Following a shutout of Grand View on Tuesday night at Banks Field, the Hawkeye baseball team once again pushed its overall record to the .500 mark; it now sits at 19-19.
This weekend, the Hawks host a nonconference foe for a three-game series. Kansas State will bring its 18-22 record to town on the heels of a series victory over Baylor on April 22 through Sunday.
Before Iowa and Kansas State square off, here’s a quick rundown of the Wildcats’ up-and-down season so far.
Team batting average: .293
The Wildcats’ average certainly isn’t the highest that Hawkeye pitchers will have faced this season, but it is respectable. The team has five batters who eclipse the .300 mark, led by senior outfielder Clayton Dalrymple (.366).
At this point in the season, Hawkeye pitchers are allowing an opponent batting average of .262, around 30 points lower than Kansas State is hitting. The weekend’s starters on the mound for the Hawkeyes might have their hands full with such solid-hitting Wildcats as Dalrymple and junior first baseman Jake Scudder, who hits .331 and leads the team with 6 home runs.
Away record: 5-7
Away from Manhattan, the Wildcats struggle. With a road winning percentage of just .416, Kansas State will be on the ropes on Fridayevening.
The Wildcats’ road woes certainly won’t be helped, either, by the Hawkeyes’ prowess in the friendly confines of Banks Field. The 12-4 mark at home has to be encouraging for head coach Rick Heller and his team, especially when paired with the Hawkeyes’ being undefeated at home against nonconference opponents.
The weekend series with the Wildcats brings the realistic chance for the Hawkeyes to distance themselves from the .500 for the first time this season.
Record when opponent scores first: 5-18
As indicated by the record, Kansas State allows its opponents to score first in the game on a fairly regular basis — and when they do, the Wildcats don’t fight back very often.
With that said, the early part of the Hawkeye order has the chance to do serious damage to the Wildcats’ hopes of winning right out of the gate this weekend. Tyler Peyton, Joel Booker, Mason McCoy, Nick Roscetti, and others can step on Kansas State’s throat from the get-go and, according to the record, have a decent chance to win.
Heller has stressed fast starts all season long, and this weekend against the Wildcats, that could be more crucial than ever.
Run differential: Plus-20
Despite the losing record and trailing their opponents in quite a few statistical categories, the Wildcats are outscoring their 2016 opponents, 254-234.
But when the team comes to Iowa City, it will face a Hawkeye team that has only allowed 173 runs all season, 81 less than the Wildcats have produced. Hawkeye pitchers have been solid for the most part and have done a fair job of limiting damage when they find themselves in a jam. The nonconference weekend matchup brings a bit of intrigue.
Game 1 of the Iowa-Kansas State weekend series is set to begin at6:05 p.m. at Banks Field on Friday.
Follow @RealJakeMosbach on Twitter for Iowa baseball news, updates, and analysis.