Iowa baseball team rebounds from Saturday’s loss, routs Northwestern at Duane Banks Field
The Hawkeyes have not lost back-to-back games in a month.
Iowa right fielder Zeb Adreon connects for a base hit during a baseball game between Iowa and Northwestern on Sunday, April 25, 2021 at Duane Banks Field. The Hawkeyes defeated the Wildcats 15-4. (Jerod Ringwald/The Daily Iowan)
April 25, 2021
The Northwestern baseball team won the first inning Sunday afternoon at Duane Banks Field, but not much else.
The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead over the Hawkeyes in the top of the first and kept that lead going into the second inning. Iowa proceeded to score two runs in the bottom of the second, one in the third, and three each in the fourth, fifth, and sixth.
By the time the public address announcer’s rumbling voice said “That’s a Hawkeye winner” at the conclusion of the top of the ninth inning, Iowa (17-11) had defeated Northwestern 15-4 (12-15).
With the win, the Hawkeyes improved to 2-1 over this weekend’s four-game pod series. Iowa defeated Maryland on Friday night to open the weekend, but dropped a game to the Terrapins on Saturday in what Iowa coach Rick Heller described as a “bad day.”
“It started with our attitude when we showed up at the ballpark,” head coach Rick Heller said of his team’s ability to bounce back Sunday. “I loved how we showed up. I could tell today guys were dialed in and ready to play. That was a great sign after a tough loss yesterday.”
Iowa rebounded in game No. 3 of the weekend with one of the team’s best offensive performances of the season. Redshirt seniors Zeb Adreon (4-for-4, four runs, four RBIs) and Ben Norman (3-for-6, five RBIs) were two of seven Hawkeyes to record multi-hit games Sunday.
The team’s offense tied a season-high 18 hits to score its second-most runs on the season. The Hawkeyes scored in every one of their offensive frames after the first inning.
Starting pitcher Cam Baumann threw six innings of two-run baseball for the Hawkeyes, his third quality start of the season. The redshirt junior walked the first Northwestern batter of the day and allowed one run in the first inning, but it was all Iowa from then on.
A bases-clearing, two-out double by Norman in the bottom of the fourth inning gave Iowa a 6-1 lead and blew the game open.
Redshirt freshman Peyton Williams hit Iowa’s first home run of the weekend in the bottom of the seventh, before Norman capped off Iowa’s offensive output with a two-RBI double in the bottom of the eighth.
True freshmen Ty Langenberg, Tyson James, and Will Semb, pitched the final three innings. Semb struck out the side in the ninth inning.
After Sunday’s victory, Iowa has not lost back-to-back games since falling to Nebraska and Ohio State on March 21 and 26, respectively. Not letting disappointment from one game creep into another game the next day is one of the pillars of “Hellerball.”
“We like to think it’s what our program is about,” Heller said. “Some days it is better than others. Yesterday we didn’t play extremely well, but we still fought. We didn’t let the bad day yesterday effect the good day today. We try to get better every day, have a good approach, focus on the process, and play the game as hard as you can.
“At the end of the day, the scoreboard will tell you how you did. We’re not going to get caught up in ups and downs and peaks and valleys. We try to play consistent baseball day-in, day-out.”
Iowa wraps up the pod weekend tomorrow against Northwestern at Duane Banks Field. First pitch is set for 3:02 p.m. The game will be televised on Big Ten Network.
