Ohio State defeated Michigan late on May 25, 8-3, setting up a matchup against the Hawkeyes at 1 p.m. May 27.
The Hawkeyes are the hottest team left in the tournament, having won six of their last seven games, with their only loss in that stretch coming in the second game of a double-header versus Penn State after they had sealed a spot in the Big Ten Tournament with their win in the first game.
Iowa traveled to Columbus earlier in the season to take on Ohio State, dropping two-of-three against the Buckeyes. The bad news for the Hawkeyes was that they were blanked on the scoreboard in both losses.
The good news is their one win in Columbus came in a 12-0 clobbering of Ohio State starter John Havird, who is slated to start again against the Hawkeyes.
Tyler Peyton will be on the mound for Iowa, and there is no other guy Iowa head coach Rick Heller would rather have there.
Peyton heads into the contest with a 23 scoreless-inning streak, including a complete game shutout against Penn State his last time out to help his team clinch a spot in Omaha. In his two starts prior to the Penn State game, Peyton threw seven scoreless innings against both Michigan State and Ohio State. He has allowed only 8 base hits in his last three starts combined.
Heller has noted recently that everybody is finally seeing the healthy version of Peyton. The senior from Grimes, Iowa, injured his throwing arm in his first start of the year, and he was not right on the mound until a few weeks ago.
The healthy version of Peyton on the mound and at the plate has gotten Iowa into the tournament and will be the determining factor on May 27.
Heller made the decision to move Peyton to the leadoff spot for Game 2 of the Michigan series on April 23. Since that point, he is hitting .413 (31-of-75), hitting safely in 14 of 17 games, with 10 of those being multi-hit games.
It would be interesting to see where the Hawkeyes would be ranked if they re-seeded teams after first day of the Big Ten Tournament. They looked like the No. 1 seed against Minnesota.
Right now, the Hawkeyes have their mojo working at full strength and are playing the best baseball of any team in the tournament. Nebraska had won six-straight games heading into Omaha, but the Cornhuskers lost their first two games and were the first team eliminated.
Though they are labeled the 8th seed, it would be safe to say no team left in the Big Ten wants to match up with the Hawkeyes. There is something dangerous about a team playing desperate baseball, something Iowa has been doing for about two weeks now.
The Hawkeyes will have to win the Big Ten Tournament to make the NCAA Tournament, a tall task for a team that has only gotten significant contributions from two starting pitchers this season.
But don’t count out the Hawkeyes, who clearly had the Baseball Gods on their side May 25, when they beat up the top-seeded Gophers, 8-2.
It seemed like every bounce went their way, and there is beginning to be a special feeling about this team.
And if the Hawkeyes don’t want to rely on the supernatural against Ohio State, Peyton — who has an ERA of 0.00 over his last three starts — isn’t a bad option, either.
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