Game Notes -- Purdue (March 24-26)

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THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa baseball team opens Big Ten Conference play, hosting Purdue for a three-game series Friday through Sunday at Duane Banks Field.  Friday’s opener is slated for a 2:05 p.m. (CT) start, Saturday is 2:05 p.m., and Sunday’s finale is 1:05 p.m.  

GAME COVERAGE
• Iowa’s live audio stream of the three-game series will be available on Hawkeye All-Access with Zach Mackey and Steve Duncan on the call.  
• Friday games will be video streamed online on BTN Plus.  Saturday and Sunday’s games will be available on Hawkeye All-Access. 
• All games will be carried on select stations around the state via the Hawkeye Radio Network.  All three games this weekend will be on WDBQ in Dubuque; Sunday’s games will also be on KKFD in Fairfield.
• Live statistics will be available at www.hawkeyesports.com and fans can follow the action via Twitter/UIBaseball.

IOWA TIDBITS
• Iowa is averaging 6.8 runs and hitting .281 as a team over its last 10 games.  Five players are hitting over .300 with Robert Neustrom leading the team with a .395 clip.  He has 18 RBIs during the 10-game stretch.
• The Hawkeyes lost 2-of-3 games last weekend at Kansas State with all three games being decided by three runs or less.  The final two contests went to extra innings — Iowa’s first two such games of the season.  
• Iowa hit two grand slams — one from Tyler Cropley and one from Robert Neustrom — in a 12-1 midweek victory over Bradley.  It was the team’s third grand slam of the season.  The Hawkeyes have 19 home runs as a team, which are tied with Illinois for the Big Ten lead.
• The Hawkeyes have had 10 or more hits in nine games this season and have scored 10 or more runs in five contests.  Iowa has scored seven or more runs in 10 games.  

PURDUE NOTABLES
• The Boilermakers bring a six-game winning streak into Friday’s Big Ten opener.  Purdue, who is 11-8 overall, swept a four-game series at Santa Clara last weekend, before defeating Ball State, 16-4, on Wednesday.
• Purdue is led by first-year head coach Mark Wasikowski, a former Oregon, Florida, and Arizona assistant.  Iowa faced Wasikowski and the Ducks in the NCAA Regionals in 2015.
• Purdue is second in the Big Ten with a .281 team batting average.  The Boilermakers average 7.3 runs per game and have three regulars hitting over .300.  Skyler Hunter is hitting a Big Ten-best .426 with 11 runs and 17 RBIs.
 • The Boilermaker pitching staff has a 5.94 team ERA, allowing 127 runs on 175 hits over 163 2/3 innings.
• Purdue will start senior RHP Tanner Andrews (4-1, 4.22 ERA) on Friday, sophomore LHP Gareth Stroh (1-2, 8.18 ERA) on Saturday, and redshirt sophomore RHP Mike Kornacker (0-0, 5.54 ERA) on Sunday.

SERIES RECORD
• Iowa leads the all-time series against Purdue, 96-67-1.  The Hawkeyes and Boilermakers last met in 2015 when Iowa swept a three-game series in West Lafayette.  
• This is Purdue’s first trip to Iowa City since the 2012 season when the Hawkeyes won 2-of-3 games over the 13th-ranked Boilermakers in the final regular season series.
• The Hawkeyes have won 10 of the last 12 games dating back to the 2012 season.

CHANGING ROTATION
• Iowa will use its fourth different weekend rotation of the season when it opens Big Ten play against Purdue.
• After missing a start at Kansas State because of arm discomfort, junior Nick Gallagher will take the ball Friday for his fifth start.  He is 2-1 with a 3.67 ERA.
• Senior Ryan Erickson will make his second straight start (fifth of his career) after starting the series opener last weekend at Kansas State. He was tagged with the loss despite allowing just two runs on seven hits over 5 2/3 innings.  The southpaw is 0-1 with a 4.26 ERA.
• Sophomore Cole McDonald will slide back into the Sunday starter role.  McDonald is 0-1 with a 3.18 ERA in over his last two starts, spanning 11/3 innings.  He allowed four runs on nine hits and fanned nine in games against Bucknell and Kansas State.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Iowa is out-scoring its opponents, 27-11, in the first inning this season.  The Hawkeyes are 6-2 when scoring first.
• Over the first three innings, Iowa is out-scoring its opposition, 58-29.
• The Hawkeyes are 5-0 when scoring six or more runs this season.  Iowa is 1-8 when scoring four runs or less.
• Iowa is 7-3 when hitting a home run this season.  The team is 6-0 when hitting two or more long balls.

