Game Notes -- vs. No. 18 UC Irvine

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

THIS WEEK
• The University of Iowa baseball team hosts No. 18 UC Irvine in a nonconference clash at Duane Banks Field this weekend, May 3-5.  It is the Anteaters first-ever trip to the state of Iowa.
• The series opener is set for 6:05 p.m. (CT) on Friday with Saturday’s game two at 2:05 p.m. and Sunday’s series finale at 1:05 p.m. 

SERIES PROMOTIONS
Friday: American Sign Language Night. First 200 fans will receive a free T-shirt. Baseball Bingo.
Saturday: Junior Hawk Club Day, Have a Catch – play catch on the field postgame.
Sunday: Autism Awareness and Acceptance Day, Kids can run the bases postgame.

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 and Steve Duncan on the call. The games can be heard on Hawkeye All-Access/TuneIn Radio.
Friday: AM 800 KXIC Iowa City, KMJM 1360 AM in Cedar Rapids, KDEC-AM 1240 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: AM 800 KXIC Iowa City, 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
• Coming off an 8-7 midweek win over Western Illinois and its fifth straight Big Ten Series win at Ohio State, Iowa is 27-16 overall and 11-7 in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes are a season-high 11 games over .500 and have not lost back-to-back games since early April. 
• Iowa’s win over  Western Illinois was head coach Rick Heller’s 200th career win at the helm of the Hawkeyes. He joins three other Iowa coaches to reach the 200-win milestone. Heller is 10 wins shy of 900 career wins. 
• Junior Zeb Adreon and freshman Brendan Sher — who both hit their first career home runs against Ohio State — earned Big Ten weekly honors. Adreon was named the Big Ten Player of the Week on April 29 after hitting .556 with three doubles and five RBIs, while Sher was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week after posting a .400 average with two multi-hit games. 
• With seven wins over ranked teams this season, Iowa has won 13 games over ranked opponents since the start of the 2018 season. 
• Iowa has 15 come-from-behind victories this season with four walk-off winners. 
• Redshirt junior Grant Leonard (2-1, 1.88 ERA), who is on the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason List, is a perfect 11-for-11 in save opportunities, which are the second-most in the Big Ten Conference. Leonard needs two more saves to tie Iowa’s single-season saves record (Kevin Lee, 2010), while his 13 career saves are tied for the sixth-most in Hawkeye history. 
• Senior outfielder Chris Whelan has the second-best OBP of .462 in the Big Ten, while ranking third in walks (31) and fourth in hit-by-pitches (11). 
• Junior Grant Judkins owns the third-best ERA (2.11) in the Big Ten, having pitched five or more innings in 11 starts and allowing three or more earned runs in just three starts.  
 • Iowa’s 50 stolen bases are the third-most in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes only swiped 39 bags last season. Ben Norman leads Iowa with 10 steals and Tanner Wetrich has eight, while six other Hawkeyes have swiped at least three bags. 
• Iowa is 16-4 at Duane Banks Field this season, running its home record to  90-24 since 2015.  

QUICK HITTERS
• Iowa is 16-6 in games decided by two runs or less and 14-1 when scoring first. 
• Iowa is 8-2 in its last 10 games, hitting .298 while scoring 6.5 runs per game and limiting opponents to 4.5 runs on a .249 clip. The Hawkeyes have recorded 10 or more hits in seven of their last 10 games, including 16 in game two of an 11-4 win at Ohio State. 
• The Hawkeyes rank second in double plays turned (36), third in on-base percentage (.368), third in walks (199), and fourth in batting average (.268) in the Big Ten.
• Iowa’s 36 double plays are 45th in the nation.
• Junior catcher Austin Martin’s team-leading .316 batting average is 13th-best in the conference and tops amongst Big Ten catchers. 
• Freshman infielder Brendan Sher has recorded three multi-hit games in his last five contests and is hitting a team-best .474 (9-for-19) in that span.
• Junior Zeb Adreon is hitting .429 (9-for-21) in his last eight games, while slugging .739 with four doubles and one home run. 
• Junior outfielder Ben Norman, who leads Iowa with 30 RBIs, is the only Hawkeye to start all 43 games.
• Junior Lorenzo Elion recorded his first multi-RBI game, driving in three runs in Iowa’s 8-7 win over Western Illinois on May 1.

