After a disappointing midweek loss to St. Louis on Tuesday, Iowa (12-7) bounced back in come-from-behind fashion with a 6-4 win over Loras (10-4) on Wednesday at Banks Field.
But the victory almost never happened. After the Duhawks piled it on in the eighth inning, the Hawkeyes trailed by 3 with time running out. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Matt Hoeg smacked a base-clearing 3-run double to tie the game and give the Hawkeyes a chance.
Iowa took that momentum into the ninth, where Austin Guzzo crushed a 2-run walk-off homer over the right field fence to secure the win.
“It got to a 2-0 count there, and I had a feeling that he was probably going to throw me something that I was going to be able to hit,” Guzzo said. “I was just prepared to get my best swing off, so I was just lucky enough to hit one out.”
There was a slow start to the game. In fact, both teams were hitless until the bottom of the third, when Iowa right fielder Robert Neustrom crushed a home run over the right field fence, making it look like batting practice.
Neustrom’s fourth home run of the season was big for the Hawkeyes; it kicked things off and got the scoring rolling. It also raised Neustrom’s stellar average, which now sits at .347.
But overall, it just wasn’t a good day at the plate for Iowa. Facing a Division-3 opponent, Iowa could only muster 7 hits.
Still, the Hawkeyes never thought they would lose, despite going down by 3 late.
“Hawkeye baseball, we never think we’re going to lose; there’s always a chance we can win,” Neustrom said. “We have pulled off a lot of great wins. We were fully confident. We knew we had it. Sometimes it doesn’t always fall your way for most of the game. They fought well; we can’t say they didn’t, but we stayed confident and we fought.”
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While it was a slow game at the plate for the Duhawks as well, recording only 5 hits, Loras did a lot of damage in the seventh and eighth.
Left-handed pitcher Kyle Shimp took over for starter Grant Judkins in the fifth and had things rolling for the Hawkeyes, keeping runners off the base paths for the most part.
But that didn’t last; Loras center fielder Danny Paluch knocked an RBI single into left field, plating a runner from second base after a scoreless first two innings from Shimp.
After Cam Baumann took over on the mound, things got ominous when Loras shortstop Luke Fennelly beat the throw to first on a bunt.
It got even worse for Iowa when the next batter stood in the box; Duhawk second baseman Austin Kunagel reached on a fielding error on Hoeg and Fennelly advanced to third.
Loras first baseman Ryan Koester responded with an RBI single up the middle. After another RBI single through the left side, Paluch lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to give the Duhawks a 4-1 lead over the Hawkeyes.
Still, the outburst ultimately didn’t cause a loss for Iowa, and it will help it in tight games throughout the rest of the season.
“I just think that anytime you’re able to come from behind late in the game and win, it’s a good feeling for everybody,” Iowa head coach Rick Heller said. “The more often you can do that, the more confidence you’re going to have in those situations down the road.”