The Iowa baseball team dropped a tough midweek contest to a pesky Illinois State Redbirds squad, 6-5, on Tuesday evening in Iowa City. The loss drops the Hawkeyes to 31-13 overall and marks the second time Iowa has lost to Illinois State this season.
Here are three takeaways from the disappointing loss:
Big inning troubles Hawkeyes
Iowa scored first on a sacrifice fly from Blake Guerin that brought home Miles Risley in the second inning. After another scoreless inning from both sides, Illinois State blew the game open in the fourth.
The Redbirds posted six runs in the top half of the fourth, which ended up being their only runs of the contest. After a scoreless third frame for Hawkeye pitcher Tyler Guerin, head coach Rick Heller wanted to keep him out there for another inning.
The inning couldn’t have started much worse, as Illinois State posted two runs in the blink of an eye. A leadoff single from Shai Robinson and a towering two-run homer from Daniel Pacella gave the Redbirds a 2-1 lead.
Guerin managed to get a strikeout, but a single and a groundout put a runner in scoring position. The inning continued to unravel after Guerin hit the next batter before Iowa decided to grab Chas Wheatley from the bullpen.
A walk from Wheatley loaded the bases, and with a two-strike count, Illinois State center fielder Luke Stulga crushed a grand slam to extend the lead to 6-1.
Iowa offense keeps fighting
Despite the deficit and trouble in finding grass, the Hawkeyes continued to battle, but could only muster three hits over the next five frames after their one-run second.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Hawkeyes needed to get something brewing, and they did just that. Iowa attacked early, as Kooper Schulte ripped a double to start the inning before Andy Nelson singled him home to cut the deficit to four runs.
A single from Caleb Wulf advanced Nelson to third was followed by a wild pitch to bring home another Hawkeye run.
Kellen Strohmeyer was called off the bench to hit for Ben Wilmes, who had been struggling all night. The move paid off, as Strohmeyer stroked a drive to right field and snuck it over the wall for a two-run homer.
Suddenly, it was a one-run game. Iowa continued to threaten in the eighth, but a Reese Moore lineout ended the rally prematurely. The Hawkeyes had one final chance in the ninth, but Nelson was caught stealing second base after reaching on a walk.
Bullpen settles in
After the rocky fourth inning, the Iowa pitching staff was lights out for the rest of the contest. The Hawkeyes used eight pitchers on the night, and allowed just one hit after the fourth inning.
Justin Hackett was called on by Heller to shut down the fiery Redbird offense after their furious fourth inning barrage. Hackett didn’t disappoint, tossing two innings and giving up just one hit and striking out five.
The rest of the Iowa bullpen continued the trend, as Brant Hogue struck out three in his one inning of work. Bryson Walker walked the only batter he faced, and Sam Hart came in to close the inning.
Shutdown closer Anthony Watts appeared in the ninth, walking one batter and striking out three. The starter for the Hawkeyes was Daniel Wright, who also had a spectacular outing in limited time. Wright tossed two innings, giving up one hit and no runs while walking and striking out one batter.
Up Next
Iowa will travel to Seattle, Washington, to take on the Washington Huskies in a three-game series beginning on May 2. First pitch for game one is set for 9:02 p.m. CST on Big Ten Plus.