and jammed fingers.

In baseball, though, the Hawkeyes may be reluctant to leave winter behind given how well they've been playing. However cold it's been, the Iowa bats and arms have been hot enough to keep everyone warm. If the first weekend of March is anything to go by, these Hawks look made for all seasons, as they notched another perfect week and improved their season record to 9-1.

Let's dive in.

The Hawkeyes started the week against in-state rivals Loras. "Rivals" may feel like a bit of a strong word for a game between a Big Ten school and a D-III school with only a few thousand students, but Loras served Iowa a painful early season loss last year and the Hawks were out for revenge.

Iowa wasted no time getting on the board against the Duhawks, with Keaton Anthony and Brennen Dorighi smashing back-to-back home runs to give Iowa an early 3-0 lead. Iowa sent a revolving door of pitchers to the mound, nine in total, but that group held Loras in check all day, limiting them to just five hits and two runs. The Hawkeye bats added another run in the 2nd and several insurance runs in the 7th and 8th to win going away, 9-2.

After avenging last season's loss, the Hawkeyes traveled to Mobile for the South Alabama Invitational. There, Iowa went 3-0 with a trio of convincing victories.

Game 1 was complete domination by the Hawkeyes against Southern University, with a pair of 8-run innings pacing a 20-8 victory. Iowa was actually down 3-2 after two innings but the bats came alive in the third to pull away and then the Hawks piled it on in the 8th. Chase Moseley went 2-3 with a grand slam, Sam Hojnar was 3-5 with a grand slam of his own, and Dorighi was 2-4 with 4 RBIs as well. On the mound, Ty Langenberg went five innings to earn his first win of the year.

Game 2 was another convincing win, 6-2 over South Alabama. Iowa found itself down early once again — 2-1 after three — but its bats came alive in the 4th inning for three runs, and the team never looked back. Michael Seegers came up with the big hit in the inning, a two-run triple with two outs to give Iowa the lead. Dorighi came up with a two-RBI single in the 7th to provide some insurance, and Jared Simpson's four innings of one-hit relief effectively put the game away.

The final game of the weekend was once again all Hawks, as they dominated Pepperdine to the tune of a 10-1 win, clinching the tournament title. Pepperdine scored first with a run in the bottom of the 1st, but Iowa struck back in the third to take the lead, added a run in the 5th, then pulled away with a five-run 8th. Brody Brecht put together a strong start, striking out six in four innings. He was relieved by Zach Voelker, who allowed only one hit over the final five innings. Seegers and Hojnar both went yard, but the entire offense was humming as the Hawks put together 13 hits on the day.

Iowa kicked this week off with a home win over Coe College, 8-2. Keaton Anthony drove in a pair of runs on an RBI double to break the game open in the bottom of the 4th. Cade Obermueller pitched three innings in his first career start, striking out six and allowing only one run. The entire pitching staff was strong on the day, allowing just two runs on two hits on the day.

The competition wasn't quite as ferocious this weekend, but the Hawks took care of business and looked a notch above their opponents all tournament.

Iowa's pitching continues to be a strength for this team, and the bats are really feeding off of each other. The team stayed patient after falling behind early, and in all four games, it put together big innings to either take the lead or pull away. Dorighi continues to be an incredible addition via the transfer portal and veterans like Anthony, Seegers, and Hojnar are providing consistent production.

I've said it a few times already, but this lineup feels long and that can wear on an opposing pitching staff as the games go on. There's no break when you're facing these Hawks, and they've shown the ability to pounce when opposing pitchers slip up. I keep saying that it's a bit early to make sweeping statements with a sport like baseball, but the Hawkeyes have put together consistently strong performances throughout this early part of the year. The Hawks are now 10-1 and are ranked #23 nationally. Nothing about this start feels fluky -- these Hawks have something cooking.

Conference play is still a few weeks away, but Iowa will continue their non-conference travels next week with a trip to Lubbock for a three-game series with Texas Tech.

Iowa gymnastics celebrated Senior Day last weekend with a 195.275-194.200 win over Iowa State. JerQuavia Henderson was the star of the night, winning event titles on floor, bar, and all-around after taking part in Senior Day ceremonies. Henderson has been a star for the Hawkeyes Karina Munoz's 9.825 earned her a share of the title on vault and she tied for first with Henderson on bars with a 9.850. Alison Zhulke earned a share of the title of beam, scoring 9.875. The Hawks also set an attendance record at the meet, drawing 3,715 fans.

It's been a strong season for the GymHawks, who have put up some all-time great team scores and found ways to win when they weren't at their best. These seniors have been a huge part of the team's success and it was great to see the fans come out and support them on Senior Day.

The Hawkeye men's golf team tied for 4th at the Wake Forest Invitational earlier this week. Mac McClear led the way for Iowa, finishing tied for 2nd on the leaderboard at even par, three strokes back of the leader. McClear's final round 67 helped him gain 18 spots on the leaderboard and was a five-shot improvement over his second round.

Meanwhile, the women's golf team traveled to Jacksonville for their latest tournament, which wrapped up Tuesday afternoon. They finished tied for tenth in the tournament and were led by Riley Lewis, who finished tied for 13th at +2. Lewis' 67 in the second round tied for the 2nd-lowest round in school history. She eagled two holes and birdied four others in the round.

Iowa tennis split a pair of matches over the weekend, falling to #12 Wisconsin 6-1 before besting Minnesota 4-1. Barbora Pokorna was the lone point scorer against Wisconsin on the #4 court, but the Hawks scored on courts 4,5, and 6 against the Gophers, and earned the Doubles point. Winners against Minnesota included Daianee Hayashida, Samantha Mannix, Marisa Schmidt, and Vipasha Mehra. They'll next compete on Wednesday against Michigan.