Previewing a big series for Iowa baseball
Previewing the Opponent – Maryland/Northwestern
Iowa is set to play in their second pod series of the season, with this one taking place at Duane Banks Field vs Maryland and Northwestern. The Hawkeyes will play Maryland on Friday and Saturday, while they will face Northwestern on Sunday and Monday.
The Terrapins are coming off of a three-game sweep of Ohio State and are 13-12 on the season. Northwestern is coming off of a series loss at Indiana, but they battled all weekend and come to Iowa City with a 12-12 record.
Maryland Terrapins Preview
The Terps are 8-4 since they played Iowa back in March and they are playing their best baseball of the season. SS Benjamin Cowles is the most explosive bat in the lineup for Maryland, as he is batting .337, with 11 home runs on the season and also leads the team with 31 RBIs. 1B Maxwell Costes has gotten his batting average up to .300, but the big stat is that he has drawn 23 walks to just 17 strikeouts. Cowles and Costes were just 3/14, with two walks in the first two matchups vs Iowa. Maryland has two really good base stealers, with Randy Bednar and Chris Alleyne combining for 22 stolen bases. While the team as a whole is still batting just .247 on the season, their team OBP is .372, due to their ability to draw walks. They have taken 170 walks, which is second in the Big Ten behind Michigan (171). When Iowa took two from Maryland the first time, they allowed just six walks over the two games, so that will be a big key. Another big key will be the rate at which Maryland strikes out. The team has combined for 248 strikeouts, or a strikeout in 25% of their plate appearances.
The Hawks will face Maryland’s ace Sean Burke on Friday night. Burke is 2-2 on the season, with a 4.50 ERA, while striking out 62 and walking just 17. Burke had a great outing vs the Hawkeyes in their first matchup, going 6 innings, allowing just one earned run, while striking out 11 and walking none. The starter for Saturday is not set in stone, as the Terps have thrown a couple of guys in the #2 spot over the last couple weekends. Nick Dean and Connor Staine are the likely options. Dean threw as the #2 last weekend and has a 4.43 ERA over four starts this season. Iowa saw Staine earlier this year and scored six runs on six hits, while drawing five walks.
Out of the bullpen Ryan Ramsey is probably their best arm, posting a 2.37 ERA, while striking out 27 over 19 innings of work. Iowa saw Ramsey for 1/3 of an inning and Zeb Adreon hit a home run. Sam Bello has four saves and a 3.45 ERA on the year, but did not throw well vs the Hawkeyes, allowing three runs in 2.2 innings. Sean Heine did not pitch vs Iowa, but has posted a 3.77 ERA in nine appearances out of the bullpen. Outside of Ramsey, no one in the Maryland bullpen is scary.
The keys to beating Maryland to start the weekend, will be once again quieting the bats of Benjamin Cowles and Maxwell Costes. Limiting walks to the whole lineup will be another factor because as I mentioned, the team is batting just .247, but draws a ton of walks. Iowa will need to get a good outing from ace Trenton Wallace, and he will be looking for a bounce back performance after struggling with walks vs Rutgers. These two games could lengthen the gap between Iowa and the #5 spot in the Big Ten standings.
Northwestern Wildcats Preview
The one thing that immediately stands out about Northwestern is the power up and down the lineup. The Wildcats have mashed 47 home runs in 24 games and lead the Big Ten in the category. Shawn Goosenberg leads the team with ten home runs and is batting .327. Then it is picking your poison with who you want to face because they all have home run power. Stephen Hrustich has eight home runs while batting .278. Anthony Calarco leads the team with 36 hits and a .360 batting average, while hitting seven home runs. Michael Trautwein is kind of boom or bust, as he has nine home runs, but is just batting .189 on the season. The one thing this lineup does alongside hitting home runs is strikeout. The team strikes out in 23.9% of plate appearances and a combined 225 times in 24 games (9.4 per gm).
Iowa will likely see Quinn Lavelle and Jack Dyke out of the Wildcats in the starting pitching department. Lavelle is 4-1 on the season, with a 4.55 ERA, while striking out 23. His WHIP (walks/hits per inning pitched) is very respectable at 1.01 and that is thanks to allowing just seven walks in 31.2 innings of work. Jack Dyke has not faired quite as well in his four starts. He is 1-0, but has posted a 5.63 ERA, while striking out ten and walking ten.
Reed Smith is the go-to arm out of the bullpen, leading the team with ten appearances. Smith has posted a 2.87 ERA in 15.2 innings of work, so the Hawkeyes will likely see him over their two games. Sam Lawrence (3.68), Garrett Boeckle (3.86) and Ben Grable (4.09) are the other prominent arms out of the Northwestern bullpen.
The key to beating Northwestern will be getting more quality starts out of the backend of the rotation, which has been happening lately. As long as the Iowa pitchers can keep the ball in the park, they will have chances to rack up strikeouts. Neither Northwestern projected starter has an intimidating stat line, so Iowa should have a good chance to get a couple wins.