Game Notes -- vs. Minnesota

May 7, 2015

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Minnesota (19-26, 7-11) at #15 Iowa (34-12, 15-3)
Dates	May 8-10, 2015
Location	Iowa City, Iowa | Duane Banks Field
Game Notes	Iowa | Minnesota
Statistics	IOWA | Minnesota

THIS WEEK
The 15th-ranked University of Iowa baseball team hosts Minnesota in its final home series of the regular season from May 8-10 at Duane Banks Field. Friday’s series opener is slated to begin at 6:05 p.m., Saturday’s at 2 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m.

PROMOTIONS
? The series against Minnesota is Alumni Weekend with UI baseball alumni and families receiving free admission.
? Saturday is “Make a Wish” game, and Iowa will celebrate the program’s 1990 Big Ten championship team. Fans are invited to watch “The Sandlot” on the new videoboard following the game. Free popcorn buckets and popcorn for the first 200 fans.
? Sunday is Senior Day, where the program will recognize its nine seniors prior to first pitch.

GAME COVERAGE
? Friday and Saturday’s games will be streamed live on BTN Plus on BTN2Go, while Sunday’s finale will be televised live on BTN. Andy Masur and Scott Pose will call Sunday’s action.
? The series will be broadcast on AM-1360 KMJM on Friday and both 1360 and AM-800 KXIC on Saturday with Brent Balbinot and Steve Duncan on the call. All three games will also be available via the subscription-based service Hawkeye All-Access on hawkeyesports.com.
? Fans can also follow every game with live stats (GameTracker) on hawkeyesports.com and live updates are also available on Twitter: @UIBaseball.

QUICK HITTERS
? The Hawkeyes have won 10-straight series this season, including four three-game sweeps. Iowa hasn’t had a losing weekend in 2015. It went 2-2 during a four-game series at Houston Baptist.
? Iowa has at least 10 hits in five of the last seven games. The Hawkeyes have hit better than .300 in three straight weekend series, including posting a .315 average and scoring 20 runs last weekend at Michigan. Iowa tied a season-high with 13 runs in the series opener.
? The Hawkeyes are in the top four in the Big Ten in defense (second, .979) and pitching (fourth, 2.96), and seventh in team batting average (.276). In league play, Iowa is second in batting (.299) and fielding (.979) and fourth in ERA (3.19).
? Seniors Eric Toole (178), Jake Mangler (168), Kris Goodman (160), and Nick Day (120) have combined to start 626 games the last four years as Hawkeyes. Mangler has started 83 consecutive games at second base.
? Twenty games have been decided two runs or less. Iowa is 15-5 in such contests.
? Iowa is 16-4 when playing error-free baseball and 28-8 when committing one or fewer errors. Iowa is 6-4 when committing two or more errors.
? The Hawkeyes are 27-1 when out-hitting their opponents and 24-4 when scoring first. Conversely, Iowa is 10-8 when the opponent scores first.
? Iowa has outscored opponents 30-12 in the first inning, and 70-41 over the first three innings.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA
? The Gophers have lost 5-of-6 Big Ten series this season with their only series victory being a home sweep over Penn State. Minnesota got swept last weekend against UC Irvine and lost 6-4 in 10 innings at North Dakota State on May 3. The Gophers have lost seven of their last eight games.
? Minnesota is 19-26 overall and 7-11 in the Big Ten standings, sitting in ninth place with six games remaining. The Gophers are 8-17 in road games this season and 1-11 against ranked opponents.
? Minnesota hits .260 as a team with four regulars hitting above .300. Michael Handel leads the way with a .331 average with 51 hits and four home runs, Dan Motl has a .325 average with 27 runs, while Matt Stemper is hitting .311, and Matt Fiedler (.306). Fiedler has a team-best 53 hits, 33 runs, 29 RBIs, and 15 steals.
? The Gophers have a 5.35 team ERA, allowing 278 runs (237 earned) on 421 hits over 399 innings. Minnesota has 284 strikeouts (6.3 per game) to 178 walks.
? Minnesota will starter senior RHP Ben Meyer (4-4, 3.80 ERA), freshman RHP Fred Manke (1-0, 4.15 ERA), and junior LHP Dalton Sawyer (3-2, 4.50 ERA).

