Iowa baseball has a habit of keeping midweek games close.

Although the Hawkeyes are 3-1 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Banks Field, the path to victory isn’t as straightforward as it may seem.

When Iowa took on Division-3 Loras on March 21, the Hawkeyes trailed 4-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth. After Matt Hoeg tied it with a 3-run double in the eighth, Austin Guzzo sealed the comeback with a walk-off home run over the right-field fence.

Iowa’s battle with Bradley on March 28 required a walk-off once again; the Hawkeyes trailed the Braves, 9-8, heading into the eighth. Lorenzo Elion plated Tyler Cropley with a single to right, then Cropley finished the job with a walk-off grand slam.

When the Grand View Vikings visited Banks Field on Wednesday, it was once again something of a struggle to pull out a win.

The Hawkeyes didn’t lead until the sixth inning, then held on for a 4-2 victory.

“The midweek games have actually been tougher than the Big Ten so far,” third baseman Lorenzo Elion said. “We’ve been playing some real tough teams in the midweek, and we just come out and compete.”

Some of the difficulties could be attributed to the number of arms the Hawkeyes use throughout the game. It’s rare to see a pitcher stay on the bump for an extended period of time in a midweek game, and the constant substitutions don’t allow one single pitcher to settle in.

Iowa used 10 pitchers in nine innings against Bradley, while using five against the Duhawks. In Iowa’s 7-6 loss to St. Louis on March 20, the Hawkeyes brought in six pitchers. In the win over the Vikings, Iowa threw eight more.

But the increased number of arms keeps the staff loose for the upcoming weekend series instead of keeping them out of action for weeks at a time.

“For me, the most important thing of all is that the pitchers get the work in,” Iowa head coach Rick Heller said. “[If] you get deep, and these guys haven’t pitched much in three weeks, how can you expect them to go out there in a leverage situation and be successful against a really good team? It is crucial that they get their work in, and so far, so good.”

These midweek games, no matter how close, keep the Hawkeyes sharp for upcoming Big Ten series on the weekends, which is of utmost importance.

It seems as if it has paid off so far this season, because Iowa has three wins over two ranked teams through five conference games.

A doubleheader split with No. 11 Indiana, along with a 2-1 series win over No. 22 Illinois, shows that the Hawkeyes have benefited and are on the right path.

Iowa had another tough game to get ready, heading into a series with Ohio State, which sits tied for fifth in the Big Ten.