It took almost five hours and 13 innings, but Iowa baseball topped Minnesota on May 27 in Bloomington, Indiana, to earn a spot in the Big Ten Championship.

Tyler Cropley connected on a solo home run in the top of the 13th inning to give Iowa a 6-5 lead — the first runs scored since the sixth. The Hawkeyes managed to add another run when a throwing error plated Matt Hoeg, who reached base on a single to center field.

Josh Martsching earned the win, moving his record to 5-0; he allowed only 2 hits in his 5.2 scoreless innings. Shane Ritter got the save, his fifth of the year.

Jake Adams finished 1-for-5, but a home run broke his Bloomington blues momentarily.

Adams had an opportunity in the 12th to break his batting struggles. With two on base and Adams at the plate, a pitch got by Minnesota’s catcher. Kyle Crowl hesitated for a fraction of a second at second base before taking off for third, where he was tagged out. The Gophers took advantage of having only a single Hawkeye on base and elected to intentionally walk the Big Ten Player of the Year. A fly out ended Iowa’s scoring hopes.

As a team, the Hawkeyes finished with 10 hits, 5 fewer the Gophers. But Iowa limited Minnesota to a single hit in the game’s final three innings.

Iowa connected on 4 hits in the final inning to advance, furthering its NCAA Tournament aspirations with a victory in the longest game in Big Ten Tournament history.

The Hawkeyes will play the winner of the Maryland-Northwestern contest (10 a.m. CDT) 40 minutes after the conclusion of the early game for the Big Ten Championship.

— by Adam Hensley