Iowa Returns to Florida for 4 Games

March 14, 2014

• 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 Snowbird Baseball Classic (March 15-17, 2014)

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa baseball team heads to Port Charlotte, Fla., for its second appearance at the Snowbird Baseball Classic. The Hawkeyes open play Saturday at 2 p.m. (CT) against Georgetown, face Saint Joseph’s at 9 a.m. and the Hoyas a second time at noon Saturday before closing out play against Otterbein University at 10 a.m. Monday.

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 follow Monday’s game against Otterbein online by clicking HERE.

GET YOUR SEASON TICKETS
Season tickets for the 2014 Iowa baseball home schedule are available for purchase on hawkeyesports.com. Single game tickets are also available online.

SCOUTING GEORGETOWN
? The Hoyas have won three-straight contests to improve to 6-7 overall this season. Georgetown has been in Port Charlotte since March 8 competing at the Snowbird Classic.
? Georgetown is hitting .254 as a team, and the Hoyas boast three .300 hitters in their every day lineup. Steve Anderson paces the team with a .346 average with nine RBIs and eight runs scored. He also has a team-best .462 slugging percentage.
? The Hoyas have a 5.15 team ERA, allowing 82 runs (67) earned in 13 games. Max Allen has a pair of wins and a 9.82 ERA in four appearances.

SCOUTING SAINT JOSEPH’S
? The Hawks have won 4-of-6 games to even their record at 5-5 this season. Saint Joseph’s went 2-1 last weekend, falling 8-2 to Villanova before defeating Niagara (8-0) and Temple (11-3).
? St. Joseph’s is hitting .258 as a team with 17 extra base hits (16 doubles, one home run). The Hawks have three everyday players hitting above .300 with Brian O’Keefe leading the team with a .439 average. O’Keefe has eight RBIs and eight runs. Tom Cunningham has a team-best 10 RBIs and St. Joe’s lone home run.
? The Hawks have a 5.36 team ERA, allowing 64 runs (53 earned) over 89 innings. Jordan Carter is 2-1 in three starts with a 4.41 ERA. He has 14 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings. Daniel Thorpe is 1-0 with a 1.89 ERA in three starts with 17 punch outs in 19 innings.

SCOUTING OTTERBEIN UNIVERSITY
? Otterbein is an NCAA Division II institution located in Westerville, Ohio. The Cardinals compete in the Ohio Athletic Conference.
? Otterbein brings a 2-1 record into the Snowbird Classic after winning 2-of-3 games against Elmhurst in Xenia, Ohio.
? The Cardinals are hitting .347 as a team with 14 extra base hits (nine doubles, three triples, two home runs). Otterbein scored 30 runs in the three victories. Nine players are hitting .300 or better with David Lemly pacing the team with a .636 average with seven hits in 11 at-bats, including two triples.
? Otterbein struggled on the mound, surrendering 30 runs (28) earned over 26 innings. The Cardinals have a 9.69 team ERA and are allowing opposing hitters to post a .351 batting average. Sophomore right-hander Adam Collier is expected to start against Iowa. He is 0-1 with a 21.00 ERA in one start, allowing seven runs on 10 hits over three innings.

THE SERIES
? The Hawkeyes are 2-1 all-time against Georgetown, which includes a 7-2 victory last season at the Snowbird Classic.
? Iowa has never faced Saint Joseph’s or Otterbein University.

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.

SUNSHINE STATE SUCCESS
The Hawkeyes are a perfect 7-0 in the Sunshine State, posting a 4-0 record at the Snowbird Classic on Feb. 21-23 before going 3-0 at the Stetson Invitational on Feb. 28-March 2. Iowa has posted a .329 average and scored 60 runs in seven games in Florida. Six Hawkeyes are hitting at least .345, and Iowa’s hurlers have a 3.29 team ERA with 45 strikeouts to 17 walks over 63 innings.

