After falling to Bradley, 7-0, on March 26, the Iowa baseball team struck back in Peoria Wednesday night to defeat the Braves, 6-2.

The win moves the Hawks to 16-9 overall this season.

Junior Andrew Hedrick started for the Black and Gold, tossing three scoreless innings and allowing only 1 hit.  Sophomore Jared Mandel earned his first career win after downing six of seven batters. 

“It was good to see Andrew back out there after being on the shelf for a while,” head coach Rick Heller said in a release. “Our bullpen — our young guys that haven’t thrown a lot — went out and did a nice job. Offensively we took advantage of some Bradley freebies early in the game — walks, errors — that we were finally able to take advantage of.”

Junior center fielder Eric Toole paced the Hawkeyes at the plate, going 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs. While the Hawks managed just 6 hits all game, they were able to capitalize on their opportunities early, leaving a mere six runners on base. 

The Hawkeyes jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning, scoring a pair of runs on one hit and one Bradley error.

Senior Taylor Zeutenhorst led off the frame with a walk before junior Nick Day reached on a throwing error with two outs. After advancing to second on a passed ball, Toole laced a two-run single to center to put Iowa on the board first.

From there on out, the Hawks kept their foot on the gas and did not relent, scoring twice in the third and twice in the seventh to put the game out of reach.

The Black and Gold will return to action Saturday, hosting top-ranked Indiana in the first of a three-game series at Banks Field.