Olympic Spotlight: Iowa Baseball Sweeps Rutgers

Iowa baseball needed a big week last week and responded well, going 4-0 including a midweek win over Bradley (10-26) and a sweep over Rutgers (23-16, 3-9).

The Hawks started the week with a solid 11-6 win over Bradley. The Braves scored first in the top of the first inning, but Iowa rallied back in the second to take a 3-1 lead. Bradley put together a four-run fourth inning to take back the lead and added another run in the fifth to push the lead to 6-3.

For a moment, it looked like Iowa may once again fall victim to the midweek letdown. Instead, the Hawkeye offense turned it on, scoring multiple runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to reclaim the lead and push it to 11-6, the game's final score. Andy Nelson drove in three for the Hawkeyes and Reese Moore scored three times. Iowa relied on the bullpen throughout the game, using ten different pitchers to get the win.

The Hawkeyes welcomed Rutgers to Iowa City for a huge three-game series over the weekend, with both teams fighting for a spot in the Big Ten Tournament. The Hawkeyes wasted no time, putting together an 8-1 statement win to open the series.

Iowa took an early lead in the bottom of the first and when Rutgers tied the game in the second, Iowa answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. The 2-1 lead would hold over the next six innings as Hawkeye pitcher Cade Obermueller put together a gem on the mound, pitching 6.1 innings and striking out six.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Iowa's offense broke the game open, plating six to put the game out of reach. The Hawks ground out at-bats, manufacturing runs and keeping the line moving until they broke through. Six different Hawkeyes drove in a run in the game and Iowa was 3-for-3 with runners on third and less than two outs. It was the perfect combination of timely hitting and dominant pitching that the Hawkeyes are capable of when they're at their best.

Game two was more of the same from the Hawkeyes, who jumped on the Scarlet Knights early and often en route to a 15-5 win. The Hawkeyes scored four in the second inning to take a 4-1 lead and then put together another massive inning to break the game open.

This time, an eight-run fourth inning which included a Kyle Huckstorf grand slam pushed Iowa's lead to 12-1. Rutgers tried to rally, scoring four in the fifth, but Iowa refused to leave the door open, scoring three more times in the seventh to remove all doubt. Marcus Morgan struck out six in his start as the Hawkeyes racked up 14 hits in the game. Raider Tello drove in three runs and Cade Moss had two RBIs in another complete team effort from the Hawkeye lineup.

Iowa finished off the weekend with a convincing 5-1 win on Sunday to complete the sweep. Raider Tello drove in two with an RBI triple in the third inning to cap off a three-run third.

He drove in two more with a double in the 5th, which was more than enough run support for Hawkeye ace Brody Brecht. Brecht went 7.2 innings, striking out a dozen while allowing just a single hit and one unearned run. There were only three hits total in the game, but Iowa managed to turn their two hits into five runs thanks to timely hitting from Tello.

The Hawkeyes needed to have a big week and they did exactly that with a perfect 4-0 record. The offense put up crooked numbers all weekend and the pitching staff was effective, save for a few stray innings. Brecht looked like the 1st round pick that we know he can be and team leaders like Tello, Huckstorf, and Morgan seemed to will the team to victory when they needed it most.

Iowa's sweep pushed them up to 5th in the Big Ten standings at 9-6, but they're within striking distance of the next three teams, Michigan (20-21, 10-5), Purdue (25-15, 8-4), and Nebraska (25-12, 8-4). The Hawks will have a chance to close that gap next weekend when they travel to Lincoln for a three-game set with the Huskers.

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Iowa softball (16-21, 4-11) was swept by Indiana (34-13, 10-7) last weekend, falling 8-0, 9-1, and 7-3. The Hawkeyes were shut out in game one but held tough in the second game of the weekend. The Hawks were tied at one after three innings, but two runs in the fourth and five in the sixth from the Hoosiers put the game out of reach. Defensive errors plagued the Hawkeyes, who gave up just four earned runs in the game.

Sunday's game three was unfortunately more of the same for the Hawkeyes. Iowa fell behind early after giving up five first-inning walks but bounced back to tie the game at two in the bottom of the inning.

The Hoosiers continued to apply pressure, scoring two in the second and another in the fourth, pushing the lead to 5-2. The Hawkeyes threatened in the fourth, loading the bases, but couldn't capitalize and a Hoosier home run in the fifth gave Indiana enough room to get the win.