HELLER WINS NO. 800
UI head coach Rick Heller won the 800th game of his collegiate coaching career when the Hawkeyes swept a March 12 doubleheader over Lehigh at the Snowbird Baseball Classic. 

#SWINGFASTER
The Hawkeyes are tied for the Big Ten lead with Illinois with 19 home runs. Nine different players have hit at least one home run.

GOING, GOING…
Junior Jake Adams has a Big Ten-leading eight home runs and 28 RBIs heading into this weekend’s Big Ten opener against Purdue. 
• Adams hit three home runs (and had seven RBIs) in Iowa’s 12-11, 10-inning victory at Kansas State on March 19.  Adams is the first Hawkeye since Jason White in 2007 to hit three home runs in the same game.
• Adams is one of two Big Ten players to hit three home runs in a game this season.
• He ranks eighth nationally with eight home runs, one off the NCAA lead.
• Iowa’s single-season home run record is 22, set by John Knapp in 1986.  Jason White is the last Hawkeye to hit at least 10 home runs (2007).  The high of the Rick Heller era is nine by Taylor Zeutenhorst in 2014.
• Knapp (22), Brad Carlson, and Tim Costo (21), and Brian Mitchell are the only four Hawkeyes to reach the 20 home run mark in a single season.
• Adams hit a school-record 25 home runs last year during his All-America season at DMACC.  In two junior-college seasons, Adams hit 42 career home runs — a school record.

A WHOLE LOTTA RBIs
Senior Jake Adams drove in a Big Ten single-game best seven runs (on three home runs) in Iowa’s 12-11 victory over Kansas State on March 19.  It was Adams’ second game with six or more RBIs this season.  The South Dakota native has a Big Ten-best 28 RBIs on the year.  
• Sophomore Robert Neustrom had a career-best four hits and five RBIs to complete Iowa’s doubleheader sweep of Lehigh on March 12.  Neustrom has two games with four or more RBIs and his 23 RBIs are second-most in the Big Ten.

NEUSTROM PRODUCES
Sophomore Robert Neustrom has hit safely in all but two games this season (17-of-19 games).  The outfielder opened the year with a career-best 11-game hitting streak. 
• Neustrom’s 32 hits are leading the Big Ten and he has team-high 11 multi-hit games.  His .395 average is second in the conference and he has 14 runs and 23 RBIs.  Neustrom has 18 RBIs over his last 10 games. 
• He tallied his first career four-hit game against Lehigh, finishing 4-for-5 with a career-best five RBIs.  
• The Sioux City, Iowa native, has a career-best three home runs, including a three-run shot in Iowa’s road loss at Minnesota and a grand slam against Bradley.
• Neustrom had 12 multi-hit games the entire 2016 season — a season where he hit .307 as a true freshman.

MCCOY: THE SHORTSTOP
Senior Mason McCoy is back at his natural position at shortstop; he’s comfortable and producing.  The Illinois native has nine multi-hit games, hit safely in 13-of-19 games, and has scored at least one run in 13-of-19 games.
• McCoy is leading the Big Ten with 21 runs scored and ranks 13th in batting average.
• McCoy was an Northwest League All-Star selection in both 2015 and 2016, playing for the La Crosse Loggers.
• Iowa has had an all-conference selection at shortstop in each of Rick Heller’s first three seasons.  (Jake Yacinich, first-team, 2014; Nick Roscetti, third-team, 2015, first-team, 2016).

NORMAN TAKES HOLD
Freshman Ben Norman has taken hold of the center field position, starting Iowa’s last 15 games.  The Des Moines, Iowa, native is second on the team and ranks seventh in the Big Ten with a .367 average.
• Since becoming Iowa’s everyday center fielder, Norman is hitting a team-best 426 with 20 hits, five doubles, nine runs, and five RBIs.   All six of his multi-hit games have come during the stretch, including a four-hit contest at Kansas State on March 19.
• Norman had the game-winning RBI double in the 10th inning of Iowa’s 12-11 extra inning win at Kansas State.  
• In two games out of the leadoff position, Norman is hitting .545 with six hits in 11 at-bats. He has two runs and two RBIs.
• Norman is also Iowa’s top base-stealing threat, going 6-for-6 on the base paths this season. 

