Game Notes -- at Purdue

Hawkeye Fan Shop — A Black & Gold Store | Hawk Talk Monthly — April | 24 Hawkeyes to Watch 2018-19 | WEEK 9 NOTES (PDF)

THIS WEEK
• The University of Iowa baseball team continues Big Ten action with a three-game road series at Purdue on April 12-14 at Alexander Field.
• Friday’s series opener is set for a 5 p.m. (CT) first pitch, followed by 12 p.m. (CT) starts for Saturday’s game two and Sunday’s series finale.

FOLLOW ALONG
• All 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/TuneIn Radio.
Friday: KMJM 1360 AM in Cedar Rapids, KDEC-AM1240 in Decorah, KKFD 95.9 FM in Fairfield.
Saturday: KMJM 1360 AM in Cedar Rapids; KKFD 95.9 FM in Fairfield, WDBQ FM 107.5 in Dubuque.
Sunday: KMJM 1360 AM in Cedar Rapids; KKFD 95.9 FM in Fairfield, WDBQ FM 107.5 in Dubuque.
• Live stats are available on hawkeyesports.com and fans can follow along on Twitter @UIBaseball.

LEADING OFF
• Iowa is 7-3 in its last 10 games with series wins over No. 23 Illinois and Rutgers. The Hawkeyes also have series wins over No. 19 Oklahoma State and Cal-State Northridge. Iowa has suffered series losses at Evansville and Indiana, while splitting a four-game series at Hawaii.
• Iowa’s sweep of No. 23 Illinois was its first series sweep over a ranked team since 2015 when Iowa took three from No. 19 Indiana.
• With five wins over top-25 teams this season, Iowa was has 13 games over ranked opponents since the start of the 2018 season.
• Iowa has posted nine come-from-behind wins this season.
• The Hawkeyes are 11-5 in games decided by two runs or less.
• Iowa’s 38 stolen bases are the fourth-most in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes only swiped 39 bags last season. Tanner Wetrich leads Iowa with eight stolen bases in nine attempts, followed by Ben Norman (6), and Mitchell Boe (5).
• Junior Austin Martin has the fourth-best batting average (.352) in the Big Ten, which is tops amongst league catchers. In Martin’s last 10 games, he is hitting .412 (14-of-34) with four extra-base hits and four multi-hit games. The Altoona, Iowa, native is up to a team-leading 13 multi-hit games on the season.
• Junior Grant Judkins owns the fourth-best ERA (1.70) in the Big Ten, having allowed one or fewer earned runs in six of eight starts.
• Redshirt junior Grant Leonard (2-1, 1.65 ERA) is a perfect 7-for-7 in save opportunities, which are the second most in the Big Ten conference.
• Iowa is 11-3 at Banks this season, running its home record to 85-23 since 2015. The Hawkeyes own a 7-10 record away from Iowa City.
• Iowa has won 161 games since the start of the 2015 season, the best four-year stretch in school history. The Hawkeyes have won 182 games in the Rick Heller era (2014-present), which is the third-best five-year stretch all-time. The Hawkeyes won 178 games from 1981-85 and 175 from 1977-1981 under Duane Banks.

QUICK HITTERS
• Seniors Chirs Whelan and Mitchell Boe are on 11 game on-base streaks.
• Junior outfielder Ben Norman is the only Hawkeye to start all 31 games for Iowa. He has started 14 games in center field, 13 in right field, and four in left field.
• The Hawkeye pitching staff owns a 4.10 ERA, the sixth-best in the conference, along with 8.8 strikeouts per nine innings, which ranks fifth in the league.
• The Hawkeyes have walked a conference-leading 147 times this season, which has produced the third-best on-base percentage in the conference at .363.
• Three Hawkeyes — seniors Cole McDonald and Chris Whelan and sophomore Jack Dreyer — were selected to the Big Ten Preseason Honors list.
• The Hawkeyes return four starters, their designated hitter, 2/3 of their starting rotation, and 19 total letterwinners in 2019.
• The Hawkeyes were picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten by Perfect Game, sixth by D1 Baseball, and sixth by Baseball America in 2019.
• Iowa will play 12 games on the road against four 2018 NCAA Tournament teams this season (at Oklahoma State, at Indiana, at Purdue, and at Ohio State).

