By Pete Ruden
Iowa baseball head coach Rick Heller was searching for consistency from the bottom of his lineup since Iowa’s loss to Purdue on March 24.
The top five guys in the order were absolutely crushing the ball. At one point, all of them were hitting .330 or better.
However, the impressive averages fell off after that. Tyler Cropley and Mitchell Boe were both hitting under .200, while Grant Judkins and Matt Hoeg were starting to slip into the lower .200 region.
But then the UNLV series came to rescue Boe. In a Saturday double-header, the sophomore second baseman went 4-for-8 with 5 clutch RBIs, including two game-tying 2-run doubles in the late innings.
Then the Northwestern series awakened Cropley’s batting. He ended up hitting 2 homers and bringing in 5 runs in the three-game road trip.
The improvement culminated in Tuesday’s 4-1 win over Western Illinois. In the midweek contest, a big chunk of Iowa’s offensive production came from the bottom of the order, including all 4 runs.
Designated hitter Austin Guzzo and Boe brought in a run each, while Hoeg plated 2.
Though the middle of the order had a rare off-night, head coach Rick Heller was glad that the bottom of it could come through.
“You’re always a little bit worried when you see that the middle part of your order’s not having a good night,” Heller said. “That’s a night that if those guys don’t step up, you could get bit. It was good to see all those guys down there having good at bats.”
Ever since Guzzo became a consistent piece in the lineup, his presence at the plate blossomed into a reliable late-order contributor.
While his batting average might not be outstanding by any measure, his on-base percentage helps the team.
Before the game against the Leathernecks, Guzzo was batting an atrocious .167, but his on-base percentage was a terrific .419. Since then, his average has risen to .212, which has in turn increased his on-base percentage.
Guzzo also knows that because Hoeg, Boe, and Cropley have been on a roll, he just has to get on base for his team to bring him around.
“I tried to do my job in the 7 hole of trying to get on base and trying to make something happen,” Guzzo said. “I think my job was just to get on base because I know those guys would either get me over, get me in, and that’s exactly what they did tonight.”
Another thing the bottom of the order was able to accomplish Tuesday was putting the pitcher at ease. So far this season, it has been the top and middle of the lineup generating offense and giving the pitchers a cushion, but their roles were switched tonight.
In his first start of the season, Elijah Wood acknowledged the benefits of Mitchell Boe’s second inning sacrifice fly.
“It was definitely nice to see the sticks swinging at the bottom of the order,” Wood said. “Getting a run up on the board definitely kind of made me feel comfortable up on the mound. I was able to keep getting the outs and not let up a run, so it made me feel a little more comfortable out there.”