The Iowa baseball team returned to their winning ways with an 11-6 victory over Milwaukee on Tuesday afternoon. 

The Hawkeyes, now 21-10 overall, trounced the Panthers early, scoring a run in each of the first five innings to take a 9-0 lead. A few scuffles in the Iowa bullpen allowed Milwaukee to climb back into the contest and outscore Iowa 6-2 in the remaining four innings, but the Hawkeyes held on for the triumph. 

Here are three takeaways from the win: 

Jaron Bleeker makes longest collegiate appearance

First-year Jaron Bleeker has had a limited role in the Iowa bullpen this season. The freshman has seen little action in Big Ten play, often forced to eat up outs in weekday competitions. 

Bleeker got the nod as the starting arm in the contest against Milwaukee- his third time this season- and took full advantage of the opportunity. 

He struggled to find his footing in the first frame of the contest. After giving up a leadoff double and a groundout that advanced the runner, Bleeker walked a pair of Panther batters to load up the bases. It wasn’t until a steller double play from shortstop Gable Mitchell finally settled him down. 

With some first inning jitters aside, Bleeker came out in the second inning and had a much cleaner performance. He forced two groundouts and a pop-up in foul territory that ultimately ended his outing. 

“After Bleeker settled down after the first and worked out of that, he was pretty good in his second inning,” Iowa head coach Rick Heller said after the game. 

Blake Guerin keeps building confidence

First baseman Blake Guerin is another player who has seen limited action this year for the Hawkeyes. Due to a struggle at the plate and the emergence of Southeastern CC transfer Caleb Wulf, Guerin’s playing time has seen a dip. 

But after a stellar performance against Northwestern last weekend, Heller has seen a boost of belief from the third-year. 

Guerin batted in all three games and even got the start in the series finale on Sunday. He finished the weekend going 5-9 from the plate with three RBIs and a home run. 

“He’s just got a lot of confidence going right now,” Heller said. “He’s been doing a real good job of not chasing. In the past, when he got himself in trouble, it was when he was chasing outside of the zone. He’s done a really nice job these past three weeks or so in not chasing.”

Guerin had another strong showing for the Hawkeyes against Milwaukee and continued to approach the plate with that same “confidence.”

After starting the game with a hit-by-pitch and strikeout, Guerin teared into a fastball for his seventh home run of the season- tied for second most on the team. He now posts a .285 batting average with a slugging percentage of 1.235. 

“He is a guy you can put in the middle of the lineup now and feel good about the quality of at-bats you’re going to get,” Heller said.

Bullpen struggles late

The Iowa pitching staff was very sharp for a majority of the contest against Milwaukee. After Bleeker’s two shutout innings, the Hawkeyes used a plethora of arms to keep the Panther offense at bay. 

But from the sixth inning onward, the unit struggled to throw competitive pitches. 

Iowa used five pitchers in the final three frames of the contest, even having to use weekend reliever Anthony Watts to ease the tension in the final 1.3 innings. 

The unit gave up six runs in a four-inning stretch, with some players struggling to prove themselves for bigger opportunities. 

Heller says the purpose of using this many pitchers in midweek games is to build trust with the rest of the coaching staff to improve their spot on the team. 

“If I’m in that bullpen, I’m thinking there are some jobs to be had, and I’m going to jump up and grab it,” Heller said. “If you’re not getting the innings you want. If your role isn’t what you expect or like, here is an opportunity to say ‘give me a shot.’”

Up Next

Iowa baseball continues its conference schedule with a home series against Nebraska this weekend. The three-game set will kick off on Friday at 6:02 p.m. from Duane Banks Field. 

Coverage throughout the series will be on Big Ten Plus and the Hawkeye Radio Network, with Sunday’s contest upgraded to the Big Ten Network.