The Iowa baseball team kicked off Big Ten play with a road series victory against Rutgers over the weekend. After dropping game one on Friday, 5-4, the Hawkeyes outscored the Scarlet Knights 28-6 in the remaining two contests to secure the series.
Here are a couple of takeaways from the series triumph:
Savary continues to dominate
In his first year as a starting pitcher at the University of Iowa, third-year Aaron Savary has quietly put together a handful of solid outings for new pitching coach Sean Kenny.
He entered the weekend with an earned run average of just over three, accumulating 16 strikeouts in 11 innings of work against South Florida and Washington State.
But his performance against Rutgers on Saturday was arguably his best showing of the young 2025 campaign.
Facing a 1-0 series deficit, Iowa head coach put the ball in Savary’s hands to guide the Hawkeyes to a series saving win on Saturday.
Needless to say, Savary delivered.
The third-year dazzled for Iowa yet again in his third start of the season. Throwing for five innings, Savary allowed three hits, allowed zero runs, and struck out six batters in just under 90 pitches.
Savary now leads all Iowa starting pitchers with a 1.66 ERA in almost 23 innings thrown and should continue to be a positive piece for the Hawkeyes as the season rolls on.
Bats come alive
Outside of a grand slam from Ben Wilmes in Friday afternoon’s contest, the Iowa bats put up zero runs with just three hits in a 5-4 defeat.
While unable to generate much momentum in game one, the Iowa offensive attack blew up in the remaining two games, scoring 28 runs on 26 hits.
The fireworks were lit on Saturday. Desperate for a win, the Hawkeyes pummeled the Scarlet Knights pitching staff with 16 runs and 17 hits. Iowa’s six home runs are the most in a single game since 2018 against Missouri.
In an effort to prove it wasn’t a one game stint, Iowa had a similar offensive output in the rubber match on Sunday.
Trailing 6-4 after four innings of play, the Hawkeyes scored eight runs in the next three innings to extend the lead to 12-6 and ultimately secure the win.
Iowa currently sits in fifth place in the conference in total batting average, .307, and third in home runs with 21.
Beaman refuses to slow down
Third-year outfielder Jackson Beaman is making an early case to become the transfer portal pickup of the year for Heller and the Iowa program.
Beaman started his college career at Missouri, seeing limited action and redshirting in 2021 and 2023. After seeing only 25 starts for the Tigers last season, Beaman elected to enter the transfer portal where he found his new home in Iowa City.
Since then, Beaman has become a regular in the Hawkeye lineup, and showed again this weekend why he deserves to start as many games as possible.
Beaman began the weekend going 0-2 on Friday’s contest, but didn’t let one game determine the series. He finished the remaining two games going 4-9 from the plate with three home runs and six runs batted in.
The first-year Hawkeye is hitting .317 from the plate, totaling an OPS percentage of 1.318, and now leading the team with seven home runs.
Up Next
Iowa returns to Duane Banks Field to face Augustana College on Tuesday, March 11. First pitch takes place at 4:05 p.m. with coverage on Big Ten Plus and Hawkeye Radio Network. This is game one of an eight game homestand for the Hawkeyes.