Hawkeyes Headed to South Alabama Invitational

THIS WEEK 

The University of Iowa baseball heads to Mobile, Alabama for the South Alabama Invitational. The Hawkeyes will face Southern on Friday at Noon (CT)  before squaring off against South Alabama at  6:30 p.m. on Saturday and Pepperdine at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

WATCH/LISTEN LIVE 

• The game against South Alabama will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required). 

• All three games will be broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network with John Leo and John Evans on the call. Fans can access the stream free on YouTube or by downloading The Varsity Network app. 

• Live stats will be available on hawkeyesports.com and live updates will be available on Twitter (@ UIBaseball). 

 LEADING OFF 

 • The Hawkeyes have opened the season going 6-1. It is the best start in school history since the 2018 team that started 8-1. 

• Iowa has outscored its opponents 50-20 to open the season. The pitching staff has a 2.81 ERA good for 18th in the nation and first in the Big Ten. 

• Three Hawkeyes — Keaton Anthony, Brennen Dorighi, and Raider Tello– have reached base safely in all seven games to start the season. Tello has recorded a hit in all seven contests. 

• Anthony has homered in three straight games for the Hawkeyes. He has a 23 game on base streak that dates back to last year. 

• Anthony was selected as Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday. He hit .429 at the Round Rock Classic with five runs scored, two doubles, two home runs and three RBIs. 

• The Hawkeyes are picked as an NCAA Regional team by D1Baseball.com and are tabbed to finish in the top three of the Big Ten standings by both D1Baseball and the Big Ten coaches. 

• The Hawkeyes are receiving votes in the NCBWA Top-30 and are ranked 24th in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Top-25. 

SCOUTING SOUTHERN

Southern has started the season off 4-4, going 3-1 and taking the victory at the Cactus Jack HBCU Classic and going 1-3 at the Andre Dawson Classic.  

• The Jaguars are hitting .277 as a team, being led by Jaylen Armstrong (.419) and Khyle Radcliffe (.409). 

• Southern only has 3 errors this season, and 27 putouts. 

• Opening their season, the Jaguars were one of the HBCU programs in the NCBWA Top 30 poll to be receiving votes.

SCOUTING SOUTH ALABAMA

South Alabama has started the season 5-4 with a 4-4 record at home. 

• The Jaguars are led by Will Turner who is hitting .438 with five doubles, two triples and 11 RBIs. 

• The Jaguars projected starter is Gehrig Conard who is 0-2 with a 2.00 ERA having thrown nine innings walking four and striking out 12.  

• South Alabama drew 20 walks in a 26-6 win over Eastern Kentucky on Feb. 18.

SCOUTING PEPPERDINE

Pepperdine has started the season 2-4 with wins over Boston College and CSUN. 

• The Waves are led by Ryan Johnson who is hitting .435 with two doubles, two home runs and 4 RBIs. 

• Pepperdine’s projected starter is RHP Tommy Scavone who is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA having thrown seven innings walking four while striking out 11. 

• Pepperdine is predicted to finish sixth in the West Coast Conference this year. 

SERIES RECORDS

• This will be the first meeting all-time between Iowa and Southern. 

• The Hawkeyes and South Alabama have faced each other four times and Iowa trails the all-time series, 1-3. 

• South Alabama won the first matchup with the Hawkeyes, 5-1, in 1975. 

• The Jaguars won the last meeting, 11-9, in 2009. 

• This will be the second all-time meeting between Iowa and Pepperdine. The Hawkeyes lead the all time series, 1-0. Iowa won the first ever meeting between the two teams in 2022, 3-1.

ALL-ROUND ROCK TEAM

Keaton Anthony, Brennen Dorighi, and Zach Voelker were all named to the Karbach Round Rock Classic All-Tournament Team. 

• Anthony hit .429 with five runs scored, two doubles, two home runs and three RBIs. 

• Dorighi hit .333 with three doubles, five RBIs, and a home run. 

• Voelker earned the win on Sunday against Kansas State throwing 5.2 innings of relief allowing one run and striking out five. 

HUCK OPENS SEASON WITH A BANG

Redshirt junior Kyle Huckstorf played the role of hero in the bottom of the 11th inning connecting on a walk off grand slam as the Hawkeyes defeated Indiana State, 6-2, in their season opener.

• Huckstorf has hit the last two grand slams for the Hawkeyes (Indiana 5/19/22 & Indiana State 2/17/23)

• The last walk off home run for the Hawkeyes  was Brett McCleary vs. Northwestern (4/26/21).

