Notes: Iowa Heads to Texas for Kleberg Bank Classic

MATCHUP	Iowa at Kleberg Bank Classic
LOCATION	Whataburger Field | Corpus Christi, Texas
DATE	Feb. 25-27, 2022
WATCH	FloBaseball
LISTEN	Hawkeye Radio Network | The Varsity Network
LIVE STATS	Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
STARTING ROTATION
Game 1 | Feb. 25 vs. Pepperdine | 2 p.m.	UI: RHP Adam Mazur (1-0, 1.50 ERA) PEPP: RHP Brandon Llewellyn (0-0, 1.50 ERA)
Game 2 | Feb. 26 vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi | 6 p.m.	UI: RHP Connor Schultz (0-0, 2.25 ERA) TAMUCC: RHP Leo Perez (0-0, 3.00 ERA)
Game 3 | Feb. 27 vs. Wichita State | 11 a.m.	UI: RHP Marcus Morgan (0-0, 0.00 ERA) WSU: RHP Will Stevens (0-1, 18.00 ERA)

 

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa baseball team travels to the Lone Star State for the Kleberg Bank Classic from Feb. 25-27 in Corpus Christi, Texas. The Hawkeyes will face Pepperdine on Friday at 2 p.m. (CT), the host school Texas A&M Corpus Christi at 6 p.m. on Saturday and Wichita State at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
• All three games will be played at Whataburger Field, the home of the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks, an affiliate of the Houston Astros.

WATCH/LISTEN LIVE
• All three games will be streamed via FloBaseball ($).
• All three games will be broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network with John Evans on the call. Fans can access the stream free by downloading The Varsity Network.
• Live stats will be available on hawkeyesports.com and live updates will be available on Twitter (@UIBaseball).

LEADING OFF
• The Hawkeyes opened the season by going 3-0 at the Swig & Swine Classic in Charleston, South Carolina. It is Iowa’s first 3-0 start since the 2018 season.
• Iowa outscored the three opponents, 26-3, in the three games and the pitching staff posted a 1.00 ERA, allowing just three runs on six hits and fanning 46. The staff had a 1-hitter vs. Air Force, a 2-hitter vs. Ball State and a 3-hitter vs. Bucknell.
• Redshirt sophomore Adam Mazur was selected as the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week and redshirt freshman Keaton Anthony was tabbed as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Feb. 23. Mazur allowed one hit against Air Force, fanned nine and retired the final 16 Falcons he faced. Anthony hit .444 with two home runs, two doubles and five RBIs on the weekend.
• The Hawkeyes are picked as an NCAA Regional team by D1Baseball.com and Baseball America in 2022 and are tabbed to finish in the top four of the Big Ten standings. Mazur is a preseason All-Big Ten selection by Perfect Game, while RHP Marcus Morgan was tabbed as D1Baseball’s Preseason Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
• In their debuts, first-time Hawkeye starters Adam Mazur, Connor Schultz and Marcus Morgan went 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA at the Swig & Swine Classic. The trio logged 14 innings, striking out 24, while allowing two runs on four hits.
• Nedved was also named to the NCBWA Closer of the Year Watch List. He tied for second in the Big Ten with nine saves last season.
• Senior Dylan Nedved and redshirt sophomores Adam Mazur and Peyton Williams were named Big Ten Players to Watch. The Hawkeyes were picked to finish third in a vote of the league’s head coaches.
• Iowa has advanced to the postseason in six of Heller’s eight seasons (there was no Big Ten/NCAA Tournament in 2020 and no Big Ten Tournament in 2021 because of COVID). He has led the Hawkeyes to two NCAA Regional appearances (2015, 2017).