SCOUTING UC IRVINE
• Coached by Ben Orloff, UC Irvine is 28-11 overall and 7-3 in its last 10 games. The Anteaters are ranked in all four polls: D1Baseball (25), NCBWA (22), Collegiate Baseball (18), and Baseball America (19). From the Big West Conference, UC Irvine is 0-4 against top-25 opponents.
• UC Irvine has won 10 of its 11 weekend series, including six series sweeps.
• The Anteaters boast one of the best pitching staffs in the nation with all three starters owning sub-3.00 ERAs. UC Irvine’s seven shutouts are third most in the nation, while also ranking top-10 in the country in walks (2.71) and hits (7.26) allowed per game, strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.16), and WHIP (1.11).
• RHP Andre Pallante will start on Friday with RHP Trenton Denholm starting on Saturday. UC Irvine’s third starter is to be determined. UC Irvine’s usual rotation of Pallente, Denholm, and Tanner Brubajer have combined to go 19-7 in 32 starts with a 2.42 ERA and 172 K’s in 204.2 innings.
• UC Irvine’s pitching prowess ends with Taylor Rashi who was selected to the NCBWA’s Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List. Rashi has a 32-inning scoreless streak with 11 saves, a .116 batting average against, and 37 strikeouts to only two walks in 26 innings.
• Offensively, the Anteaters’ .252 batting average is eighth-best in their conference, while their on-base percentage sits at .371. Brandon Lewis lead the UC Irvine offense with a .348 batting average and a 36-game on-base streak. 

SERIES RESULTS
• This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools. 
• Iowa is 4-3 against Big West opponents — 2-1 vs. Cal-State Northridge, 2-2 vs. Hawaii — this season.  UC Irvine is 5-1. 

ADREON, SHER EARN B1G WEEKLY HONORS
• Junior Zeb Adreon was named Big Ten Player of the Week and freshman Brendan Sher was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on April 29.
• The duo — who each hit their first career home runs — is Iowa’s second and third player to earn Big Ten weekly honors this season. 
• Adreon doubled in three straight games against Ohio State and hit .556 with three runs scored and five RBIs in four games to earn his first career weekly honor. 
• Adreon is Iowa’s first Player of the Week honor since Jake Adams in 2017.
• Sher started four straight games, hit .400 (6-for-15) with two multi-hit games, and posted a .667 slugging percentage to earn his first career weekly honor. 
• Sher is Iowa’s first Freshman of the Week since Robert Neustrom in 2016.

HELLER JOINS IOWA’S 200-CLUB
• In Iowa’s 8-7 win over Western Illinois, head coach Rick Heller became the fourth Hawkeye to reach 200 wins at the University of Iowa.
• It took Heller just six seasons to amass 200 wins, winning at least 30 games in each of his first five seasons, including a career-best 41 wins in 2015.

BIG TEN RACE
• After getting swept to start the Big Ten season, the Hawkeyes have won five straight conference series to own a 11-7 record for fourth place in the Big Ten.
• Iowa’s latest series win came at Ohio State — its second series win on the road — and the first in Columbus since 2011. 
• Michigan (11-3), Indiana (11-4), and Nebraska (12-6) own the top three spots in the Big Ten standings. 
• Behind Iowa sits Maryland (8-7), Minnesota (8-7), Ohio State (7-8), Rutgers (7-8), Purdue (6-8), and Northwestern (6-9). 

