The bats came alive on Sept. 23 as the Iowa baseball team steamrolled the Ontario Blue Jays, 17-2, at Banks Field.

Senior Tyler Cropley opened the scoring for the Hawkeyes with a RBI double in a 3-run fourth inning.

Cropley struck again in the sixth with a 3-run dinger that hit off the scoreboard in left to make it a 6-0 ball game.

Freshman Zion Pettigrew also got in on the action, dropping a 3-run bomb to left to put the Hawks up 13-0 in the eighth.

The Hawkeyes added 4 more runs as the game continued past nine innings — the teams agreed to play till 3 p.m., regardless of the number of innings.

The biggest positive for Iowa came during a break after the sixth inning. The Hawkeyes, Big Ten Tournament champions, received their rings from their run to the conference championship on May 28.

2017 marked the first Big Ten Tournament title in program history for Iowa. The Hawkeyes took down Maryland in a 9-8 thriller to open the tournament, then followed with a win against Nebraska and a loss to Minnesota. The Hawkeyes and Gophers clashed later that same day, and Iowa won in 13 innings. Northwestern stood in Iowa’s way in the tournament championship, but the Wildcats proved to be no match for the Hawkeyes in their 13-4 victory.

Iowa will host the Black and Gold Blowout World Series at Banks Field from Oct. 11-13.

—  by Sean Bock and Adam Hensley

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