The Hawkeye baseball team has struggled in the beginning of the 2016 season, there’s no denying that.
Sporting a 7-11 record heading in to the team’s first weekend of Big Ten play, the Hawks squared off against Maryland, a team picked to finish second in the league in the preseason coaches’ poll. So when Iowa took two of three games from the Terps, it came as a bit of a surprise.
Hawkeye pitching was efficient, no doubt. But the team’s offensive output could be cited as the real savior.
“We’ve just had great at-bats up and down the lineup,” senior outfielder Joel Booker said after the March 25 game against Maryland. “We got our pitches, and we got our best swings off.”
Booker’s .352 batting average is second on the team, behind only shortstop Nick Roscetti, who bats .360. He leads the team in home runs (2) and is tied for the team lead with Roscetti in hits (31) and runs scored (19).
Four Hawkeyes are hitting above .300: Roscetti and Booker, followed by Robert Neustrom (.349) and Austin Guzzo (.311).
While senior outfielder Eric Schenck-Joblinske hasn’t eclipsed the .300 plateau yet, the Dike native has been a spark for the lineup recently.
Schenck-Joblinske crushed a home run to right field in the series finale against Maryland on Sunday. He is hitting .233 in 43 at-bats so far this season. After his home run, Schenck-Joblinske said his teammates ahead of him in the lineup have given him useful tips before he steps up to the plate.
“The couple of lefties ahead of me said he was throwing a fastball right down the middle,” Schenck-Joblinske said. “So I was just looking for a fastball that I could really get ahold of.”
Hawkeye head coach Rick Heller sang the praises of freshman Neustrom after the March 26 victory over Maryland. Neustrom was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week this week after hitting .467 in the last 10 games.
“Robert’s getting hot, and that’s a good thing for us,” Heller said. “We need some guys up and down the order that can spread things out for us … he gave us a nice boost and helped us out big time.”
Against Maryland, a bulk of the Hawkeye runs came with two outs. Booker says the never-quit attitude at the plate is a staple on the team.
But at the same time, he said, it doesn’t matter what the situation is for the Hawkeye hitters; when they see a good pitch, they attack it.
“Two-out hitting is definitely an approach,” Booker said. “But great hitting philosophy is getting your best swing off, looking for your pitch, and taking advantage of it.”
Now with a 9-12 record as they square off against Northern Illinois today and Minnesota in a three-game series this weekend, Booker says the team is in good shape if the hot-hitting continues.