Notes: Iowa Heads West for 3-Game Series at UC Irvine

MATCHUP	Iowa (6-5) at UC Irvine (8-5)
LOCATION	Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark
DATE	March 11-13, 2022
WATCH	ESPN+
LISTEN	Hawkeye Radio Network | The Varsity Network
LIVE STATS	Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
STARTING ROTATION
Game 1 | March 11 | 8 p.m. (CT)	UI: RHP Adam Mazur (2-0, 2.33  ERA, 21 K, 3 BB) UCI: RHP Michael Frias (2-1, 6.32 ERA)
Game 2 | March 12 | 8 p.m. (CT)	UI:  RHP Dylan Nedved (0-0, 1.80 ERA, 14 K, 4 BB) UCI: LHP Nick Pinto (0-2, 5.62 ERA)
Game 3 | March 13 | 3 p.m. (CT)	UI:  TBA UCI: RHP Danny Suarez (0-0, 3.00 ERA)

 

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa baseball team travels to the West Coast for a three-game road series at UC Irvine from March 11-13. Friday and Saturday’s games will begin at 8 p.m. (CT) followed by a 3 p.m. start Sunday. All three games will be played at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark.
• Iowa will round out the road trip with a game at San Diego State on March 15 at 8 p.m. at Tony Gywnn Stadium before returning home to host Texas Tech from March 18-20.

WATCH/LISTEN LIVE
• All three games at UC Irvine will be streamed via ESPN+ — a paid subscription service.
• 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 app.
• A majority of Iowa games can be heard on the radio on 800 AM KXIC (Iowa City), 1360 AM KMJM (Cedar Rapids), 95.9 FM KKFD (Fairfield) and 101.1 FM & 1220 AM KJAN (Atlantic).
• Live stats will be available on hawkeyesports.com and live updates will be available on Twitter (@UIBaseball).

LEADING OFF
• The Hawkeyes are 6-5 overall heading into their first three-game series of the season. This is Iowa’s first trip to California since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The Hawkeyes played three games at the Tony Gwynn Legacy Tournament, going 1-2 against San Diego State (L, 1-4), Arizona (W, 4-1) and San Diego (L, 5-10).
• Iowa’s pitching staff ranks in the top 20 in the NCAA in five different categories. The Hawkeyes are second in hits allowed per nine innings (5.22), fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (12.9), 17th in shutouts (2), 19th in WHIP (1.08) and 20th in ERA (2.56).
• The Hawkeyes are leading the Big Ten in ERA, strikeouts (141), batting average against (.167), fewest hits allowed (57) and fewest earned runs allowed (28).
• Three Hawkeyes — Dylan Nedved, Keaton Anthony and Peyton Williams — were named to the Frisco Baseball Classic All-Tournament Team in a vote of the media members in attendance.
• Redshirt sophomore Adam Mazur won back-to-back Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors during the first two weeks of the season. He is the first Hawkeye pitcher to earn consecutive Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors.
• Mazur is 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA with 21 strikeouts to three walks. He is leading the Big Ten in batting average against (.138), second in innings (19.1), tied for second in wins (2), sixth in strikeouts (21) and seventh in ERA (2.33).
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten in pitching (2.56 ERA), is fourth in fielding percentage (.974) and fifth in batting (.274 average).
• Redshirt freshman Keaton Anthony has hit safely in eight straight games and has reached safely in all 11 games this season. Anthony ranks in the top six in the Big Ten in five different offensive categories this season.
• Seven of Iowa’s 11 games have been decided by three runs or fewer. The Hawkeyes are 3-4 in such contests.
• 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.
• 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
• Nineteen players on the 2022 roster have made their Hawkeye debuts during the first three weeks of the season.
• Redshirt senior Izaya Fullard has missed the first three weeks of the season 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.
• Iowa has scored 10 or more runs in two games this season — the first two games of the season. The Hawkeyes’ 12 runs in the season-opening victory over Air Force were the most on Opening Day since 2019.
• RHP Connor Schultz, who was Iowa’s Saturday starter the first two weeks of the season, missed his last start with shoulder soreness.
• Iowa’s pitching staff has allowed four runs or fewer in nine of its 11 games and five or fewer hits in six games.
• The Hawkeyes have played errorless baseball in six games this season. Iowa is 5-1 in such contests.
• 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.
• 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.

