By Adam Hensley | [email protected]

There’s truth behind the concept of strength in numbers.

Sometimes, a group effort can be better than a single performance — look no further than Iowa’s bullpen. Head coach Rick Heller has deemed it a “bullpen by committee.”

In three games against Purdue (Hawkeyes, 2-1) and one midweek win against Grand View, the Hawkeyes found their biggest weapons of the four-game stretch.
“I thought the bullpen was the difference in our two wins [against Purdue],” Heller said. “That’s what the games came down to, in my opinion: Our bullpen pitched a little bit better than their bullpen.”

In their two games before the series with Iowa, the Boilermakers churned out 10 and 16 runs against Santa Clara and Ball State. The Vikings scored 11 runs twice in their four games prior to their loss at Banks Field.

In Iowa’s three wins (twice against Purdue and once versus Grand View), the bullpen gave up only 3 runs.

The Hawkeye pitchers pitched a shutout on March 25. Zach Daniels only allowed 2 hits in 3.2 innings, striking out 4 and earning the win.

He recorded win No. 5 on the season against Grand View.

“It was really good today to see Zach Daniels finish the game,” Heller said. “He pitched really well this weekend. That was a big, big bonus.”

Following his bullpen’s dominating performance, an injury to Cole McDonald on Sunday forced Heller to call upon his unit earlier than he would have liked.

McDonald pitched only 2.2 innings before a line drive connected with his wrist. Josh Martsching, Kyle Shimp, and Shane Ritter went on to allow only 2 hits in their four shutout innings, retiring seven of the last 14 batters.

“It’s huge,” Robert Neustrom said after the game. “I mean, [it’s a] 2-2 game most of the way. Props to them for keeping it that way; [they] didn’t let up another run.”

Iowa’s bullpen held tough once again in the latest win against Grand View. Elijah Wood only allowed 3 hits in his three shutout innings.

“[He’s] pitched really well,” Heller said. “He was up probably four or five times this weekend and just never matchup-wise worked out for him. I grabbed him on Sunday and said, ‘Don’t let it get you down because we have the utmost confidence in you.’ ”

Heller believes that in games such as these, where Iowa relies heavily on its bullpen, are what will end up strengthening the group as the season goes on. It’s all about coming together in tough situations, like during the 2-0 loss to Purdue on March 24.

The bullpen looked as though it was on its way to dominating the Boilermakers. Martsching came in for two innings, allowing no hits and striking out five of his six batters before it was Drake Robison’s turn at the mound.

A rain delay forced him and the rest of his team to hold off for about an hour. He said that Heller told him it was still his game during the break, but on his first two pitches after the delay, Purdue scored 2 runs in the top of the eighth.

Robison wasn’t fazed, however. The senior says he’s comfortable with his role.

“I was a closer at Iowa Western, and I was a reliever at Ole Miss, so coming back to the back end is actually probably more natural than starting,” he said.

Poise is just what Heller needs from his bullpen.

“So much of it is confidence,” he said. “The more they’re out there, and the more they succeed, the better they’re going to get. You’re going to get a chance to see who they are. When the game slows down, and they can go out there and just pitch, that’s what we’re starting to see, guys starting to relax and fall into their role.”