OF NOTE
• Redshirt senior Izaya Fullard missed the opening weekend because of injury. The North Liberty, Iowa, native will be out 4-5 weeks, recovering from surgery to his hamate bone.
• Fullard closed out the 2021 season riding a career-long 27 game reached base streak. It was the longest streak by a Hawkeye in 2021.
• Redshirt sophomore Brayden Frazier and redshirt junior Brendan Sher hit safely in all three games at the Swig & Swine Classic.
• Five Hawkeyes — Frazier, Sher, Peyton Williams, Keaton Anthony and Brett McCleary — reached base safely in all three contests in Charleston.
• Fourteen players made their Hawkeye debuts during the opening weekend of the season in South Carolina.
• Iowa scored 12 runs in the season-opening victory over Air Force. They were the most runs on Opening Day since 2019.
• Iowa committed just one error in the first three games of the season, giving the team a .989 fielding percentage.
• Redshirt sophomore Peyton Williams will play with the Cotuit Kettleers in June in the Cape Cod League.
• Iowa’s 2022 newcomer class (transfers and freshman) is rated as the 23rd-best recruiting class in the country by D1Baseball.com.

TRADING PLACES
Sunday’s Iowa-Wichita State game features players competing in opposite dugouts in 2022. • Shocker LHP Adam Ketelsen pitched for the Hawkeyes from 2019-21 before electing to play his final season in Wichita as a graduate transfer. Ketelsen is a native of Mount Vernon, Iowa.
• Iowa RHP Casey Day transfered to Wichita State following a two-year stint at Kirkwood Community College. The Ely, Iowa, native didn’t pitch for the Shockers in 2021 after missing the season due to Tommy John surgery.

KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
Iowa’s pitching staff finished with 20 strikeouts in the game two victory over Ball State on Feb. 19. The 20 punch outs are tied for the second-most in a single game in the nation this season.
• The Hawkeyes struck out 46 batters during the three games at the Swig & Swine Classic, averaging 15.3 strikeouts per nine innings. The figure is fourth nationally.
• Adam Mazur and Connor Schultz both tallied nine strikeouts in their Hawkeye debuts. Schultz surpassed 200 career strikeouts, giving him 202 in his career.

1-2-3
• The Hawkeye pitching staff posted a one-hitter against Air Force on Feb. 18, a two-hitter against Ball State on Feb. 19 and a three-hitter against Bucknell on Feb. 20. Iowa’s 1-hitter was the first for the program since 2019 (vs. Simpson, 7-2 win). Iowa surrendered three hits or less in three games in 2021 (in 44 contests).
• Ten Iowa pitchers combined to allow just three runs on six hits and struck out 46 in 27 innings at the Swig & Swine Classic.
• Iowa is currently leading the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (2.0), while ranking fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (15.3), fifth in ERA (1.00) and sixth in WHIP (0.74).
• The Hawkeyes are first in the Big Ten in seven categories, including ERA, shutouts, hits allowed, runs/earned runs allowed, strikeouts and opposing batting average.

MAZUR’S HAWKEYE DEBUT
Sophomore Adam Mazur gave up a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning of his Hawkeye debut against Air Force, but he didn’t give up anything else.
• Mazur followed by retiring the final 16 batters he faced in the Hawkeyes’ 12-2 victory over the Falcons on Feb. 18. The Minnesota native allowed one hit, one run and fanned nine without surrendering a walk to notch the victory.
• Mazur was selected as the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 23.

KEATON’S BIG WEEKEND
Redshirt freshman Keaton Anthony had a career performance in his third career game in Iowa’s 11-1 victory over Ball State on Feb. 19. The Georgia native went 4-for-4 with two doubles, two home runs, four runs and five RBIs.
• Anthony hit .444 (4-of-9) with five runs and five RBIs in the three games and finished with a .583 on-base and 1.333 slugging percentage en route to being named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Feb. 23.

TY’S FIRST W
Sophomore Ty Langenberg, who was in a tightly-contested battle for the Sunday starter rotation spot, earned his first career win against Bucknell on Feb. 20. The Urbandale, Iowa, native scattered two hits over 3 2/3 shutout innings, where he had four strikeouts to one walk.