THE SERIES
? Iowa won its first series over Minnesota since 2005 last season, taking 2-of-3 games in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes dropped the opener, 4-3, after committing a ninth-inning error before taking the final two games, 11-5 and 7-6, to take the series.
? The Hawkeyes also eliminated Minnesota from the Big Ten Tournament with a 2-1 victory in Omaha.
? The Gophers lead the all-time series over Iowa, 178-112. This is the third straight season Minnesota has traveled to Banks Field.

LAST SEASON VS. MINNESOTA
? Calvin Mathews allowed three runs on six hits in the opener, but wasn’t involved in the decision. Nick Hibbing allowed an unearned run in one inning to take the loss.
? Tyler Peyton allowed three runs on nine hits over 6 1/3 innings in the finale — a no-decision. Hibbing allowed three runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings to pick up a win, while Tyler Radtke got the final out to pick up a save.
? Blake Hickman allowed one run on three hits in leading Iowa to a 2-1 win at the Big Ten Tournament, out-dueling Ben Meyer, who allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits over eight innings. Meyer had six strikeouts to one walk.
? Jared Mandel threw three shutout innings to pick up the postseason win, while Radtke closed out the game for the save.

TOOLE CHASES HISTORY
Senior Eric Toole needs one base hit to tie and two to break the Iowa school record for career singles. The Council Bluffs, Iowa, native currently has 195 career singles, one off Mike McQuillan’s school record. Toole also is one hit shy of moving into fourth place on the all-time hits list and is fourth with 67 career steals.

WINNING A MARATHON
The Hawkeyes played what is believed to be the longest game in school history, downing Sacramento State, 4-3, in 18 innings on April 28. The game lasted five hours and 40 minutes, used 14 pitchers and 33 positional players.

IOWA REACHES 30-WIN PLATEAU
Iowa has won 34 games in 2015, reaching the 30-win plateau in two straight seasons for the first time since 1989 and 1990. The 34 victories are the most for the program since winning 38 games in 1990.

HELLER REACHES 750
UI head coach Rick Heller tallied the 750th victory in his coaching career in the Hawkeyes’ 5-1 victory over 25th-ranked Nebraska in game two of the April 26 doubleheader. Heller is the winningest coach during his first two seasons in school history, racking up 64 victories.

PEYTON NAMED TO OLERUD WATCH LIST
Junior Tyler Peyton has been named to the 2015 John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award Watch List. The award is presented to the nation’s top player both on the mound and at the plate. The Grimes, Iowa, native is 5-3 with a 3.06 ERA in 12 starts as Iowa’s Friday starter and is leading the team with a .357 batting average — fifth best in the Big Ten — while also ranking in the top three on the team in runs (25) and RBIs (23).

TOP-10 TOOLE
Senior outfielder Eric Toole laid out to make a diving catch in the left center field gap to rob Northwestern’s Kyle Ruchim of a leadoff double in the April 17 series opener at Banks Field. Toole’s catch was tabbed as the No. 3 play of the day on SportsCenter’s Top-10 plays that evening.

IF YOU WIN, THEY WILL COME
The Hawkeyes have drawn more than 7,200 fans in the last two home weekends against Northwestern and Nebraska, including a sold out crowd of 2,506 April 26 against the Huskers. Iowa had surpassed 1,000 fans at Banks Field just twice dating back to the 2011 season and eight times since 2007.

EARNING HIS KEEP ON FRIDAYS
Since Big Ten play commenced, junior Tyler Peyton has been hitting and pitching for himself on Friday nights… and quite well. Peyton is 2-1 with a 3.48 ERA in five conference starts playing both ways, allowing 14 runs (13 earned) on 28 hits over 33 2/3 innings. He opened Big Ten play with 14 1/3 innings of shutout ball. Offensively, Peyton is hitting .294 (5-of-17) with three runs and two RBIs when playing both ways. He drove in the go-head run against No. 17 Indiana and went 3-for-5 in the opener at Purdue.

DAY RETURNS TO MIX
Senior Nick Day entered the May 2 game at Michigan as a defensive replacement — his first appearance since April 12. He missed 11 games because of a back injury.
? Day started the finale at Michigan and May 5 against Western Illinois, tallying hits in both contests. The senior is hitting .311 with 17 runs and 14 RBIs in 28 games.

