Hawkeyes Head to Big 12 Country to Face K-State

March 6, 2014

Kansas State Preview Video

• Read the March issue of Hawk Talk Monthly
• 2014 Iowa Baseball Media Guide
• Download your Iowa Hawkeye iPhone/iPad app!
• Download your Iowa Hawkeye Android app!
• Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
• 24 Hawkeyes to Watch

Game Notes — at Kansas State (March 7-9, 2014)

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa baseball team heads to Big 12 country for a three-game series at Kansas State on March 7-9. Friday and Saturday’s game will begin at 3 p.m. (CT), while Sunday’s finale is slated to start at 1 p.m. All three games will be contested at Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan.

ON THE WEB
Fans can follow every game with live stats (GameTracker) on hawkeyesports.com. Click on the “GT” link found on both the front page and the baseball schedule page. Live game updates are also available on Twitter: @UIBaseball. Fans can listen to live audio of the three-game series at www.kstatesports.com. It is a subscription-based service.

GET YOUR SEASON TICKETS
Season tickets for the 2014 Iowa baseball home schedule are available for purchase on hawkeyesports.com. Single game tickets will go on sale March 10.

SCOUTING KANSAS STATE
? The Wildcats opened the season with five-straight losses before winning 4-of-6 games to improve to 4-7 this season. Last weekend, Kansas State went 3-0, taking two games from Grand Canyon before downing Missouri State.
? Wildcat second baseman Ross Kivet was named Big 12 Player of the Week on March 3. He hit .500 in K-State’s 3-0 weekend, and moved into the top-10 in school history in career base hits. Kivet was the 2013 Big 12 Player of the Year and was an All-America honoree by three different entities. He was selected in the 10th round of the 2013 MLB Draft by the Cleveland Indians, but did not sign.
? The Wildcats are hitting .254 as a team with 20 extra base hits. Three K-State players are hitting above .300 with Austin Fisher pacing the team with a .463 average with a team-high 17 hits. Clayton Dalrymple (.417) and Lance Miles (.313) are also above .300. R.J. Santigate has a team-best seven RBIs, while Shane Conlon has scored 11 runs.
? Kansas State has a 4.63 team ERA over 93 1/3 innings. The Wildcats have 52 strikeouts to 34 walks and have allowed 59 runs (48 earned). Iowa will face sophomore right-hander Levi MaVorhis (1-1, 3.93 ERA) Friday, senior lefty Jared Moore (2-1, 3.63 ERA) Saturday and sophomore southpaw Landon Busch (1-1, 3.18 ERA) in the finale.
? The Wildcats won a school-record 45 games in 2013 and advanced to the Super Regionals, where they fell in three games to No. 3 Oregon State in the Corvallis Super Regional. K-State also won its first conference championship in 80 years.

THE SERIES
? Kansas State leads the all-time series over Iowa, 9-7. The Wildcats won 2-of-3 games in Iowa City last season.
? The Hawkeyes won the opener, 6-1, behind the pitching of Matt Dermody and Nick Hibbing. The two combined to limit K-State to seven hits and a single run.
? The Wildcats responded with 17 hits and 11 runs in a 11-4 victory in game two before winning the rubber game of the series, 5-3.

BEST START IN 74 YEARS
With its 9-1 record, Iowa is off to its best start since the 1940 season. The Hawkeyes opened that season 10-0-1 before finishing 20-3-1. As a result, Iowa is receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) rankings that were released on March 3.

HELLER 1 WIN FROM 700
First-year head coach Rick Heller is a single victory shy of reaching 700 in his 26-plus year coaching career. Heller is 39th among winningest active head coaches in the NCAA.