EARLY OFFENSE
• The Hawkeyes scored 26 runs in three games, averaging 8.67 runs per contest.
• Iowa hit .327 as a team during the opening weekend and had 13 extra-base hits, including four home runs.
• Five different Hawkeyes hit .333 or better in the three games with redshirt sophomore Peyton Williams leading the way with a .455 average (5-for-11).
• Williams hit his ninth career home run in the season opener against Air Force, finishing 4-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored. The four hits tied a career high.
• Freshman Sam Petersen hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning against the Falcons for his first career hit.

FRESHMEN DEBUTS
• Freshman Brody Brecht was the first pitcher out of the bullpen in Game 2 against Ball State on Feb. 19. The Ankeny, Iowa, native earned the win, tossing four innings of hitless, scorless relief. Brecht fanned seven, while issuing three walks.
• Freshman Marcus Morgan went four innings against Bucknell on Feb. 20, allowing one hit and fanning six. He wasn’t involved in the decision.

OFFENSIVE NOTES
• Redshirt sophomore Sam Hojnar hit .667 (4-of-6) in three games. He went 3-for-4 with a double in his first career start against Bucknell on Feb. 20.
• Seven different Hawkeyes tallied multi-hit games during the opening weekend.

THE MEN IN RELIEF
• Redshirt sophomore Will Christophersen struck out the side plus one in his first appearance as a Hawkeye. He fanned four batters in the ninth in the win over Ball State on Feb. 19.
• Senior Dylan Nedved got the four-out save against Bucknell to complete his first save of the season. It was Nedved’s 10th career save, which is the 10th-most in program history.
• Iowa’s relievers went 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA over 13 innings at the Swig & Swine Classic. The staff allowed one run on two hits and struck out 22.

FRONTLINE TRANSFERS
Iowa added a pair of Friday night starters to the 2022 roster as transfers in RHP Adam Mazur (South Dakota State) and RHP Connor Schultz (Butler).
• Mazur, who was tabbed as a first-team All-Big Ten selection by Perfect Game, went 3-9 with a 5.50 ERA in 16 starts in two seasons with the Jackrabbits. The Minnesota native had a breakout season in the Cape Cod League, going 3-0 with a 1.55 ERA in six starts en route to Cape Cod All-League honors.
• Mazur is rated as the No. 89 player on MLB.com’s top-100 draft prospects, while being the No. 2 draft prospect in Big Ten and No. 61 nationally by D1Baseball.com.
• Schultz is a graduate pitcher from Butler University where he went 13-9 with a 3.79 ERA in four collegiate seasons. The Cedar Falls, Iowa, native was a first-team All-Big East selection in 2019 and was the Big East Preseason Pitcher of the Year in 2020. Schultz battled hip injuries in each of the past two seasons.

FRESHMEN PHENOMS
The Hawkeyes signed a pair of high-end pitchers in freshman right-handers Brody Brecht and Marcus Morgan. Brecht is from Ankeny, Iowa; Morgan is from Iowa City.
• Brecht is rated as the top incoming recruit in the Big Ten and No. 9 nationally by Perfect Game, while being tabbed as the No. 4 impact recruit in the Big Ten by D1Baseball.com.
• Morgan was named D1Baseball.com’s Preseason Big Ten Freshman of the Year and the top impact freshman in the league.
• Morgan is the first freshman to be in the starting rotation to start the season under head coach Rick Heller. (LHP Jack Dreyer started four games (late in the season) during his true freshman season in 2018.)

NEDVED NAMED TO Stopper OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST
Senior Dylan Nedved has been named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List for the 2022 season. The Kansas native went 4-1 with a 4.19 ERA with nine saves over 20 appearances last season. The nine saves ranked second in the Big Ten Conference.

WHO’S AT FIRST? PEYTON IS AT FIRST.
Redshirt sophomore Peyton Williams returns to Iowa’s roster for this third season as a starter after battling injuries throughout much of the 2021 season. The Johnston, Iowa, native still managed to start 36 games last season, where he hit .295 with 15 doubles, six home runs, 27 RBIs and 34 runs scored. Williams, who led the Big Ten in walks, slashed .295/.582/.470.