FRISCO HONORS
Three Hawkeyes – Keaton Anthony, Peyton Williams and Dylan Nedved — were named to the Frisco Classic All-Tournament Team on March 6.
• Anthony hit .385 (5-of-13) in three games with three doubles, two RBIs and three runs scored.
• Williams had a .333 (4-of-12) average with three extra base hits, including two home runs. The first baseman also made a key defensive play against Washington State, making a catch in foul territory before going into the stands. The play was a top-10 play for the week by D1Baseball.com.
• Nedved pitched a career-long 4 2/3 innings in relief against Texas A&M. He entered in the first inning with one out and the bases loaded and got out of the jam by inducing an inning-ending double play. The right-hander allowed two unearned runs and fanned a career-high nine in the outing.

MAZUR: THE ACE
Redshirt sophomore Adam Mazur has been spectacular in his first three starts as a Hawkeye. The Minnesota native is 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA with 21 strikeouts over 19 1/3 innings.
• Mazur was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 23 and March 2. He is the first Hawkeye pitcher to earn the distinction in consecutive weeks.
• The right-hander went six innings, allowing one run — a solo home run — over six innings in his debut against Air Force before retiring the final 16 batters he faced on Feb. 18.
• He logged a career-best 7 2/3 innings against Pepperdine on Feb. 25, allowing zero runs on three hits and fanning nine. He retired 10 straight at one point in the contest.
• Mazur carried a no-hitter into the sixth against Wichita State on March 4 and he retired 15 straight batters at one point.
• Mazur, who has two quality starts this season and has 21 strikeouts to three walks, has three streaks of 10 or more consecutive batters retired in three starts.
• He is leading the Big Ten in batting average against (.138), is second in innings (19.1), tied for second in wins (2), sixth in strikeouts (21) and seventh in ERA (2.33).

NEDVED JOINS ROTATION
After tossing a career-high 4 2/3 innings in relief and fanning nine against Texas A&M on March 5, senior RHP Dylan Nedved will make his first career start at UC Irvine on Saturday. The Shawnee, Kansas, native trained to be a starting pitcher in the offseason and he’ll get a chance against the Anteaters. In four appearances in 2022, Nedved is 0-0 with a 1.80 ERA, allowing four runs (two earned) on five hits with 14 strikeouts over 10 innings.

B1G’s BEST
The Hawkeye pitching staff has been superb through the first three weeks of the 2022 season. Iowa is leading the Big Ten in five categories, including ERA (2.56), shutouts (2), fewest hits (57), fewest earned runs (28), strikeouts (141) and batting average against (.167).

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 fourth-most in a single game in the nation this season.
• The Hawkeyes punched out 19 on March 2 in an 8-0 victory over Cornell College. Iowa has 10 or more strikeouts in nine of 11 games this season.
• Iowa has two of the top seven single-game strikeout totals in the NCAA this season.

IN THE B1G
Redshirt freshman Keaton Anthony ranks in the top six in the Big Ten in five offensive categories. He is third in the league in OPS (1.279), tied for third in doubles (6), fourth in OBP (.542), fifth in slugging (.737) and sixth in batting average (.421).
• Peyton Williams is sixth in the league in OPS (1.179), tied for seventh in home runs (3) and tied for eighth in doubles (5).

HEAT ALERT
Freshman RHP Brody Brecht had a hot debut in his first career appearance at Duane Banks Field. The Ankeny, Iowa, native hit triple digits on his first three pitches, going 101, 101 and 100 in a 1-2-3 inning against Cornell College on March 2.

KEA/PEY – TON
Redshirt freshman Keaton Anthony and redshirt sophomore Peyton Williams have given the Hawkeyes a formidable 1-2 punch in the middle of the lineup early in the 2022 season.
• Anthony is leading the team with a .421 average and six doubles and is tied for the team lead with nine RBIs. The Georgia native had a career performance in his third career game in Iowa’s 11-1 victory over Ball State on Feb. 19, going 4-for-4 with two doubles, two home runs, four runs and five RBIs.
• The outfielder has hit safely in nine games and he has a team-high five multi-hit contests.
• Anthony hit .444 (4-of-9) with five runs and five RBIs in the three games at the Swig & Swine Classic 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.
• Williams is second on the team with a .372 average while leading the team with three home runs and 12 runs scored. The first baseman has five doubles and nine RBIs in 11 games. The Johnson, Iowa, native has two four-hit games on the season (vs. Air Force, vs. Wichita State) and he has hit safely in six games.
• Williams hit two home runs at the Frisco Classic, including a solo shot that went 422 feet and had a 110 mph exit velocity against Washington State.

