Game Notes -- Evansville

Hawkeye Fan Shop — A Black & Gold Store | Fight For Iowa | Hawk Talk Monthly — February 2018 | Game Notes (PDF)

Date: March 17-18, 2018
Location: Iowa City, Iowa | Duane Banks Field
Game Notes: IOWA | Evansville
Statistics IOWA | Evansville
Radio/Streaming: Hawkeye Radio Network | Hawkeye All-Access ($)
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Television/Video Streaming: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Game 1 | March 17 | 12:05 p.m. (CT) 
Pitching Matchup:  Iowa: LHP Nick Allgeyer (1-1, 1.82 ERA)
UE: RHP Jace Burke (0-0, 2.57 ERA)
Game 2 | March 17 | 4:05 p.m. (CT)
Pitching Matchup:  Iowa: RHP Brady Schanuel (2-2, 4.24 ERA)
UE: RHP Austin Allinger (1-1, 5.50 ERA)
Game 3 | March 18 | 1:05 p.m. (CT)
Pitching Matchup:  Iowa: RHP Cole McDonald (1-1, 4.19 ERA) 
UE: TBA

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa baseball team hosts its first three-game home series of the weekend, welcoming Evansville to Duane Banks Field from March 17-18.  The two teams will play a Saturday doubleheader beginning at noon.  Sunday’s game is set for a 1:05 p.m. start.
 
SERIES PROMOTIONS
• Saturday is “Have a Catch” Day — parents and children can play catch on the field following the game. Sunday is “Sunday Runday” — kids can run the bases after the game.

FOLLOW ALONG
• All three games will be streamed live on BTN Plus on BTN2Go.  It is a paid subscription service.
• All Iowa games will also be available via the Hawkeye Radio Network with Zach Mackey on the call.  The games can be heard on Hawkeye All-Access and on select stations across the state, including KMJM-AM 1360 (no Sundays) in Cedar Rapids, WDBQ-FM 107.5 (all games) in Dubuque, KXIC-AM 800  in Iowa City, KJAN-AM/FM 1220 and 101.1 in Atlantic, KDEC-FM 100.5 in Decorah, and KKFD-FM 95.9 in Fairfield.
• Live statistics are available on hawkeyesports.com and fans can follow along via social media at www.twitter.com/UIBaseball.

LEADING OFF
• This weekend’s home series marks the beginning of a season-long nine-game home stand.  Iowa is 1-0 at Banks Field this season and 53-14 dating back to the start of the 2015 season.
• Senior Tyler Cropley has been named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List.  The honor is presented to the top catcher in Division I baseball.
• The Hawkeyes have used the same starting weekend rotation in each of the first four weeks of the season.  
• Redshirt junior Chris Whelan has been medically cleared to return to the active roster.  Whelan has missed the first month of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery.
• Iowa is fifth in the Big Ten with a 4.20 team ERA and seventh with a .968 team fielding percentage.
• Junior left-hander Nick Allgeyer ranks in the top 10 in the Big Ten in five different pitching categories. He is fourth in ERA (1.82) and innings (24.2), eighth in strikeouts looking (6), and ninth in strikeouts (24) and opposing batting average (.214).
• During its five-game losing streak, Iowa is averaging 1.6 runs per game and has a .196 team batting average.  Tyler Cropley has a team-best .313 batting average during the stretch.
• Junior outfielder Robert Neustrom was named the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year by both Perfect Game and Baseball America. Neustrom and junior Brady Schanuel were named to PG’s preseason all-conference team.
• The Hawkeyes were picked to finish fourth in the Big Ten by Perfect Game, fifth by D1Baseball.com, and sixth in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches poll.
• Iowa has won 140 games over the past four seasons under head coach Rick Heller — the best four-year stretch in school history.  The Hawkeyes have advanced to NCAA Regional play in two of the last three seasons.

QUICK HITTERS
• Iowa’s current five-game losing streak is the first for the program since the 2012 season.
• Senior Matt Hoeg hit his first home run of the season — sixth of his career — to leadoff the midweek game against Missouri State (3/14). Four Hawkeyes have homered in 2018.
• Redshirt freshman Kace Massner became the sixth different Hawkeye to start in left field.  He has started the last two games at the position.
• The Hawkeyes were crowned the team champions at the All-State Sugar Bowl Baseball Classic on Feb. 25 in New Orleans.  Iowa and New Orleans both posted 2-1 records, but the Hawkeyes won the head-to-head meeting.
• Iowa is 13-of-16 in stolen base attempts in 2018.  Sophomore Lorenzo Elion has a team-best three steals in four chances.
• Senior Tyler Cropley and juniors Robert Neustrom and Zach Daniels were named to the Big Ten Preseason Honors List.  
• The Hawkeyes return two All-Big Ten selections — Neustrom and Tyler Cropley — and Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-Americans Kyle Shimp and Ben Norman.
• Iowa was ranked 44th in the College Sports Madness preseason rankings.  The Hawkeyes were also receiving votes in the USBWA preseason rankings.

ABOUT EVANSVILE
• The Purple Aces bring a 5-8 record into the weekend after being swept in their three-game series last weekend at Florida Gulf Coast. 
• Evansville was picked to finish seventh out of eight teams in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll. 
• Evansville is hitting .247 as a team and is averaging 4.7 runs per game. The Purple Aces have two players hitting over .300 in Troy Beilsmith (.348) and Kenton Crews (.300).  Beilsmith has a team-high 12 runs and seven doubles and has a team-best .630 slugging percentage. Crews and Andrew Tanous are tied for the team lead with 10 RBIs.
• The Aces’ pitching staff has a 4.71 team ERA, allowing 114 hits and 73 runs (61 earned) in 116 2/3 innings.  Evansville has 108 strikeouts in 13 games.
• Evansville will start RHP Jace Burke (0-0, 2.57 ERA), RHP Adam Lukas (1-1, 1.64 ERA), and RHP Austin Allinger (1-1, 5.50 ERA).