QUICK HITTERS
? The Hawkeyes have had at least 10 hits in five straight games and in 7-of-10 contests this season. Iowa had a season-high 17 hits Feb. 22 against Ball State.
? Iowa has won seven-straight games for the first time since the 2007 season when it was victorious in 12-straight contests.
? Junior Nick Day is hitting .571 (12-of-21) with five runs and five RBIs over his last five games. Day had four-straight multi-hit games, including three three-hit games during the stretch.
? The Hawkeyes rank eighth nationally in runs per game (9.0), 23rd in batting average (.308), 32nd in doubles (23) and 25th in on-base percentage (.407) and steals (20).
? Iowa ranks in the top-two in Big Ten in 12-of-14 offensive categories, including being the top team in batting average (.308), slugging percentage (.431), on-base percentage (.407), runs (90), RBIs (75), doubles (23), home runs (6), total bases (158), walks (52) and steals (20).
? Junior Andrew Hedrick and sophomore Tyler Peyton are one off the Big Ten lead in wins with two. Hedrick is 2-0 with a 2.87 ERA, Peyton is 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA.
? Junior Eric Toole hit .538 (7-of-13) with five RBIs at the Stetson Invitational. He had at least two hits in all three games and went 3-for-5 with a career-high three RBIs in Iowa’s 13-12 win against Maine.
? Junior Jake Mangler has hit safely in all 10 games this season and is second on the team with a .405 batting average. Mangler’s 17 hits are second-most in the Big Ten, and the junior has six multi-hit games. He had a career-high four RBIs in Iowa’s 8-2 win over Furman, giving him a Big Ten-best 11 RBIs this season. (He had 18 RBIs all of last season). Mangler had the game-winning RBI single in Iowa’s 13-12 come-from-behind victory over Maine on March 1.
? Juniors Eric Toole and Kris Goodman have reached base safely in eight-straight contests. Toole has reached safely in 9-of-10 games this season and in 24-of-25 games dating back to last season.
? Three Hawkeyes rank in the top-six in the Big Ten in batting average. Junior Jake Yacinich is tied for third (.412), Manger is fifth (.405) and Day is sixth (.387).

STRONG STARTS
? Iowa’s starting pitchers have gone at least six innings in five of the last six games. The Hawkeye starters have four quality starts in 10 games this season (Tyler Peyton 2, Calvin Mathews 1, Andrew Hedrick 1).
? Sophomore Tyler Peyton is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA over his last two starts, allowing three runs on 10 hits in 15 innings. He has 10 strikeouts to five walks. Peyton is second in the Big Ten in innings pitched (20).
? Friday night starter Calvin Mathews is 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA over his past two starts. He went a career-long 7 1/3 innings, scattering five hits and allowing an unearned run Feb. 28 in a 5-1 victory over Stetson. Mathews had a career-high eight strikeouts at Austin Peay in his first start of the season.
? Junior Andrew Hedrick will move into the Saturday slot in the weekend rotation. Hedrick has started one game for the Hawkeyes this season — pitching 6 2/3 scoreless innings in a 2-0 win over St. Bonaventure. He scattered four hits and struck out a career-high seven batters.

TWO-WAY TYLER
Sophomore Tyler Peyton is thriving as a two-way player for the Hawkeyes. The Grimes, Iowa, is the team’s starting first baseman when he’s not on the mound. Peyton is tied for the or the team lead with a .412 batting average, collecting seven hits in 17 at-bats. He went 2-for-4 with two runs in Iowa’s 13-12 win over Maine on March 1. As the Sunday starter, Peyton is 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA over 20 innings. He has 14 strikeouts in three starts.

POWER SURGE
After hitting two home runs the entire 2013 season, Iowa has hit six home runs in 10 games this season. The Hawkeyes connected on three long balls in taking 2-of-3 games during its opening weekend at Austin Peay before following with three home runs in the perfect 4-0 weekend at the Snowbird Baseball Classic. The home run total leads the Big Ten and ranks 41st nationally.

