The Iowa baseball team wrapped up the regular season with a sweep of Purdue at Principal Park in Des Moines. The Hawkeyes took down the Boilermakers 10-7 on Thursday, 14-5 on Friday, and 15-9 on Saturday. Iowa moved to 15-15 in Big Ten play and 32-21 overall heading into the Big Ten Tournament.
Purdue took the first lead in all three games, including five-run and four-run leads in the first two games, respectively, but Iowa crawled back with an offensive explosion in all three contests.
Here are three takeaways from the series sweep.
Principal Park Power
While Principal Park has slightly larger dimensions than the Hawkeyes’ home Duane Banks Field, Iowa had no issue sending fly balls over the wall in every part of the ballpark.
The Hawkeyes hit seven home runs, 15 doubles, and two triples in the series, scoring 36 total runs. After Iowa cut the Purdue lead to 6-3 in the fourth inning of game one, right fielder Joey Nerat cranked a two-run home run to left field. Shortstop Kooper Schulte then took the next pitch deep to left field to tie the game at six.
Nerat wasn’t done there for the night, as he later hit a three-run homer to extend the Hawkeye lead in the fifth. The transfer collected five RBI in the series opener.
In game two, third baseman Jaixen Frost delivered the power for Iowa with a double and a two-run home run to deep left field to finish with four RBI. Miles Risley also hit a double and triple, driving in two.
Risley was the hero in the series finale, going 4-for-4 with five RBI, including a grand slam in the second inning. Risley also hit a solo home run to left field in the sixth inning, his eighth blast of the season. Nerat also logged five RBI in the finale with two doubles and a single.
Long Relief Success
While the Iowa starting pitchers struggled to get deep in the game, the bullpen helped keep the Boilermakers at bay as the Hawkeyes had one bullpen arm go five innings in relief in each game.
After Maddux Frese allowed five runs in two innings in Thursday’s series opener, redshirt freshman Kyle Alivo recorded a five-inning save, allowing just one run on four hits. Alivo struck out nine batters in 90 pitches.
Jaron Bleeker tossed five shutout innings out of the bullpen on Friday, allowing four hits and striking out three to earn the win. Logan Runde, typically a starter, entered Saturday’s game in the third inning and threw five innings, allowing four runs and forcing six groundouts and six flyouts.
Peaking at the right time
Purdue came into the series with a seven-game winning streak and in prime position to claim a top-four seed in the Big Ten Tournament over Oregon. Iowa, however, had just been swept by No. 25 Nebraska last weekend and needed to find some momentum going into the tournament.
The sweep for the Hawkeyes not only meant momentum, but a rise to the No. 8 seed for the tournament, where they well face Illinois. Iowa defeated Illinois two games to one earlier in the season.
Up Next
The Hawkeyes will head west to Omaha for the Big Ten Tournament, where they will face Illinois in the double-elimination bracket on Tuesday at 1 p.m. CST on Big Ten Network and the Hawkeye Radio Network.