Iowa baseball drops series opener to Hawaii
The Hawkeyes opened a four-game series against Hawaii with a 7-1 loss.
Iowa’s Mitchell Boe watches as the ball bounces off the wall for a double during the NCAA baseball game between Iowa and Penn State at Duane Banks Field on Friday, May 18. The Hawkeyes defeated the Nittany Lions 9-1. (Nick Rohlman/The Daily Iowan)
February 23, 2019
Hawkeye baseball traveled to paradise in Hawaii for a four-game weekend series, but Iowa only found trouble in its first game.
Iowa finished 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position, leading to a 7-1 Rainbow Warrior victory.
Despite getting no-hit through the first five innings, the Hawkeyes stranded five runners through three innings, thanks to free bases.
“We had opportunities the first four innings, we just didn’t execute offensively,” Iowa head coach Rick Heller said in a release. “We did a good job of getting on base all night. They gave us 17 free bases and usually when that happens you’re looking at a win, but we could not get a hit, and we’d punch out with runners at third base and less than two outs. We couldn’t get it going.”
Hawaii, on the other hand, capitalized on its opportunities. The Rainbow Warriors scored 2 runs in the third inning and 3 more in the fourth, ending starter Cole McDonald’s day on the mound and eventually dropping his record to 0-2.
“Hawaii had a good night offensively,” Heller said in a release. “It seemed like every ball they put in play went for a hit.”
Hawaii pitcher Jeremy Wu-Yelland kept Iowa in check with his five no-hit innings but gave up plenty of free bases that Iowa just couldn’t capitalize on. He walked five batters and hit two more in his time on the mound.
Iowa second baseman Mitchell Boe tied a Hawkeye school record, racking up 4 walks in 5 plate appearances.
The Hawkeyes eventually got on the board with an unearned run in the seventh when Izaya Fullard got on base after getting hit by a pitch and Chris Whelan followed with an infield single. Fullard scored when Hawaii’s Tyler Best made a throwing error on what could have been a double play.
Iowa had a chance to cut into the Rainbow Warrior lead in the eighth, loading the bases with two outs. However, Hawaii got out of the jam, forcing a Trenton Wallace groundout to third.
Last weekend, Iowa’s pitching played a key role in Iowa’s wins in its second and third game of the series, and Heller will likely look for more of that magic from Jack Dreyer and Grant Judkins against Hawaii.
The Hawkeyes will be back in action on Saturday at 5:05 p.m.