It was another disappointing weekend for the Hawkeyes, who struggled to get anything going at the plate against their Big Ten foes. Jena Young and Tory Bennett both had productive weekends at the plate, but too often the Hawkeyes rely on a few hitters to produce runs.

They're still looking for power at the plate and often relying on small ball to generate offense, which can be effective, but means the entire team has to be firing on all cylinders to create consistent offense. The lack of scoring leaves little room for error at the mound and in the field, leading to free passes and errors being particularly painful for the Hawks.

The Hawkeyes will look to get back on the right track on Wednesday when they travel to Lincoln for a midweek doubleheader against Nebraska (25-19, 8-6).

Iowa track and field hosted their final home meet of the season last week, competing in the Musco Twilight where the Hawkeye throwers were the stars of the show.

The Hawks kicked off competition on Friday afternoon with a 1-2 finish in the men's hammer throw. Sean Smith (67.78m) and Austin Busch (65.22m) both launched career-best throws to earn the top two spots. The throws rank 2nd and 4th all-time at Iowa. Smith's throw was only two-tenths short of the school record throw. Alivia Bauer threw a lifetime best to win the women's event and her 56.64m mark was good for seventh all-time in Iowa history.

It was more of the same on Saturday for the Hawks. Jordan Johnson threw 58.00m to win the men's discus while Kat Moody's 55.04m discus throw won her the women's event title. Iowa swept the podium in the women's discus, with Sydnie Smith (49.80m) and Jamie Kofron (46.13m) claiming second and third. The Hawkeyes also won the men's and women's high jump with huge leaps from Zack Pluff (2.01m) and Jade Hunter (1.70m).

The weather didn't allow for fast times on the track, but the Hawkeyes still found a way to succeed in a slew of field events. The Hawks continue to have the perfect blend of upperclassmen performing well and new contributors growing as the season progresses. Iowa will travel to the famed Drake Relays next week to continue their preparation for the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, which start on May 10th.

The Iowa women's golf team competed in the Big Ten Tournament last weekend, finishing in a tie for 13th. The Hawkeyes' top finisher was Madison Dabagia who tied for 31st with a tournament score of +5. Her second-round 71 was the best score by a Hawkeye in the tournament.

The men's team finished 10th out of 18 teams at last weekend's Robert Kepler Intercollegiate at +37. Mac McClear was the highest finisher for the Hawkeyes, tying for 12th (+6) while Noah Kent was just behind McClear tied for 18th (+7). It was McClear's fourth top-25 finish of the season and Kent's fifth such finish. The men's team will travel to Columbus next weekend to compete in the Big Ten Championships.

Iowa tennis (11-11, 6-5) split their matches last weekend, falling 4-0 to #2 Michigan (23-3, 11-0) before bouncing back to beat Michigan State (10-15, 1-10) 4-1.

The Spartans won the doubles point to start the Hawks' final regular season match, but Iowa flipped a switch in the singles portion of the competition, winning four matches in straight sets to earn the team win. Hawkeye winners included Daianne Hayashida (Court 1), Barbora Pokorna (Court 3), Pia Kranhold (Court 4), and Nikita Vishwase (Court 6).

Iowa faced a tough opponent in Michigan, the Big Ten regular season champions, on Saturday but showed strong resolve to flush the sweep and come back to beat the Spartans to close out the regular season. The win pushed the Hawks above .500 in conference on the year and to .500 overall.

The Big Ten Championships will take place next weekend in Ann Arbor. Iowa will be the 7th seed and face 10th seed Penn State (5-16, 4-7) in the opening match. Iowa swept the matchup against the Nittany Lions earlier this season.

Iowa rowing put together another strong weekend last week, coming away with three victories at the Big Ten Invitational. On Friday, the Hawks' 2V8 boat came away with a narrow victory, beating Notre Dame by less than a second. Five Iowa boats finished second in their races.

Iowa picked up Saturday wins from the 2V4 boat, the 3V4 boat, and the 4V8 boat. The Hawkeyes 2V4 boat won their race by almost five seconds, the 3V4 by more than 13 seconds, and the 4V8 boat by over ten seconds.

The Hawkeyes will be back in the water next weekend when they travel to Raleigh for the Lake Wheeler Invitational.