SCOUTING PURDUE
• Purdue is 10-21 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten with wins over Northwestern and Penn State to sit one spot below Iowa in sixth place of the conference standings.
• Purdue is on a five-game losing streak, starting with a midweek loss to Indiana State, followed by a sweep at Nebraska and a midweek nonconference loss at Indiana.
• The Boilermakers started the year against two ranked opponents (No. 21 Southern Miss and No. 14 Texas), going 1-6.
• Purdue’s .224 team batting average is last in the Big Ten. Junior outfielder Skyler Hunter leads the Boilermakers and ranks fifth in the Big Ten with a .343 batting average. Hunter bats leadoff and plays center field.
• Purdue has only hit four home runs.
• Purdue’s pitching staff has a 4.80 ERA and has struck out 276 batters in 266 innings.
• The Boilermaker rotation will feature LHP Patrick J. Smith (3-2, 4.76 ERA), RHP Andrew Bohm (0-4, 6.32 ERA), and LHP Ryan Beard (0-4, 6.40 ERA). Smith has held opposing hitters to a .229 batting average, while the other two starting pitchers have a batting average against above .300.
• Out of the bullpen, Bo Hofstra leads Purdue with three saves and a 1.50 ERA and a .195 BAA.

SERIES RESULTS
• Iowa is 98-68-1 all-time versus Purdue.
• The Hawkeyes have won the last three series since 2014, going 7-2.
• The Hawkeyes did not face Purdue last season and this is Iowa’s first trip to West Lafayette since 2015.

BACK IN THE BIG TEN RACE
• After getting swept to start the Big Ten season, Iowa swept No. 23 Illinois and took two-of-three games from Rutgers at home to sit at 5-4 in the conference, which is good for sixth place.
• Michigan is leading the Big Ten at 4-1, followed by Nebraska and Indiana at 7-2 in the conference.

COLE MCDONALD IN THE BIG TEN
• In three Big Ten starts, Cole McDonald owns a 2.79 ERA with a 1-0 record and 24 strikeouts in 19.1 innings — the fourth-most punch outs in Big Ten play.
• The senior from New Hampton, Iowa, went 1-3 in five nonconference starts with a 5.47 ERA.
• In eight total starts this season, McDonald’s ERA sits at 4.30 and he has a team-leading 45 strikeouts.

MARTIN MASH
• Junior Austin Martin leads Iowa in batting average (.352), hits (37), total bases (52), and slugging percentage (.495), and on-base percentage (.426) among qualified hitters (3.0 AB per game).
• Martin is also tied for the team lead in extra-base hits (10) and second in RBIs (17).
• Martin’s .352 batting average is fourth in the conference and tops amongst Big Ten catchers.
• Martin became the second Hawkeye to record four hits in a game this season in Iowa’s loss to Illinois State on April 3. The catcher went 4-for-5 with a double and three singles. Redshirt sophomore Tanner Padgett racked up four hits in Iowa’s series finale against Hawaii on Feb. 24.

IOWA’S STARTING PITCHING
• Iowa’s starting rotation that features Cole McDonald, Cam Baumann, and Grant Judkins have gone 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA in Iowa’s last two weekend series versus No. 23 Illinois and Rutgers.
• McDonald has struck out 13 batters in 12 1/3 innings in his last two Big Ten starts.
• Baumann has gone six or more innings and earned the win in his last two starts.

JUNIOR GRANT JUDKINS…
• ranks fifth in the Big Ten with a 1.70 ERA.
• has posted a team-leading four quality starts (vs. Marshall, vs. CSUN, at Indiana, vs. Illinois) in seven chances.
• has allowed one or fewer earned runs in the six of eight starts.
• pitched five or more innings in all eight starts.
• ranks 11th in the Big Ten, allowing 6.61 hits per nine innings.
• owns a .206 batting average against, which is the best amongst Iowa’s starting pitchers.

BACK AT THE TOP
Senior Chris Whelan had seen his name appear in five different spots in the Hawkeyes’ batting order before returning to the top of the lineup April 2 against Clarke. Whelan was Iowa’s primary leadoff hitter in 2018.
• In six games since returning to the leadoff role, Whelan is hitting .400 (8-for-20) with a .600 on-base percentage, a double, home run, four RBIs, six runs scored, and five walks.
• Whelan does not rank among qualified hitters (3.0 AB per game), but leads the team in walks (23), hit-by-pitches (7), and on-base percentage (.451).

LEONARD LOCKS DOWN THE NINTH
• Closer questions lingered to start the 2019 season, but redshirt junior Grant Leonard has secured the closer role.
• The junior right-hander has a team-leading seven saves, which are the second-most in the Big Ten.
• Leonard has not allowed a run since taking the loss against Indiana on March 22. Leonard’s scoreless innings streak is up to 7 1/3 innings and his ERA sits at 1.65 in 14 appearances.
• Leonard has been Iowa’s high leverage guy, making two appearances in one day during Iowa’s doubleheader sweep of Cal-State Northridge to earn a win and a save.

INNING BY INNING
• The Hawkeyes are 12-1 when leading after six innings and 3-12 when trailing after six innings.
• Iowa is outscoring opponents 52-31 in the second and third innings, but is being outscored 34-17 in the first and last innings.
• When Iowa scores first, the Hawkeyes are 10-1, but are 8-12 when its opponent scores first.

