The Iowa baseball team won the battle of offenses and finished a sweep of No. 19 Indiana on Sunday, beating the Hoosiers, 10-6, at Banks Field.
The Hawkeyes tallied 16 hits on the afternoon — 11 of which came in the first four innings. The teams combined for 48 hits over the course of the series, a staggering 29 coming in the third game alone.
“Hitting-wise, the first two days weren’t the best batting days. They were kind of cold, kind of windy, and the wind was blowing in,” senior Eric Toole said. “Today, the wind was blowing out, some of the hits are going to drop, and some of the bloopers are going to drop.”
Six of the 10 runs came in the first inning. Iowa’s first two batters — Toole and redshirt senior Jake Mangler — both saw the plate twice in that frame. The Hawkeyes made it all the way through the order and then some before Indiana finally retired the side.
“I thought that today was a good day. [Indiana pitcher Scott] Effross is one of the best pitchers in the league and to chase him early like that will give us some confidence for the rest of the year,” head coach Rick Heller said. “I just felt like our at bats have been more dialed in. I’m happy with the way we’re progressing offensively.”
Effross, a junior, took the loss for Indiana. He pitched just a third of an inning and gave up 6 earned runs.
After the third inning, production from the plate slowed a bit for the Hawkeyes. However, when Indiana scored 3 in the top of the eighth, the bats picked up again to keep the lead; the Hawkeyes scored their last 2 runs in the bottom of that inning.
Junior first baseman and pitcher Tyler Peyton had a big day on offense, going 4-for-5 at the plate.
“We just try to stick to our approach, just find a spark to do whatever we can to find a way to get hits and find a way to get runs,” he said. “We’re just doing whatever we can to help the team win.”
The Hawkeyes needed the sweep of Indiana heading into the Big Ten season, Heller said. The three-game weekend served as a confidence boost for the veteran Iowa team composed of mostly upperclassmen. Most of those involved had not previously seen their team win against Indiana.
The Hawkeyes had not defeated Indiana since 2012 and had gone 2-16 over the past 18 matchups.
“It’s exactly what we needed if we’re going to try to compete for a championship,” Heller said.
“Especially today, when you have an opportunity to win three on the weekend over one of the league favorites, and to take advantage of that is big.”
Follow @cbomb12 for news, analysis and updates about the Iowa baseball team.