EARLY OFFENSE
• The Hawkeyes have scored 59 runs in 11 games, averaging 5.4 runs per contest. Iowa has two games with 10 or more runs and four games with 10 or more hits.
• Iowa is 4-2 when scoring first this season and 5-3 when out-hitting its opponent.

OFFENSIVE NOTES
• The Hawkeyes rank in the top six in the Big Ten in three offensive categories. The team is fifth in batting average (.274), sixth in doubles (25) and sixth in hits (104).
• Sophomore Will Mulflur hit a solo home run for his first hit as a Hawkeye on March 2 against Cornell. He is the sixth player to homer this season.
• Sophomore Anthony Mangano has hit safely in four straight games. The outfielder had a pinch-hit RBI single in the 6-5 win over Washington State on March 6.
• Redshirt sophomore Ben Tallman had three hits in his second career start, finishing 3-for-4 with two runs scored against Texas A&M on March 5.

IN DEFENSE
• Iowa boasts the fourth-best team fielding percentage in the Big Ten at .974. The Hawkeyes have committed 10 errors in 11 games, fourth-fewest in the league.
• Iowa’s middle infielders — Michael Seegers and Brendan Sher — haven’t committed an error in 65 chances.

LANGENBERG STEPS UP
After missing the Corpus Christi weekend with forearm tightness, sophomore Ty Langenberg returned in a big way at the Frisco Classic. The right-hander pitched a career-high 5 2/3 innings in relief against Washington State on March 6, allowing two runs on three hits and fanning a career-high eight.
• Langenberg is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA in two appearances. He has 12 strikeouts to one walk over 9 1/3 innings.

ODD STAT LINE
The Hawkeye pitching staff’s unique stat line to open the season came to a halt on March 2 (thankfully so).
Game 1 – 1 hit vs. Air Force
Game 2 – 2 hits vs. Ball State
Game 3 – 3 hits vs. Bucknell
Game 4 – 4 hits vs. Pepperdine
Game 5 – 5 hits vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi
Game 6 – 6 hits vs. Wichita State
Game 7 – 7 hits vs. Loras College
Game 8 – 2 hits vs. Cornell College

1-2-3-4-5-6-7
• The Hawkeye pitching staff posted a one-hitter against Air Force on Feb. 18 — the first for the program since 2019 (vs. Simpson, 7-2 win).
• Iowa has three games, allowing three or fewer hits, matching the total from the 2021 season (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.

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. The Bettendorf, Iowa, native has 11 strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings without issuing a walk.
• Senior Dylan Nedved has two four-out saves this season and his two saves are tied for second in the Big Ten lead. Nedved has 11 career saves, which are tied for ninth-most in program history.
• Nedved logged a career-best 4 2/3 innings against Texas A&M, allowing two unearned runs on three hits and fanning a career-best nine batters.
• Redshirt sophomore Casey Day got the final three outs against Washington State (3/6) to notch his first career save.
• Iowa’s relievers are 3-4 with a 1.84 ERA this season, allowing 17 runs (11 earned) on 29 hits over 53 2/3 innings. The staff has 81 strikeouts to 28 walks and is limiting hitters to a .158 average.

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 CLOSER OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST
Senior Dylan Nedved has been named to the NCBWA Closer 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.

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 UC IRVINE
• The Anteaters have won three straight and seven of their last 10 games. UC Irvine dropped two of three games at No. 13 Oregon State (winning the finale, 13-12 in 10 innings) before sweeping a midweek series against Arizona State (4-3, 3-2 (12).
• UC Irvine is 5-1 at home this season with its only defeat coming against Grand Canyon, 4-3, on Feb. 27.
• The Anteaters are only hitting .230 as a team and average 4.5 runs per game. Two players — Jacob Castro (.310) and Nathan Church (.302) are hitting over .300. Castro leads the team with 10 RBIs.
• UCI has a 3.69 team ERA with 116 strikeouts over 117 innings. The Anteaters will start RHP Michael Frias (2-1, 6.32 ERA) on Friday, LHP Nick Pinto (0-2, 5.63 ERA) on Saturday and RHP Danny Suarez (0-0, 3.00 ERA) in the series finale.
• The Anteaters were projected to finish second in the Big West Coaches Poll this season, behind Long Beach State.

SERIES RECORDS
• The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series over UC Irvine, 2-1.
• Iowa took two of three games from the Anteaters in Iowa City during the 2019 season, winning 6-3 in game one and 1-0 in game two before falling 15-4 in the series finale.

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 64 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 106-34 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.

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 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 246 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.

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