BRODY’S BIG DEBUT

Sophomore RHP Brody Brecht was perfect in his season debut not allowing a baserunner through five innings of work as the University of Iowa baseball team defeated Quinnipiac, 7-1. Brecht struck out 10-of-15 Bobcat batters while hitting 100 MPH on the radar gun. 

• This was Brecht’s second career start. His first came in the 2022 Big Ten Tournament against Michigan (5/29/22). 

• Brecht struck out a career-high 10 batters in a career-high five innings pitched.  

PITCHING STAFF SHINES OPENING WEEKEND

The Iowa pitching staff combined for a 0.96 ERA over opening weekend, the fourth lowest in the nation. 

•  The staff allowed 5.14 hits per nine innings, ranking 12th nationally, and had a 0.89 WHIP, the 15th lowest in the nation.

WINNING BASEBALL

• The Hawkeyes have posted nine consecutive winning seasons under head coach Rick Heller.  For perspective, the program had just two winning seasons from 1997-2013 and five from 1990-2013.

• Since Heller took over the program in 2014, only three schools — Iowa, Indiana and Michigan — have qualified for the Big Ten Tournament each season it has been contested. (There was no tournament in 2020 or 2021 because of COVID.)

PRESEASON HONORS

• A pair of Hawkeye sophomores received preseason All-America honors. RHP Brody Brecht was named third team All-America by Baseball America and two-way player Keaton Anthony was named second team All-America by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. 

• Junior pitcher Ty Langenberg was named Big Ten Preseason Pitcher of the Year by both Perfect Game and D1Baseball. 

• Langenberg and Anthony were named to the preseason All-Big Ten team by Perfect Game.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN

• Iowa’s 39-man roster features one graduate transfer, one senior, 17 juniors, nine sophomores, two redshirt freshman and nine freshmen.  

• The Hawkeyes have 17 newcomers (eight transfers), including Division I transfers in Zach Voelker (Long Beach State), and Brennen Dorighi (Wofford).

• The Hawkeye roster is made up of student-athletes from 11 states and Canada — Iowa (23), California (2), Georgia (2), Illinois (2), Minnesota (2), Wisconsin (2), Arizona (1), Missouri (1), Montana (1), Ohio (1), Washington (1), Canada (1).

• Iowa has two sets of college teammates and four sets of high school teammates — Kyle Huckstorf and Ben DeTaeye (Iowa Western CC); Luke Llewellyn, Casey Day and Cade Moss (Kirkwood CC); Gable Mitchell and Cade Obermueller (Iowa City High); Luke Llewellyn, Ty Langenberg and Gehrig Christensen (Urbandale); Cade Moss and Ben Wilmes (Johnston); Jack Young and Will Christophersen (Pleasant Valley).

IMPACT TRANSFERS

The Hawkeyes added two Division I transfers to their 2023 roster. 

• Redshirt sophomore RHP Zach Voelker joins the Hawkeyes after a stint at Long Beach State where he had a 4-4 record in 14 appearances (seven starts) with a 6.05 ERA and 32 strikeouts. 

• Voelker was a Cape Cod League All-Star in 2022 playing for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks. He went 2-2 with a 1.97 ERA in 11 games (three starts) with 23 strikeouts. 

• Graduate student Brennen Dorighi joins Iowa after hitting .339 with 65 hits, nine home runs, 39 runs, and 53 RBIs at Wofford on his way to being named a first-team All-Southern Conference selection. 

• Dorighi started 81 games in his four years for the Terriers hitting .318 with 101 hits, 13 home runs, and 85 RBIs. 

FRESHMAN DISTINCTION

Two Hawkeyes — Keaton Anthony and Brody Brecht — garnered Freshman All-America honors in 2022.  It was the first time since 2017 that multiple Iowa newcomers garnered freshman All-America distinction.

• Both players were honored by Collegiate Baseball.  Anthony earned an additional honor from the NCBWA and D1Baseball.com, while Brecht was honored by Perfect Game.

MCGRATH AND BOE JOIN STAFF

The Hawkeyes welcomed two new coaches to the staff after Robin Lund and David Pearson left to take roles with the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively. 

• Sean McGrath joined the Hawkeyes after three seasons coaching in the Mariners’ minor league system. In 2022, he served as the pitching coach for the Seattle Mariners Double-A affiliate — the Arkansas Travelers. 