OFFENSIVELY SPEAKING
• Iowa’s offensive approach has produced the most walks (147) in the Big Ten for the third-best on-base percentage in the conference (.363).
• With home runs by Tanner Wetrich and Izaya Fullard against Rutgers, Iowa’s home run count is up to 14. Ben Norman leads the team with four homers, followed by Wetrich (3), Austin Martin (2), and Izaya Fullard (2). Matthew Sosa hit an inside-the-park home run against Evansville.
• Junior Zeb Adreon tied a school record, roping three doubles in the game one victory at Evansville. Chris Whelan and Adreon both have three-double games this season, which are tied for the most by a Big Ten player this season.
• The Hawkeye have eclipsed 10 hits 13 times this season, registering a season-high 19 hits in game one against Evansville. Iowa has scored 10 runs in four games this season, winning all four of those games.

ON THE BUMP
• Iowa’s 4.13 ERA ranks sixth in the Big Ten.
• Iowa ranks fifth in the Big Ten with 8.8 strikeouts per nine innings, but Iowa’s 4.98 walks per nine innings rank 10th in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes rank seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.77).
• The Hawkeye staff is allowing 8.28 hits per nine innings, which ranks sixth-best in the Big Ten.

BACK END OF THE BULLPEN
The Hawkeye bullpen has held opposing hitters to a .245 average over 115 innings with 113 strikeouts.
• Grant Leonard has converted all seven of his saves, which leads the team and are the second-most in the Big Ten. Jason Foster, Trace Hoffman, and Trenton Wallace each have one save this season.
• Leonard hasn’t allowed a run in his last appearances, spanning 7 1/3 innings. He has eight strikeouts during the stretch.
• Trace Hoffman (3-1, 4.08 ERA) has been one of Iowa’s go-to guys out of the bullpen, leading the team with 15 appearances, which are the fourth-most in the Big Ten. Hoffman owns a .209 batting average against and has 19 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings to only three walks.

MCCAFFERY’S DOUBLE DUTY
Redshirt freshman multi-sport athlete Connor McCaffery made his Iowa debut against Cal-State Northridge on March 16 as a pinch hitter. McCaffery made his first career start in game three of the series, finishing 3-for- 4 with two doubles.
• McCaffery was a reserve guard for the Iowa men’s basketball team that nearly completed a 25-point comeback win over second-seeded Tennessee on March 24, but fell in overtime in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. McCaffery finished the season averaging 4.4 points and 3.0 assists in 34 games.
• McCaffery is believed to be the first Hawkeye since the late 1980s to play both basketball and baseball at Iowa since Randy Norton (79-82), Todd Berkenpas (82-85) Tom Norman (1979), and Kurt Stange (1983-86).
• Basketball-baseball combinations are rare. A select few who have done it recently are Notre Dame’s Pat Connaughton and Washington State’s Mark Hendrickson as pitchers. Other notables are Chris Young (Princeton), Kenny Lofton (Arizona), and Tony Gwynn (San Diego State).

DON’T COUNT ‘EM OUT
The Hawkeyes have posted nine come-from-behind victories this season, including two in walk-off fashion.
• In two of three games against No. 23 Illinois, Iowa overcame one-run deficits to complete the sweep.
• Iowa scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth against Bradley after trailing 2-0 for the first seven inning to win 4-2.
• Junior Grant Judkins had a pinch-hit, RBI double, giving the Hawkeyes a 5-4 walk-off win over Cal-State Northridge on March 17. Iowa trailed 4-3 heading into the ninth.
• Iowa posted its second walk-off win of the season against Chicago State. Trailing 4-3 entering the ninth, Austin Martin’s RBI double tied the score at four and Ben Norman’s fly ball to centerfield was misplayed, giving the Hawkeyes their 11th win.
• The Hawkeyes have overcome deficits to win 42 games since the start of the 2017 season and posted 11 walkoffs. Twenty-four of those victories have come with Iowa trailing or being tied entering or through seven innings. Sixteen have come in the final at-bat.

BANKS MAGIC
• The Hawkeyes are 85-23 at home since the start of the 2015 season.
• Iowa won 20 games last season, the second-most in a single-season in school history, trailing only the 22 wins in 1977.
• Iowa has 15 walk-off victories at Duane Banks Field since the start of 2015.

ON THE MEND
• Sophomore Ben Probst will miss the remainder of the season with a partial tear to his UCL. He suffered the injury at Hawaii on Feb. 23.
• Junior Hunter Lee made just two appearances before going down because of injury. He had season-ending surgery in March.
• Sophomore Jack Dreyer is out with a shoulder injury. He left his start at Hawaii after three innings.
• Sophomore Tanner Padgett re-injured his hamstring on March 20. He initially suffered the injury in the series finale at Oklahoma State.

