Iowa baseball dropped two of the three games it played in Corpus Christi, Texas, over the weekend. The Hawkeyes beat the Pepperdine Waves, 3-1, on Friday and lost to the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders, 2-1, on Saturday and the Wichita State Shockers, 8-7, on Sunday.

The Hawkeyes’ matchup against Texas A&M Corpus Christi ended in 11 innings. A walk-off single from first baseman Max Puls ultimately gave the Islanders an edge over the Hawkeyes.

“Our pitching was outstanding,” Iowa head coach Rick Heller said of his team’s performance against Texas A&M Corpus Christi via release. “We had a lot of guys come into the game in rough situations and showed a lot of guts and toughness in bad conditions. They did a great job, but unfortunately, we couldn’t get anything going offensively the entire night.

“Corpus Christi’s pitchers did a great job and J.T. Moeller did a great job, he pounded the change-up down in the zone and got us to chase,” Heller added. “We didn’t really threaten from the sixth on and that was disappointing with our pitching staff doing such a great job for us.”

The Hawkeyes’ pitching wasn’t as solid on Sunday as it had been on Friday and Saturday. Iowa gave up six hits and walked nine Wichita State batters on its way to surrendering eight runs.

Three Hawkeyes pitched against the shockers, including true freshmen Marcus Morgan, who is a starter, and Brody Brecht.

BIG PICTURE

Iowa is now 4-2 on the year. The Hawkeyes have yet to beat any teams with an NCAA Rating Percentage Index (RPI) higher than 50.

Iowa currently has an RPI of 77.

Mazur mauls Waves

Iowa sophomore pitcher Adam Mazur, who transferred to the University of Iowa from South Dakota State before the 2022 season began, pitched a near-complete game Friday.

The 6-foot-2, 180-pound right-hander hurled 7.2 innings, surrendering just three hits and two walks across 94 pitches. Mazur also racked up nine strikeouts on the day.

“I am happy with how we played,” Heller said via release. “Adam went out and gave us a great start. He filled up the strike zone, which is what you need to do on a cold, wind-blowing-in day.”

Up next

Iowa baseball will play its home-opener Tuesday at Duane Banks Field. The Hawkeyes will welcome the 2-0 Loras Duhawks to Iowa City.

Loras College is an NCAA Division III school in Dubuque, Iowa. Last season, the Duhawks went 25-18, placing third in the American Rivers Conference standings.