OFFENSIVE TIDBITS
• Junior Jake Adams has hit safely in 14-of-19 games this season, including posting nine multi-hit games.  The South Dakota native has hits in eight of the last 10 games. 
• Junior Tyler Cropley has hit safely in five of Iowa’s last six games.  He has hit home runs in two of the last three contests, including connecting on a first-inning grand slam in a 12-1 win over Bradley on March 22.
• Junior Chris Whelan is hitting .33 with 16 runs and seven RBIs.  The outfielder has six multi-hit games, including three three-hit contests. 

BALLS & STRIKES
• Iowa’s pitching staff ranks third in the Big Ten in strikeouts (168). The Hawkeyes average 8.8 strikeouts per game.
• Redshirt freshman Kyle Shimp earned his first career victory, tossing 1 2/3 innings in relief in the 12-11 extra inning win at Kansas State. 
• Sophomore Zach Daniels picked up his team-leading third victory in Iowa’s 12-1 victory over Bradley.  The right-hander tossed two shutout innings and fanned a career-high five.  He is 3-1 with a 5.02 ERA over 14 1/3 innings.
• Senior Drake Robison earned his first career win as a Hawkeye on March 12 against Lehigh.  He struck out a career-high nine batters — a team season-high — over six innings.  
• Senior Josh Martsching is 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA in seven appearances. The right-hander has allowed three earned run over nine innings. He recorded his first save in Iowa’s 12-8 win over Northern Illinois on March 7.
• Junior Elijah Wood has given Iowa another left-handed arm in relief.  The Washington, Iowa, native is 0-0 with a 2.57 ERA over seven innings (four appearances).

ELDRED TO MISS REMAINDER OF SEASON
Junior C.J. Eldred will miss the remainder of the 2017 season after undergoing a partial repair surgery of the UCL on March 15 in St. Louis.  Eldred was 0-0 with a 1.50 ERA this season.

HAWKEYE HONORS
• Junior Jake Adams was named the Big Ten Player of the Week on March 6 after hitting .417 with two home runs and six RBIs in leading the Hawkeyes to a 2-1 record at the DQ Classic. It was the first honor of his career.  
• Senior Mason McCoy earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors on Feb. 27 after hitting .438 with seven hits, six runs, and six RBIs in leading Iowa to a 3-1 week two record.  The honor is the second of McCoy’s career.
• Adams and Matt Hoeg, sophomore Robert Neustrom and freshman Ben Norman were named to the DQ Classic All-Tournament team on March 5.
• Norman and junior Chris Whelan shared the DQ Classic batting title.  Both players hit .500 in three games.

JUNIOR NICK GALLAGHER…
• is 10-4 with a 2.77 ERA in 27 career appearances, including 13 starts.  He has 102 strikeouts against 33 walks.
• has three quality starts in 2017 in games against South Florida, Alabama State, and Hawai’i.  He has logged at least seven innings in three of four starts.
• went a career-high eight innings in Iowa’s 7-6 victory over Hawai’i at the DQ Classic. He had a season-high eight strikeouts (without walking a batter) in the game.
• tied for second in the Big Ten with eight victories as a sophomore, which were the sixth-most in a single-season in program history.
• was named to the 2016 Big Ten All-Tournament team after allowing one hit over six innings and fanning a career-high nine in a victory over Maryland.

BANKS MAGIC
Iowa has gone 36-10 at home since the start of the 2015 season.  The Hawkeyes went 17-3 in 2015 — the most home victories since 1996 — and followed it up with 16 home wins in 2016.  Iowa has six walk-off victories at Duane Banks Field since the start of 2015.

FOLLOW THE HAWKEYES
Iowa baseball fans can follow the Hawkeyes on Facebook/iowabaseball, Twitter: @UIBaseball, and Instagram/UIBaseball in addition to coverage on 
hawkeyesports.com.