ROSCETTI BLOSSOMS IN APRIL
After hitting .210 and driving in six runs over the first 1 1/2 months (21 games) of the season, junior Nick Roscetti’s game blossomed in April.
? The shortstop hit .378 with 11 runs, and 11 RBIs in April. He had 10 multi-hit games during the month, including a 3-for-4, three-run, three-RBI performance at Purdue on April 3.
? Roscetti is third in the Big Ten with a .426 average, with 29 hits, 13 runs and 15 RBIs. He drove in a career-high four RBIs in the 13-7 win at Michigan on May 1.
? He is riding an eight game hitting streak, matching a career-long streak, with five multi-hit games. He is hitting .400 (14-of-35) with nine RBIs and three runs scored during the stretch.

A “GOOD” STREAK
Since seeing his average dip to a season-low .213 on April 11, senior Kris Goodman has been on a torrid streak. The Minnesota native is hitting .397 (23-of-58) with 11 runs and nine RBIs with eight extra-base hits and a .586 slugging and .500 on-base percentage over his last 15 games. Goodman has nine multi-hit games during the stretch, including five in the last seven contests.
? Defensively, Goodman played 12 games at third base during the stretch (committing just one error) before taking over his position in left field May 3 at Michigan.
? Goodman has a team-high five triples to rank second in the Big Ten. They are the most triples by a Hawkeye since 2011.

IOWA PITCHING SHINES
? The Hawkeyes have allowed two earned runs or fewer in 26 games this season.
? Iowa has used the same weekend rotation on the mound for the duration of the season. Tyler Peyton, Blake Hickman, and Calvin Mathews are a combined 16-5 with a 2.68 ERA with 129 strikeouts to 75 walks.
? Iowa’s pitching staff has three shutouts this season (vs. Cincinnati, vs. Indiana, at Michigan) — the most for the program since 2007 (four shutouts).
? Peyton and Hickman combined to hold Indiana scoreless through the first 16 innings of its three-game series from March 27-29. The Hoosiers scored three earned runs in three games.
? Iowa’s pitching staff held No. 16 Maryland to two runs on 10 hits over the final 18 innings of the three-game series on April 10-11 in College Park. The Hawkeyes held the Terrapins to 18 hits and had 22 strikeouts in three games.
? The Hawkeyes limited Nebraska to six runs (five earned) on 21 hits over 28 innings, fanning 21 to 12 walks.
? Iowa is fourth in the Big Ten in ERA (2.96), first in opposing batting average (.228), and second in saves (16). The Hawkeyes have allowed the fewest hits (350) and tied for the third-fewest runs (160) in the conference.
? The Hawkeyes’ starting pitchers are 16-5 with a 2.85 in 46 starts.

IN RELIEF
? The UI bullpen is 18-7 with a 3.08 ERA with a school record 16 saves, which are the second-most in the Big Ten. Iowa’s relievers are holding batters to a .226 average and have 147 strikeouts.
? Senior Nick Hibbing is 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA and four saves in eight Big Ten appearances with 16 strikeouts against zero walks. Hibbing hasn’t walked a batter since his first outing of the season against Kansas State. He has 26 strikeouts to two walks this season. Hibbing hasn’t allowed a run over his last 10 2/3 innings, scattering four hits during the stretch.
? Junior Luke Vandermaten didn’t allow a run in his first 10 appearances and has only allowed three runs in 18 appearances. The right-hander has allowed 22 hits over 31 innings, fanning 18. Vandermaten is 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA and has four saves. Where it stands, Vandermaten’s ERA would be a school single-season record.
? Junior southpaw Ryan Erickson is 4-0 with a 2.32 ERA with one save and has 23 strikeouts to 15 walks. Erickson threw a career-high 5 2/3 innings at Michigan to tally his fourth win.
? Iowa’s relief corps have converted 16-of-17 save opportunities this season. The Hawkeyes are 26-2 when leading after six, 27-1 leading after seven, and 28-1 leading after eight.
? The Hawkeyes currently have a 2.96 team ERA over 46 games. Iowa’s school record is 3.63, set in 1971.
? Five pitchers combined to shutout Cincinnati, 5-0, in 13 innings on March 1. The five-some scattered seven hits and stuck out 12. It is the fifth-longest shutout game in the nation this season.

