The Iowa baseball team finished its last home game of the season with a 14-4 run-rule win over St. Thomas Tuesday night in eight innings. The night was lengthy with reviews, but the Hawkeye defense held strong against the Tommies, allowing its offense to grow its lead. 

Offensively, Iowa was led by a number of Hawkeyes, but it was its top four starting seniors that got the job done against the Tommies. Kooper Schulte, Gable Mitchell, Miles Risley, and Caleb Wulf combined for eight runs, 10 hits, and seven RBI.

“It was great to see their performance tonight, it shows that the focus was there from them, and hopefully we can keep that going as we head to Nebraska,” head coach Rick Heller said. 

The Hawkeyes also went through seven pitchers in their Tuesday home finale. First-year Cole Moore got his sixth start, giving up one run, one hit, and two walks in one inning of work.  

First-year Brady Ferguson lasted the longest for the Hawkeyes, going two and a third innings, facing 10 batters and giving up two runs, one hit, and two walks, while also recording three strikeouts. 

“He did really good, but I think we may have stretched him a little too far in his outing,” Heller said. 

Overall, the Hawkeye pitchers had a relatively good outing, totaling 13 strikeouts, six walks, and four hits. However, all four runs scored were from base-runners who reached on a walk. 

 “It sounds like a broken record, but that is the lesson: you give them free bases, and then they are going to score a lot of the time,” Heller said. 

But helping them through Tuesday’s outing, as always, was graduate catcher Matthew Delgado, who worked to mentor the young pitchers through the ups and downs they faced not only against St. Thomas but all season long. 

“They have the best stuff when they are in the zone, which makes them lights out,” Delgado said. “I try not to tell them that I know what I am doing because I am older, but in some cases, like tonight, I continue to remind them that how you approach with no one on base is how you should approach with players on base.”

Iowa’s biggest offensive inning came in the bottom of the first, with the Hawkeyes scoring eight total runs, highlighted by a two-run RBI single from Delgado and a three-run RBI double for Schulte. But after that inning, the Hawkeyes could only manage a run or two an inning, something the Hawkeyes continue to battle and try to change. 

“Baseball is baseball, and you just have to take it pitch by pitch,” Delgado said. “It starts with slowing your at-bat down and trying not to make the moment too big,” Schulte added. 

The eighth inning that saw the Hawkeyes walk it off was led by Schulte, Mitchell, and Wulf. Schulte started with a ground-rule double, Mitchell followed with a walk, and after a pop out from Risley, Wulf ended the night with an RBI single. 

Though the previous weekend highlighted the seniors and their career with the program, it was Tuesday night that was the seniors’ final game in Duane Banks. 

“It’s awesome to have been a part of this team and play in such a great ballpark as Duane Banks,” Schulte said. “It was a great night tonight to end on a win.”

With a record of 29-18, Iowa’s season continues with a road rivalry weekend at No. 25 Nebraska and its annual series in Des Moines with Purdue the following weekend.

“There are going to be a few messages, but it’s going to be just keep attacking like we have been doing these last few games,” Heller said. “Don’t play the jersey and worry about if they are a major-ranked team or not, just go in and get the job done.”