OMAHA, Neb. – Walking off the mound and backdropped by a crowd of black and gold, Iowa starting pitcher Cade Obermueller pumped his fists in the air with pure excitement.
A Big Ten Tournament pool play contest against Rutgers determined if Iowa would move on to the conference semifinals and increase its chances at an NCAA Tournament berth. A scheduled game with Indiana later in the week meant nothing, and Obermueller pitched like there was no tomorrow, tossing seven shutout innings to the tune of 10 strikeouts and just four hits. A 4-3 victory kept the season alive, a far cry from the doldrums of last week.
Going into the postseason, Hawkeye head coach Rick Heller emphasized the need for stronger starting pitching to give his team a chance to compete. Heller’s words rang true with Obermueller, who struggled in his last start against Oregon, conceding a season-high eight earned runs. The Hawkeyes closed out the regular season by giving up 52 runs over the final six games as they limped to a 0-5-1 finish.
While not the sole reason for Iowa’s recent slump, Heller mentioned the importance of carrying each start into the sixth, seventh, or even eighth inning, eliminating the need for extensive bullpen appearances.
This fresh start began with Obermueller. The lefty threw 70 of his 102 pitches for strikes, walking only one batter.
“It was exactly what we needed,” Heller said after Obermueller’s performance. “Some guys in the bullpen the past few weeks haven’t been as sharp. Minimizing the amount of innings they had to eat up was big.”
One of the more impressive takeaways from this start was Obermueller’s ability to stay sharp in every inning. Obermueller credited this to his command of both his fastball and slider pitches, but the overall confidence shown by him tonight was something fans haven’t seen recently.
Obermueller’s past couple of starts against Oregon State and Oregon were an outlier of what people have seen all season long from the starter, who returned to Iowa after being selected in the 19th round of the 2024 MLB Draft. Not only was he not going deep into games with these starts, but opposing batters were hitting off of him more than ever.
During those two starts, Obermueller gave up nine runs and 13 hits in 8.1 innings of work, flashing weakness for the first time all season.
“I just think there are a lot of ebbs and flows throughout the season,” Obermueller said. “Last week’s results were horrible, but I felt more like myself. I knew this was going to lead into a week like this. I was ready for the big stage, and wanted to come on top of it for the boys.”
Going 1-7-1 over the past three weekend series, winning tonight gave credence to Iowa’s third-place finish in a competitive Big Ten conference. A Saturday duel against UCLA will determine the next chapter for Iowa as it seeks to return to the national tournament for the first time since 2023.
“We needed that,” Heller said. “Not only did we need a win, but now that it worked out our way, we needed a close one like that after our last weekend and how things went down the stretch.”