On May 10th, second-year pitcher Cade Obermueller returned to the mound for the first time since suffering a rib injury in April.
Prior to the injury, Obermueller showed he could be a valuable piece in the rotation, rattling off starts against Purdue, Minnesota, and Rutgers where he gave up two earned runs or less. He was tasked with facing an Illinois squad that had already locked up a share of the Big Ten regular season championship.
But it was a struggle as he threw only 1 2/3 innings while allowing five earned runs on five hits, marking his worst start of the season.
“He wasn’t bad at Illinois,” Iowa head coach Rick Heller said. “He just wasn’t sharp in the zone and they hit him a little bit. He hasn’t been hit hard very much the entire season. Even on the days he had bad days, it was usually because of walks or free bases. It very rarely is when he gets hit and he got hit a little bit at Illinois.”
With less than a week until the Big Ten Tournament, Heller and his coaching staff looked for a bounce-back appearance from their number two starter, and Obermueller knew he was going to deliver just that.
“Obviously last week wasn’t great results but I knew I was going to come out and be like this today,” Obermueller said. “I felt like I was in a good place to pick back up where I left against Rutgers. Last week wasn’t the greatest result wise but I knew I was going to come out and be like this, I had some really positive thoughts from that last outing.”
Despite being limited to around 80 pitches by the coaching staff, Obermueller made efficient work of the Panthers all night, throwing five innings and striking out seven batters.
“It felt like he [Obermueller] was back,” Iowa catcher Cade Moss said. “I mean electric stuff and he always had it. He had a down week last week but it was just a confidence thing. All three pitches were working tonight and it’s good to have him back come conference tournament.”
For the Hawkeyes to make a run at the tournament title, they will need Obermueller to pitch at his best. He is expected to start in Iowa’s second game of the tournament behind ace pitcher Brody Brecht and will find out his opponent for the game following the opening game against Michigan on May 22.
“This definitely should give him some confidence heading into the tournament,” Heller said. “He’s been out here two starts since he’s come off his injury. I think tonight was really important to giving him a good feel going down there and pitching in a similar ballpark and potentially similar crowd.”