RUNS, RUNS & MORE RUNS
? Iowa has scored 10 or more runs four times this season, including a season-high 16 in a victory over Ball State. The Hawkeyes hit the 10-run barrier three times the entire 2013 season.
? The Hawkeyes have the top three run scorers — Blake Hickman (13), Taylor Zeutenhorst (12) and Kris Goodman (11) — in the Big Ten.
? Iowa scored 11 and 15 runs in consecutive victories at Austin Peay on the opening weekend of the 2014 season. It was the first time scoring 10 or more runs in two-straight games since April 20 and April 23, 2011, putting 14 and 13 runs on the board in victories over Western Illinois and Michigan.
? Iowa scored 10 runs in the second inning alone of the second game of the Feb. 15 doubleheader at Austin Peay. The Hawkeyes last had a double-digit inning on April 3, 2011, in a 19-7 victory over Michigan State.
? Iowa has outscored its opponents 48-21 over the final four innings.

RUNNIN’ WILD
Nine different Hawkeyes have swiped at least one base during the 2014 season. Iowa’s 20 steals are leading the Big Ten and rank 20th nationally. Junior Jake Yacinich has a league-best seven steals in eight attempts, a total that is 17th in the country. Four different players have at least two steals.

SITTIN’ EM’ DOWN
The Hawkeyes average 7.8 strikeouts per game, giving the team 78 Ks — the second most in the Big Ten. Sophomore Calvin Mathews ranks sixth in the Big Ten with 15 strikeouts, while sophomore Tyler Peyton is tied for eighth with 14 punch outs.

B1G PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior Taylor Zeutenhorst has tabbed as the Big Ten Player of the Week on Feb. 21 after hitting .412, slugging .765 and reaching at a .500 clip. The outfielder tied a career-high with four hits, going 4-of-6, which included a two-run home run in Iowa’s 16-6 win over Ball State. Zeutenhorst is Iowa’s first Player of the Week honoree since 2012.

3 B1G PLAYERS TO WATCH
Juniors — Eric Toole, Sasha Kuebel and Jake Yacinich — have been named to the Big Ten Watch List. Toole paced the Hawkeyes with a .337 batting average, 59 hits and 32 runs scored in 2013. He also tied for fifth in the Big Ten with 22 steals. Yacinich batted .286 and tied for the team lead with 24 RBIs, and Kuebel won a pair of games and posted a 5.13 ERA.

TEAM CAPTAINS
Juniors Nick Hibbing, Jake Mangler, Eric Toole and Jake Yacinich have been elected by their teammates as team captains for the 2014 season.

TOOLE EARNS PRESEASON HONOR
Junior Eric Toole was named a preseason first-team all-conference selection by College Sports Madness. Toole was a second-team All-Big Ten selection in 2013 after leading the Hawkeyes in batting average (.337), runs (32), hits (59), total bases (67 and steals (22).

HICKMAN NAMED TO PG’s TOP-100 LIST
Sophomore Blake Hickman has been named to Perfect Game’s top-100 list for the sophomore class. The catcher/right-handed pitcher is ranked No. 51 in the nation. He is 1-of-3 Big Ten players in the top-51 and six in the top-100.

RETURNEES – BY THE NUMBERS
Iowa’s offense returns nearly intact from the 2013 season with 98 percent of the runs (1,652-of-1,684), 95 percent of the steals (57-of-60), 88 percent of the triples (7-of-8), 84 percent of the hits (374-of-443) and 81 percent of the RBIs (155-of-199) and doubles (43-of-53) returning. On the mound, the Hawkeyes return hurlers who accounted for 11 of the 22 wins and tossed 256 2/3 of the 447 innings.

