Hawk Item — Will miss the 2022 season, recovering from Tommy John surgery.
2021 — Missed the final two months of the season after undergoing knee and Tommy John surgery… went 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA in five appearances… had 11 strikeouts to one walk over 9 1/3 innings… pitched a career-long 2 1/3 innings against Nebraska (3/20), striking out three… tossed two inning, allowing two hits and fanning two against Ohio State (3/13)… tossed two shutout innings, striking out a pair in his Hawkeye debut against No. 18/21 Michigan (3/7).
High School — Top 500 prospect by Perfect Game… rated as the No. 4 player in Iowa by Perfect Game and the No. 2 RHP… ranked as the No. 14 player in Iowa by Prep Baseball Report and the No. 6 pitcher… 2018-19 WWBA Underclass All-Tournament Team selection… First-team IHSBC All-Star Series-West team…. first-team all-conference and second-team all-district as a senior… went 3-1 with a 0.98 ERA over seven starts, logging 42 2/3 innings… allowed 21 hits, nine runs (six earned) and had 64 strikeouts to eight walks… limited hitters to a .138 average.. and had a 0.68 WHIP… 2019 second-team all-conference honoree… went 4-0 with a 2.33 ERA with 70 strikeouts over 51 innings… three-year letterwinner in track and field… three-time academic all-conference selection… high school coach was Dive Dirxx… coached by Mike Mahoney and Evan Romanchuk for Iowa Sticks.
Personal — Born Dec. 24, 2001… son of Greg and Sara Payne… has an older sister, Peyton… majoring in enterprise leadership.