SERIES RESULTS
• The Hawkeyes are 1-2 all-time against Evansville with the last meeting coming in 2006 — a 6-4 Iowa win in Lafayette, Louisiana.
• The Aces won the first-ever meeting in 2000 by the score of 5-4, and the 2001 match-up, 8-3, in Evansville.

CROPLEY NAMED TO JOHNNY BENCH AWARD WATCH LIST
Senior Tyler Cropley has been named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List. The honor is given to the top catcher in Division I baseball.  The South Dakota native is hitting .300 with a team-best 13 RBIs.  He has four multi-hit games and four multi-RBI games.
• Cropley his hitting a team-best .625 (10-of-16) wtih runners in scoring position this season.
• He is one of six catchers from the Big Ten Conference to be included on the watch list.

WHELAN CLEARED FOR HAWKEYES
Junior Chris Whelan, who is recovering from fall Tommy John surgery, has been medically cleared to return for the three-game series against Evansville.  Whelan, who was Iowa’s leadoff hitter and the Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player, hit .309 with 11 doubles and 25 RBIs last season.

ON THE OFFENSE
• The Hawkeyes have had 10 or more hits in seven games this season.  Iowa had a season-high 12 hits in the 8-2 victory over New Orleans on Feb. 25.
• Iowa scored a season-high 15 runs in the midweek victory over Cornell College on Feb. 27. The Hawkeyes have two games with 10 or more runs.  
• The Hawkeyes are out-scoring opponents, 17-7, in the first inning and 31-23 over the first three innings.

JUNIOR ROBERT NEUSTROM…
• has hit safely in 12-of-14 games this season and he has reached safely in 13 games.  Neustrom had a nine-game hitting streak to start the year.
• is hitting a team-best .321 with five multi-hit games.
• was the Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year by Baseball America and Perfect Game.

ON THE BUMP
• The Hawkeyes’ starting pitchers are 5-5 with a 3.39 ERA in 14 games. Iowa starters have 65 strikeouts to 25 walks and opponents are hitting .245.
• Iowa’s pitching staff is averaging 9.2 strikeouts per game.  The Hawkeyes tied a season-high with 13 punch outs on March 14 against Missouri State.
• Iowa has six games with 10 or more strikeouts.

TOSSING BULLETS
• Junior Zach Daniels is 1-1 with a 1.80 ERA and two saves in five appearances, spanning 10 innings. He has 11 strikeouts and is limiting opposing hitters to a .212 average. 
• Redshirt freshman Kole Kampen has allowed one hit in the first three appearances of his Iowa career.  He has four strikeouts over four innings to go along with a 0.00 ERA.

REDSHIRT JUNIOR NICK ALLGEYER…
• is 1-1with a 1.82 ERA — an ERA that is fourth-best in the Big Ten.  Allgeyer has 24 strikeouts in four starts, which are ninth in the conference.
• ranks among the top 10 in five different pitching categories.
• has allowed six hits or fewer in all four of his starts… has allowed one or fewer earned runs in 3-of-4 starts.
• has two quality starts in four outings as Iowa’s Friday night starter coming in back-to-back starts against Virginia Tech and at UAB.
• recorded his first career win as a starter (third of his career), allowing one run on four hits at UAB (3/2)… had four strikeouts against one walk over 6 2/3 innings.
• notched his first quality start against Virginia Tech (2/23), allowing one run on five hits over seven innings.  He had a career-high eight strikeouts in the start without issuing a walk.
• made his first career Friday start — his second career start — against Toledo (2/16) — allowing three unearned runs over five innings and fanning seven.
• is 3-1 with a 2.89 ERA in 36 career appearances, including five starts… has 62 strikeouts in 71 2/3 innings.
• missed the 2017 season recovering from Tommy John surgery suffered during the fall of 2016.

JUNIOR BRADY SCHANUEL…
• will make his fourth Saturday start this week against Evansville…he is 2-2 with a 4.24 ERA in four starts with 19 strikeouts over 17 innings.
• is sixth in the Big Ten with a .206 opposing batting average and is tied for sixth with two wins.
• has gone five innings in back-to-back starts… went a five innings in the road win at UAB — his second win of the season…allowed one hit and fanned a career-high seven.   
• earned his first career victory against Old Dominion (2/18), allowing two hits and fanning four in 3 2/3 innings… was on a predetermined 60-pitch pitch count.
• Two-time MLB Draft pick — selected in 20th round by Philadelphia in 2017 and 36th round by Oakland in 2015.
• Two-time All-American at Parkland College in Illinois… went 20-4 with 161 strikeouts in 164 innings.

JUNIOR COLE MCDONALD… 
• is 1-1 with a 4.19 ERA in four starts — one Saturday and three Sunday.  
• scattered five hits and allowed one run over five innings at UAB in a 4-0 loss… had four strikeouts to one walk in the game.
• recorded his first career quality start and first win of the season, scattering three hits and allowing two unearned runs in seven innings in a victory over New Orleans.  McDonald had four strikeouts to one walk.
• is 7-6 with a 5.32 ERA in 27 appearances, including 23 starts.

BANKS MAGIC
• Iowa finished 19-4 at home during the 2017 season, running its record to 53-14 at Banks Field since the start of the 2015 season.  The 19 wins were the most by the team since winning 1989 (19-2).
• Iowa has 10 walk-off victories at Duane Banks Field since the start of 2015.

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