IOWA BY THE NUMBERS
• Iowa returns four starters, its designated hitter, one weekend starter, eight pitchers, and 20 letterwinners in 2022.
• Offensively, the Hawkeyes return 67.1 percent (49-93) of doubles, 47.2 percent of home runs (17-36), 44 percent of runs (122-277), 43 percent of hits (163-379), 39.8 percent of RBIs (102-256), 18.1 percent of steals (8-44) and eight percent of triples (1-12).
• Iowa welcomes back third-team All-Big Ten selection Izaya Fullard (.296, 48 H, 9 2B, 21 RBIs) and redshirt sophomore first baseman Peyton Williams (.295, 15 2B, 6 HR, 27 RBIs) to headline the offense. Redshirt sophomore Brayden Frazier had 10 doubles in 31 games, while hitting .325 in 80 at-bats.
• On the mound, Iowa returns weekend starter LHP Cam Baumann, who went 5-5 with a 4.19 ERA as the team’s Sunday starter in 2021.
• Senior RHP Dylan Nedved has shifted solely to the mound after being a two-way player last season. Nedved led the team and ranked second in the Big Ten with nine saves. He finished the season with a 4-1 record and a 4.19 ERA over 34 1/3 innings.
• Iowa has 81.8 percent of its saves (9-11), 53.8 percent of its wins (14-26), 53.4 percent of its innings (186 1/3-384 2/3) and 42.1 percent of its strikeouts (164-390) returning.

SCOUTING PEPPERDINE
• The Waves head to Texas with 4-0 record after sweeping Villanova during Week 1 before riding a six-run ninth inning to rally for a 7-5 road win at No. 21 UCLA on Tuesday.
• Pepperdine was picked to finish fifth in the West Coast Conference Preseason Poll.
• Infielder John Peck, who was a preseason All-WCC team selection, is leading the team with a .500 (8-of-16) average with two home runs, two doubles and 10 RBIs. Pepperdine is hitting .288 as a team with 10 extra-base hits.
• RHP Brandon Llewellyn will start against Iowa. He wasn’t involved in the decision against Villanova, but he logged six innings, allowing one run on one hit, while fanning four.

SCOUTING TEXAS A&M CORPUS CHRISTI
• The Islanders bring a 2-3 record into the Kleberg Bank Classic. Corpus won two of three games at UT Arlington last weekend before dropping a pair of midweek home games against No. 1 Texas (12-0, 5-4) on Tuesday and Wednesday.
• The Islanders were picked to finish fourth in the Southland Conference Preseason Poll. TAMUCC has five players on the league’s preseason all-conference team.

SCOUTING WICHITA STATE
• The Shockers are currently 0-4 this season after getting swept at Louisiana Tech and losing a midweek game Tuesday at Oklahoma. Oklahoma will play a road game at Texas State on Thursday afternoon.
• Wichita State was picked to finish fourth in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Poll. First baseman Garrett Kocis and RHP Jace Kaminska were both preseason all-league selections. Kaminska was a freshman All-American, the AAC Newcomer Pitcher of the Year and a second-team All-American in 2021.
• Wichita State is hitting .225 over four games with just eight extra base hits. The Shockers have scored a total of 12 runs in the four contests.
• The Shocker pitching staff has a 7.03 ERA, allowing 25 runs (22 earned) on 33 hits over 32 innings. The staff has 37 strikeouts against 22 walks. RHP Will Stevens (0-1, 18.00 ERA) will start against Iowa.

SERIES RECORDS
• This is the first meeting all-time between Iowa and Pepperdine.
• The Hawkeyes are 2-1 all-time against the Islanders. Iowa split a pair of games against the Islanders in 2011 in Lubbock, Texas, and the Hawkeyes won a road game at Corpus Christi, 4-2, in 2013.
• Sunday’s game is the first of two meetings between Iowa and Wichita State this season. The team two teams will also square off on March 4 in Frisco, Texas.
• Iowa is 0-11 all-time against the Shockers with the most recent meeting coming in 2013. Wichita State won 5-3 in Little Rock, Arkansas.