QUICK HITTERS
? The Hawkeyes have had at least 10 hits in 8-of-13 contests this season. Iowa had a string of five-straight games with double-digit hit totals, including a season-high 17 hits Feb. 22 against Ball State.
? Junior Nick Day is hitting .489 (15-of-32) with six runs and five RBIs during his career-best eight-game hitting streak. Day has four multi-hit games, including three three-hit games during the stretch.
? Junior Jake Yacinich hit .429 with four runs scored in Iowa’s three-game series at Kansas State. Yacinich is leading the Big Ten with a .417 batting average. Four Iowa players rank among the top-11 in the league in the category.
? Iowa leads the Big Ten and ranks 13th in the NCAA in scoring at 7.8 runs per game. The Hawkeyes lead the conference in nine offensive categories and are second in three more.
? The Hawkeyes are hitting .300 as a team with runners in scoring position. Six Iowa players have a .300 average or better and three are above .400 (Trevor Kenyon, .400; Jake Mangler, .421; Tyler Peyton, .500).
? Juniors Dan Potempa and Tyler Peyton have hit safely in eight-straight contests. Potempa had a career-high three hits in the series finale at Kansas State. Peyton has a team-best .440 average to go along with a .560 slugging and .517 on-base percentage.
? Junior Jake Mangler has reached base safely in all 13 games this season, collecting hits in each of the first 10 contests. The second baseman became the fourth Hawkeye to hit a home run when he connected on a solo shot in the series finale at Kansas State. He was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs in the game.

STRONG STARTS
? The Hawkeye starters have four quality starts in 13 games this season (Tyler Peyton 2, Calvin Mathews 1, Andrew Hedrick 1).
? Friday night starter Calvin Mathews is 1-1 with a 2.50 ERA over his past three 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 is 1-1 with a 2.38 ERA in a pair of starts this season. The southpaw pitching 6 2/3 scoreless innings in a 2-0 win over St. Bonaventure, scattering four hits and striking out a career-high seven batters. Hedrick was moved into the starting rotation as Iowa’s No. 2 starter March 8 at Kansas State.

DAY DOES IT
After starting the season hitless in his first 10 at-bats, junior Nick Day has hit .469 (15-of-32) over the last eight contests. The Solon, Iowa, native is in the midst of a career-best eight-game hitting streak, which includes four multi-hit games.

MORE POP
Junior Eric Toole put on 10 pounds in the offseason to improve his gap power. The move is paying off as the outfielder has five extra base hits in 13 games this spring. Toole entered the 2014 season with seven extra base hits in his Hawkeye career.

TERROR ON THE BASE PATHS
Junior Jake Yacinich has nearly as many steals in 2014 as he had in his first two seasons as a Hawkeye. The Des Moines, Iowa, native has a Big Ten-leading 10 steals in 11 chances — a total that is eighth-best nationally. Yacinich had 13 steals in 16 chances coming into the 2014 season.

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 has a team-high .440 batting average, collecting 11 hits in 25 at-bats. As a position player, Peyton has three-straight games with two hits, and as Iowa’s Sunday starter, the right-hander is 2-0 with a 4.32 ERA over 25 innings.

POWER SURGE
After hitting two home runs the entire 2013 season, Iowa has a Big Ten-leading seven home runs in 13 games this season. The Hawkeyes hit three home runs 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. Junior Jake Mangler became the fourth Hawkeye to hit a long ball — Iowa’s seventh of the season — in the series finale at Kansas State.

BEST START IN 74 YEARS
With its 9-1 record, Iowa got off to its best start since the 1940 season. The Hawkeyes opened that season 10-0-1 before finishing 20-3-1. Iowa received votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) rankings that were released on March 3. Iowa won seven-straight games during the start for the first time since the 2007 season when it was victorious in 12-straight contests.

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 three of the top-seven run scorers — Jake Yacinich (3rd, 14), Blake Hickman (t4th, 13) and Taylor Zeutenhorst (t7th, 12) — 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 54-33 over the final four innings.

RUNNIN’ WILD
Nine different Hawkeyes have swiped at least one base during the 2014 season. Iowa’s 28 steals are leading the Big Ten and rank 17th nationally. Junior Jake Yacinich has a league-best 10 steals in 11 attempts, a total that is eighth in the country. Six different players have at least two steals.

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.

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
Iowa is scheduled to make its home opener March 19 against Mount Mercy at 3 p.m. (CT) at Banks Field. The Hawkeyes open Big Ten Conference play March 21-23, hosting Nebraska in Iowa City.