RPI UPDATE
• Iowa enters this weekend’s series with an RPI of 60. UC Irvine’s RPI is 53. Three Big Ten schools are inside the top-60 RPI: Illinois (25), Nebraska (38), and Michigan (34).
• The Hawkeyes are 8-8 against top-50 RPI teams. 

COLE MCDONALD IN THE BIG TEN
• In six Big Ten starts, Friday night starter Cole McDonald is 3-0 with a 2.52 ERA, striking out 37 in 39 1/3 innings.  McDonald’s ERA is ninth-best in league play, while his 37 strikeouts are the seventh most. 
• McDonald has registered four straight quality starts in conference play and five total for the season.
• The senior from New Hampton, Iowa, went 1-3 in five nonconference starts with a 5.47 ERA.
• In nine total starts this season, McDonald’s ERA sits at a season-best 3.66 ERA with a team-leading 58 strikeouts. 

BACK AT THE TOP
• Senior Chris Whelan saw 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 18 games since returning to the leadoff role, Whelan is hitting .373 (25-for-67) with a .494 on-base percentage, both of which lead the team. Whelan was hitting .210 (13-for-62) with a .430 OBP in 25 games not in the leadoff spot.
• Whelan’s batting average has risen 95 points since March 26 when his average dipped to a season-low .200.
• The Hawkeyes are 12-6 since Whelan’s return to the leadoff role and Iowa has averaged 6.0 runs in those games, compared to 4.9 when he was not batting leadoff. 
• Whelan leads the team in on-base percentage (.462), walks (31), hit-by-pitches (11), and is tied for the team lead in doubles (10). 
• Whelan’s 14 RBIs in Big Ten play are tied for the most on the team and fifth-most in the conference. 

LEONARD NAMED TO NCBWA STOPPER OF THE YEAR MIDSEASON LIST
• Redshirt junior Grant Leonard has relished in Iowa’s closer role, going a perfect 11-for-11 in save opportunities, to earn a spot on the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason List. 
• The junior right-hander has a team-leading 11 saves, which are the second-most in the Big Ten and tied for the seventh-most in the nation. 
• Leonard’s 11 saves this season are the second most in a single season behind Kevin Lee’s 13 set in 2010, while his 13 career saves are tied for the sixth most in school history.
• Leonard’s 14-inning scoreless streak was snapped against Western Illinois. Still, he owns a 1.88 ERA in 21 appearances, spanning 24 innings  with 26 strikeouts and eight walks. 

IOWA SINGLE-SEASON SAVES 
1.    Kevin Lee (2010)    13
2.    Grant Leonard (2019)    11

IOWA CAREER SAVES
1.    Kurt Belger (1993-97)    22
2.    Tim Gudex (2004-06)    20
3.    Reed Pawelk (2000-03)    18
4.    Nick Hibbing (2012-15)    17
5.    Kevin Lee (2008-11)    14
6.    Josh Martsching (2013-17)    13
    Grant Leonard (2017-pres.)    13

JUNIOR GRANT JUDKINS… 
• ranks third in the Big Ten with a 2.11 ERA.
• has posted six quality starts (vs. Marshall, vs. CSUN, at Indiana, vs. Illinois, at Purdue, vs. No. 30 Nebraska, at Ohio State) in 11 chances. 
• has allowed three or more earned runs just three times in 11 starts.
• pitched five or more innings in all 11 starts along with  four starts of seven or more innings. 
• ranks fourth in the Big Ten, allowing 6.28 hits per nine innings.
• owns a .208 batting average against, which is the best amongst Iowa’s starting pitchers and tied for the sixth-best in the Big Ten.

SOPHOMORE CAM BAUMANN…
• has posted all three of his wins in Big Ten play, going 3-1 with a 4.85 ERA in six league starts.  
• has two quality starts in wins over Illinois and Rutgers. 
• has two games with seven or more strikeouts — vs. Cal State Northridge (8) and Nebraska (7).