TEAM CAPTAINS
Seniors Cam Baumann, Brett McCleary and Nedved, redshirt junior Brendan Sher and redshirt sophomores Brayden Frazier and Ty Snep were voted team captains for the 2022 season.

DON’T COUNT ‘EM OUT
The Hawkeyes have overcome deficits to win 63 games since the start of the 2017 season and posted 15 walk-offs. Thirty of those victories have come with Iowa trailing or being tied entering or through seven innings. Twenty have come in the final at-bat.
• The Hawkeyes overcame deficits in 19 games in 2021. The team was 12-7 in such contests.

30 WINS X 6
Since head coach Rick Heller’s first season in 2014, the Hawkeyes have reached the 30-win plateau in six seasons. It was the program’s longest stretch since posting seven straight 30-win seasons from 1979-85.
2014: 30-23
2015: 41-18 (2nd-most wins all-time)
2016: 30-26
2017: 39-22 (5th-most wins all-time)
2018: 33-20
2019: 31-24
2020: 10-5 (*pandemic shortened)
2021: 28-16 (*Big Ten-only schedule)

BANKS MAGIC
• The Hawkeyes are 105-33 at home since the start of the 2015 season.
• Iowa won 19 games in 2019, the third-most in a single-season in school history, trailing only the 22 wins in 1977 and 20 wins in 2018.
• Iowa has 17 walk-off victories at Duane Banks Field since the start of 2015.

SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
• Iowa will play 25 home contests at Duane Banks Field with its home opener scheduled for March 1 against Loras College
• The Hawkeyes will travel the first four weekends of the regular season, playing tournaments in South Carolina (Swig & Swine Classic), Corpus Christi, Texas (Kleberg Bank Classic), Frisco, Texas (Frisco College Baseball Classic) and a three-game road series at UC Irvine.
• The Hawkeyes will play 15 games against 2021 NCAA Tournament teams, including three-game home series against Super Regional team Texas Tech and NCAA Regional qualifier Central Michigan. Iowa will play road series at NCAA Regional teams UC Irvine (3), Michigan (3) and Nebraska (3).
• After a two-year pause, the Big Ten Tournament returns in 2022 and it will be held at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska, from May 24-29.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN
• Iowa’s 42-man roster features one graduate transfer, five seniors, three juniors, 14 sophomores, two redshirt freshman and nine freshman.
• The Hawkeyes have 21 newcomers (12 transfers), including Division I transfers in Adam Mazur (South Dakota State), Connor Schultz (Butler), Jared Simpson (Missouri), Casey Day (Wichita State) and Will Christophersen (Michigan State).
• The Hawkeye roster is made up of student-athletes from 10 states and Canada — Iowa (28), Illinois (4), Wisconsin (2), Arizona (1), Georgia (1), Kansas (1), Minnesota (1), Missouri (1), Montana (1), Washington (1), Canada (1).
• Iowa has two sets of college teammates and six sets of high school teammates — Kyle Huckstorf and Jared Simpson (Iowa Western CC); Luke Llewellyn, Casey Day and Cade Moss (Kirkwood CC); Brendan Sher and Duncan Davitt (Indianola); Brett McCleary and DJ Heck (Iowa City High); Anthony Mangano and Ty Snep (Lake Zurich); Brody Brecht and Weston Fulk (Ankeny); Ty Langenberg and Gehrig Christensen (Urbandale); Peyton Williams, Cade Moss and Ben Wilmes (Johnston).

#HELLERBALL
• Head coach Rick Heller recorded his 900th career win against Grand View in a 15-2 victory on March 3, 2020, at Duane Banks Field
• Heller is one of nine coaches all-time to lead three different NCAA Division I teams to regional play.
• The Hawkeyes have won 30 or more games in each of Heller’s six full 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; the program had three regional appearances in its history prior to his arrival.
• Heller is third in school history in career wins with 243 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 six straight years for the first time in program history.
• Heller has coached at least one first-team All-Big Ten selection in six of his first eight seasons, and has 21 Major League Baseball Draft picks in seven seasons — the most in a six-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 26 All-Big Ten honorees in eight 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
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