COACHING STAFF CHANGES
Iowa welcomed Robin Lund and Tom Gorzelanny to the Hawkeye coaching staff after Desi Druschel and Joe Migliaccio accepted positions within the New York Yankees organization. Lund, who served as the volunteer hitting coach for the Northern Iowa softball program in 2018 and UNI’s volunteer strength and conditioning coach under Heller in 2005-06, replaces Migliaccio as the team’s hitting coach. Gorzelanny, who pitched for six MLB teams over a 12-year span, replaces Druschel as the team’s volunteer pitching coach.

TEAM CAPTAINS
Three seniors — Mitchell Boe, Cole McDonald, and Chris Whelan — and redshirt junior Kyle Shimp were voted team captains in January. Shimp is a team captain for a second straight season.

IOWA BY THE NUMBERS
• Offensively, Iowa returns 41.9 percent (133-317) of its runs, 46.1 percent (218-472) of its hits, 38.9 percent (37-95) of its doubles, 21.9 percent (9-41) of its home runs, 40.3 percent (113-280) of its RBIs, and 58.9 percent (23-39) of its stolen bases.
• On the mound, Iowa has three starters — RHP Cole McDonald, LHP Jack Dreyer, and RHP Grant Judkins — and 10 pitchers returning. The Hawkeyes have 45.4 percent (15-33) of their wins, 45.4 percent (214 of 471 1/3) of their innings, 46.2 percent (231-499) of their strikeouts, and 18.1 percent (2-11) of their saves back in 2019.

CHAMPIONSHIP HAWKEYES
• Chris Whelan and Lorenzo Elion won a Prospect League championship with the Terre Haute Rex in 2018. The Rex defeated Kokomo, 11-3, to claim their second title in four seasons.
• Mitchell Boe led the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders to their first Northwoods League title with a 4-3 victory over Duluth.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN
• Iowa’s 35-man roster features six freshmen, eight sophomores, 14 juniors, and seven seniors. Fifteen newcomers (five freshman and 10 transfers) joined Iowa’s roster this season.
• The Hawkeyes come from seven different states: 22 from Iowa, eight from Illinois, and one from Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Kansas, and California.
• Iowa has two sets of junior college teammates. Zeb Adreon, Austin Martin, and Trace Hoffman were teammates at Southeastern CC, while Izaya Fullard, Hunter Lee, Adam Ketelsen, and Jake McLaughlin were teammates at Kirkwood CC. Junior Lorenzo Elion also played with Lee, Ketelsen, and McLaughlin at Kirkwood in 2017.
• The Hawkeyes also have two sets of teammates who played together in high school. Freshmen Brendan Sher and Duncan Davitt were teammates at Indianola, while Izaya Fullard and Connor McCaffery were teammates at Iowa City West.

#HELLERBALL
• UI head coach Rick Heller is one of nine coaches all-time to lead three different NCAA Division I teams to regional play.
• Heller recorded his 800th career win against Lehigh on March 12 at the Snowbird Classic in Florida.
• The Hawkeyes have won 30 or more games in each of Heller’s five seasons as the helm of the program. It’s a first for the team since winning 30 or more in seven straight seasons from 1979-85.
• Heller has led the Hawkeyes to two NCAA Regional appearances in three seasons; the program had three regional appearances in its history prior to his arrival.
• Heller is fourth in school history in career wins with 173 in his four seasons at Iowa, including the second (41) and fifth-most (39) in school history.
• Heller led Iowa to its first Big Ten Tournament title in 2017 — the first conference title since 1990 — and he guided the Hawkeyes to the Big Ten Tournament title game in consecutive seasons. Iowa has advanced to the league tournament in five straight years for the first time in program history.
• Heller has coached at least one first-team All-Big Ten selection each season, and has 20 Major League Baseball Draft picks in four seasons — the most in a five-year stretch in school history.
• Iowa had a school-record six All-Big Ten selections in 2015 and five in 2017. The Hawkeyes have had 22 All- Big Ten honorees in five seasons under Heller.
• Iowa has posted winning streaks of nine games (in 2015) and eight games (in 2017) — the longest streaks for the program since 2012.

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.

SEASON TICKETS ON SALE
Season tickets for the 2019 season home schedule are on sale now through the UI Athletics Ticket Office online at hawkeyesports.com or at 800-IA-HAWKS. Reserved and general admission adult tickets are $75, while general admission youth tickets are $40. Fans can also purchase a “30-block” season ticket, priced at $99, where tickets can be used at any game or combination of games throughout the season.