OFFENSIVE TIDBITS
? Six Hawkeyes are hitting over .300 over the last 10 games, including Jimmy Frankos, who has a team-best .400 average (10-for-25) with six RBIs during the stretch.
? Junior Nick Roscetti, who had a career-high four RBIs May 1 at Michigan, is hitting .372 with team-highs in hits (16) and RBIs (nine) during the stretch.
? Senior Jake Mangler had a career-high five RBIs on April 18 against Northwestern for his team-leading sixth multi-RBI game this season. Mangler is hitting .338 (26-of-77) with runners in scoring position with 18 two-out RBIs.
? Senior Dan Potempa has hits in three of his last five games, which includes a 4-for-6, three RBI performance in the series opener at Michigan. The four hits were a career high. Potempa had back-to-back multi-RBI games in Ann Arbor — his first two of the season.
? Eric Toole is second in the Big Ten with 24 steals, converting 24-of-30 attempts. Toole leads the Hawkeyes in hits (63) and runs (33). He has reached safely in 44-of-46 games this season.
? Three Hawkeyes rank in the top-15 in the Big Ten in batting average in league games — Nick Roscetti (.426, second), Tyler Peyton (.390, eighth), and Eric Toole (.347, 14th). Iowa is the second-best hitting team in league games with a .299 average.

WALK-OFF WINNERS
The Hawkeyes have posted five walk-off wins this season with contributions from its entire roster. Iowa has overcome deficits in 13 games, going 10-3 in such contests.
? Tyler Peyton delivered a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning to send Iowa to a 6-5 victory over Missouri State.
? Senior Jake Mangler delivered a bases loaded RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning to send Iowa to a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over Northwestern.
? Junior Eric Schenck-Joblinske drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Hawkeyes a 4-3 win.
? Junior Jimmy Frankos hit a full count, two-out, bases loaded RBI single to left field, sending Iowa to a 3-2 come-from-behind win over No. 25 Nebraska.
? Junior John Barrett hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to center field, plating Eric Toole to down Sacramento State, 4-3, in 18 innings.

MOVING UP THE RECORD BOOKS
? Junior Eric Toole has 67 career steals, which are the fourth-most in program history.
? Toole is second in UI history with 195 career singles and is fifth all-time with 225 hits. Senior Jake Mangler is fourth with 173 career singles and 10th with 204 career hits.
? Junior Nick Hibbing has made 74 career appearances as a Hawkeye — the third-most in school history. He is also tied for fourth all-time with 14 career saves.

#HELLERBALL
? The Hawkeyes debuted in the national rankings on March 30, coming in at No. 24 by Collegiate Baseball. It was Iowa’s first ranking since 1990. Iowa has been ranked six-straight weeks.
? UI head coach Rick Heller is the winningest coach in his first two seasons in program history, winning 64 games. Iowa has posted back-to-back 30 win seasons for the first time since 1989 and 1990.
? Iowa climbed to as high as No. 14 on April 13 by Collegiate Baseball and was ranked in six polls. The Hawkeyes were ranked by all major polls after taking 2-of-3 games at No. 16 Maryland and have been ranked since.
? Iowa posted its first victory over a ranked opponent since 2012 and swept a ranked opponent (No. 19 Indiana) for the first time since 1990. The Hawkeyes also swept No. 25 Nebraska, winning its second straight series over the Huskers.
? Iowa won 2-of-3 games at Michigan — its first series win over the Wolverines since 2010. The Hawkeyes have won a school record seven straight Big Ten series.
? The Hawkeyes opened Big Ten play with consecutive sweeps, starting 6-0 for the first time in school history. Iowa is 8-1 in Big Ten play for first time since 1990.
? Iowa won 30 games in UI head coach Rick Heller‘s first season in 2014 — the most wins by a first-year head coach in program history and the third 30-win campaign since 1993.
? The Hawkeyes advanced to and won a game in the Big Ten Tournament in 2014 — the program’s first tournament victory since 2010.
? Iowa has posted winning streaks of nine games (in 2015) and seven games (in 2014) — the longest streaks for the program since 2012.
? Under Heller, Duane Banks Field has been undergoing a transformation with AstroTurf installed in the infield and outfield, new outfield fences and the addition of a new video scoreboard.
? Iowa had five All-Big Ten selections, including the first first-team honoree since 2009. The Hawkeyes also had two first-team all-region selections.

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 close out the regular season with a three-game road trip to New Jersey to face Rutgers from May 14-16.