THE HAWKEYES ARE…
• 16-6 in games decided by two runs or less.
• 14-1 when scoring first.
• 15-2 when scoring 6+ runs and 7-0 when scoring 10+ runs.
• 16-2 when leading after six innings and 5-14 when trailing after six innings. 

ON THE BUMP
• Iowa’s 4.09 ERA ranks sixth in the Big Ten. 
• Iowa ranks eighth in the Big Ten with 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings, but Iowa’s 4.54  walks per nine innings rank ninth in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes rank seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.86). 
• The Hawkeye staff is allowing 8.46  hits per nine innings, which ranks fifth-best in the Big Ten and 65th nationally.

BACK END OF THE BULLPEN
The Hawkeye bullpen has held opposing hitters to a .246 average over 168 innings with 168 strikeouts. 
• Grant Leonard has converted all 11 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.
• Trace Hoffman (5-1, 3.81 ERA) has been one of Iowa’s go-to guys out of the bullpen, leading the team with 23 appearances, which are the second-most in the Big Ten. Hoffman has 25 strikeouts in 28.1 innings to only five walks. Hoffman has allowed only eight runners to score in 29 chances. 
• Senior Shane Ritter has been effective as of late, holding hitters to a .111 batting average in his last five appearances to lower his ERA to 1.29. Ritter picked up the win in Iowa’s 12-inning affair against Milwaukee. 
• Freshman Duncan Davitt has held hitters to a .216 batting average out of the ‘pen with 15 strikeouts in 19.2 innings. 

JENKS MAGIC
Senior outfielder Justin Jenkins was Iowa’s hero in its 5-4 walk-off in 12 innings over Milwaukee. The Terre Haute, Indiana, native hit Iowa’s first walk-off home run since Tyler Cropley’s in 2018 over No. 7 Michigan to win the game. Jenkins’ heroics started in the top of the 12th by preserving a 4-4 tie after making a catch in shallow center field and firing home to gun down a Milwaukee base runner at the plate to complete the inning-ending double play. 

NOW THAT’S A 2-OUT RALLY
During Iowa’s 17-9 victory over Nebraska on April 20, the Hawkeyes scored eight runs in the fifth inning and five more in the sixth — all with two outs.  Iowa had 16 two-out RBIs in the game, hit .565 with two outs, and had a .529 average with runners in scoring position in the game. 
• The eight-run inning was Iowa’s largest of the season and the 17 total runs were the most scored in a Big Ten game since beating Purdue, 17-5, on May 17, 2014.

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).

MASTERS OF THE MIDWEEK
• Iowa is 7-2 in midweek contests this season to move to 32-7 in midweek contests since the start of 2016. 

DON’T COUNT ‘EM OUT
The Hawkeyes have posted 15 come-from-behind victories this season, including four in walk-off fashion.
• Trailing 3-1 through three innings, Iowa came back against Western Illinois, scoring four runs in the fourth inning and three in the sixth to win 8-7.
• Iowa’s first walk-off home run since 2018 came off the bat of senior Justin Jenkins in the bottom of the 12th against Milwaukee. It was Jenkins’ second career home run that lifted Iowa to a 5-4 win. 
• Junior Zeb Adreon added his name to the list of walk-off heroes with a single in the bottom of the ninth to beat No. 30 Nebraska in game one of the series. 
• Iowa battled back to beat Northern Illinois, 8-6, after trailing 3-0 through two innings and 5-3 through four. 
• 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 center field was misplayed, giving the Hawkeyes their 11th win.
• The Hawkeyes have overcome deficits to win 44 games since the start of the 2017 season and posted 11 walk-offs.  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 90-24 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 for the remainder of the season 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.
• Senior Mitchell Boe is out indefinitely after suffering three facial breaks, which required surgery, on April 28 at Ohio State. He collided with Zeb Adreon on a shallow fly ball in right field.  Boe had started 39 games this season and 166 games as a Hawkeye. He has appeared in 186 career games.

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.