A NEW ERA
The Rick Heller era began in July, 2013, when Heller was tabbed as the 20th coach in Iowa baseball history. The Eldon, Iowa, native has been head coach at three institutions — Indiana State (2009-13), Northern Iowa (1999-2009) and Upper Iowa (1987-99) — leading all three schools to NCAA postseason play. Heller added Scott Brickman and Marty Sutherland to his staff as assistant coaches. Brickman, the pitching coach, spent the past four seasons as head coach at NCAA Division II Belmont Abbey University, while Sutherland, the hitting coach/recruiting coordinator, was an assistant high school coach and hitting/fielding instructor. The three were together on the coaching staff at Northern Iowa in 2008 and 2009. Heller also brought back a pair of UI baseball alums in Jim Magrane and Matt Wooldrick. Magrane will serve as the volunteer assistant coach, while Wooldrik will be the director of baseball operations.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN
? Of the 34-man roster, 22 are upperclassmen. The Hawkeyes roster features two true freshmen, 10 sophomores, 18 juniors, one redshirt junior and three seniors.
? The Hawkeyes have 17 native Iowans — the most of any state. Illinois is second with 12.
? Iowa brought in 13 newcomers to the 2014 squad, 11 of which are transfers.
? Iowa boasts six sets of high school teammates on the 2014 roster: Jake Yacinich and Jake Reinhardt — Dowling Catholic High School in Des Moines, Iowa; Matt Allen and Tyler Radtke — Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill.; Brandon Shulista and Nick Day — Solon High School in Solon, Iowa; Josh Martsching and Calvin Mathews — Davis County High School in Bloomfield, Iowa; Ryan Rumpf and Sean Moore — Iowa City West High School in Iowa City, Iowa; John Barrett and Jacob Sharp — Rock Island Alleman High School in the Quad Cities.
? Four current Hawkeyes — Will Kenny, Tyler Peyton, Dan Potempa and Brandon Shulista — played the 2013 season at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
? The Hawkeyes return 20 letterwinners, eight starters, and eight pitchers from the 2013 squad.

DRAFTED PLAYERS ON THE 2014 ROSTER
Four current Hawkeyes have been drafted by in Major League Baseball’s First-Year Play Draft. Nick Hibbing (2011, Pirates, 42nd round, 1,262 pick), Blake Hickman (2012, Cubs, 20th round, 614 pick), Sasha Kuebel (2011, A’s, 31st round, 946 pick), Taylor Zeutenhorst (Phillies, 41st round, 1,251 pick).

IOWA SIGNS FIVE FOR 2015
UI head coach Rick Heller signed five players — Nick Allgeyer (6-3, 185, OF/LHP, St. Louis, Mo./Vianney High School), Joel Booker (6-2, 180, OF, Columbus, N.C./Indian Hills CC), Kyle “Fenway” Parks (6-1, 195, IF, Boca Raton, Fla./Spanish River Community High School), Luke Vandermaten (6-foot-1, 155, RHP, Fort Dodge, Iowa/Iowa Central CC) and Kyle Wade (6-2, 195, RHP, Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills High School) — to National Letters of Intent to continue their education and playing careers for the Hawkeyes in 2015. Parks is a top-500 player by Perfect Game.

B1G TOURNEY CHANGES
The 2014 Big Ten Tournament will be held at TD Ameritrade Park on May 21-25 in Omaha. The field is expanding in 2014 from six to eight teams for the first time in its history.

IOWA BASEBALL ACADEMY
The Iowa Baseball Academy provides year-round training programs, camps and instruction to youth ages 5-18. The academy will operate at Duane Banks Field and the Iowa athletic indoor facilities. The Iowa Baseball Academy strives to provide exceptional training programs to enhance player skills while teaching valuable lessons that strengthen the player’s lives. Year-round training programs provide an opportunity for players to build and develop baseball skills, while giving the Iowa baseball program a vehicle to add value to community programs and grow interest in the Hawkeyes. For details about Iowa Baseball Academy, visit www.IowaBaseballAcademy.com.

FOLLOW THE HAWKEYES
Iowa baseball fans can follow the Hawkeyes on Facebook by going to facebook.com/iowabaseball. Fans can also follow on Twitter @UIBaseball.

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes return to action March 15-17 in Port Charlotte, Fla., at the Snowbird Baseball Classic. Iowa will face Georgetown twice, while also playing single games against St. Joseph’s and Otterbein University.