By Jake Mosbach
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While Iowa students took the week off for spring break, the Hawkeye baseball team was hard at work. Unfortunately for the Hawks, the week’s results didn’t necessarily reflect that.

Seven Hawks managed just two wins in games from March 11 through Sunday, traveling to Emerson, Georgia, to compete in the annual Spring Swing tournament as well as playing a three-game series against Missouri State in Springfield.

Wins came against Savannah State on March 13 (14-4), and Point University on March 14 (7-1). The team was swept in the Missouri State series. The Bears had entered the weekend series ranked No. 12 in the country.

Iowa now has a 6-11 record.

“It was good to see fight,” Iowa head coach Rick Heller said in a release after the March 19 game against Missouri State. “We took a step in the right direction.”

As has been the case much of the season, the team was led offensively by senior shortstop Nick Roscetti and senior outfielder Joel Booker. Against Savannah State, the team grabbed a season-high 19 hits on the way to victory. The team also out-hit Missouri State in the first game of the series.

Roscetti now boasts a .386 average, with Booker hitting .366.

Heller was optimistic about the offensive production but said his batters watched too many good pitches go by.

“I liked some of the things I saw at the plate,” Heller said in a release. “We out-hit them … we had a couple opportunities but left the bats on our shoulder for strike three. That has to change.”

The story of the weekend against the Bears was missed opportunities. Iowa held leads in two of three games, yet failed to grab a win. The series’ second game on March 19 featured a wild ninth inning, with the Hawks tying the game at 4-4.

However, a bases-loaded walk by pitcher Nick Gallagher in the bottom half of the inning ended the game.

“It was sad to see,” Heller said in a release. “It was the best Nick had been. He showed a lot of toughness. When he came in, he had good stuff, so when we tied the game ,it was the decision to go back to Nick because he had been dealing up to that point.”

Gallagher picked up the win against Savannah State but took the loss after failing to close the Missouri State game; his record is now 2-2. Freshman Cole McDonald earned the win against Point University.

The Hawks will now turn their attention to Bradley, which they’ll host at Banks Field on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.

Heller said in a release that the midweek game is pivotal in gaining momentum before Big Ten play starts.

“It’s going to be good to be home,” he said. “Hopefully, it will help with our confidence, and we can get a good streak going.”