• Under McGrath, The Travers put together an ERA of 4.27, ranking second in the Texas League. The staff led the league in three categories: totaling 11 shutouts, a 1.30 WHIP and a .229 batting average against.

• Mitch Boe — who played for the Hawkeyes from 2016-2019 — joined the staff after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach for Valparaiso. Boe served as the team’s infield and baserunning instructor while also coaching third base.

•  The Naperville, Illinois, native appeared in 193 career games, tied for the ninth-most all-time at Iowa. In 2019 the team captain was named Iowa’s recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.  Boe tallied 144 hits, 28 doubles, 72 RBIs and 21 stolen bases during his Hawkeye career.

4 ALL-REGION SELECTIONS IN 2022

Four Hawkeyes earned ABCA/Rawlings All-Midwest Region honors for the 2022 season.  

• Adam Mazur was a first-team all-region honoree, while Peyton Williams, Keaton Anthony and Ben Beutel all earned second-team honors.

5 HAWKEYES MOVE ON TO MLB

The Hawkeyes had four players selected in the 2022 Major League Draft — the most for the program since 2018.  Iowa also had a fifth player sign as an undrafted free agent.

• Iowa’s three top 10 round picks are the most in a single draft in program history.

• Adam Mazur became Iowa’s highest draft pick since 1990 when he was selected with the 53rd pick in the second round by the San Diego Padres.  He was the highest picked Hawkeye since Tim Costo in 1990.

• Peyton Williams was chosen in the seventh round (218th pick) by the Toronto Blue Jays.

• Dylan Nedved was picked in the ninth round (270th pick) by the San Diego Padres.

• Duncan Davitt was selected in the 18th round (554th pick) by the Tampa Bay Rays.

• Ben Beutel signed as an undrafted free agent with the Chicago White Sox.

B1G HONORS

• Keaton Anthony earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year, second-team All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors.  Anthony is the program’s second Big Ten Freshman of the Year, joining C.J. Thieleke in 1994.

• Brody Brecht joined Anthony on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.  They were Iowa’s first honorees since 2011.

OF NOTE

• Twenty-two of Iowa’s 55 games in 2022 were decided by two runs or fewer. The Hawkeyes went 13-9 in such contests. 

• Head coach Rick Heller won his 250th game as Iowa’s head coach in the Hawkeyes’ 6-5 victory over St. Thomas on March 21 and his 950th game on April 17 against Minnesota.  Heller is third all-time on the program’s career wins list.

• Iowa scored 10 or more runs in 12 games last season. The Hawkeyes had 22 games with 10 or more hits with 16 coming from April 9 through the end of the season.

• Iowa’s pitching staff allowed three runs or fewer in 32 of its 55 games and five or fewer hits in 23 contests.  The Hawkeyes had five shutouts to lead the Big Ten. 

• The Hawkeyes played errorless baseball in 21 games last season.   Iowa went 20-1 in such contests.  The team didn’t commit an error in a stretch of five games from April 16-23.

• Head coach Rick Heller is 32-33 against ranked opponents during his Hawkeye tenure.  Iowa has posted at least one win over a ranked foe in each of the last eight seasons.

THE NORM — 3-0

The Hawkeyes posted their 30th victory of the 2022 season in the 12-2 victory at Michigan State on May 14.  It was the seventh time in the Rick Heller era that the program has won 30 or more games. 

• Iowa has had 30 or more wins in each of the “non-COVID” seasons under Heller (2020 and 2021 were altered because of the pandemic).

MR. DOUBLE 

In 2022 Redshirt freshman Keaton Anthony finished fourth in the Big Ten with 22 doubles, which ranked 34th nationally.  The doubles total are the second-most in a single season in program history, trailing only John Knapp’s 24 doubles in 1986. 

• Anthony hit his first double of the 2023 season vs. Quinnipiac (2/19) 

RANKED OPPONENTS; RANKED WINS

Iowa is 1-0 against ranked opponents this year having defeated #1 LSU at the Round Rock Classic on March 25. 

• The Hawkeyes have now defeated a top 10 team in back-to-back seasons having defeated No. 8 Rutgers in 2022.  

• Head coach Rick Heller has defeated at least one ranked foe in each season as Iowa’s head coach.

OUR GEORGIA PEACH

Redshirt freshman Keaton Anthony had a breakout season in his first season of collegiate baseball (2022).  The outfielder, who was honored a school record six times as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week, hit .361 (73-of-202) with 22 doubles, 14 home runs, 55 RBIs and 46 runs scored en route to Freshman All-America, Big Ten Freshman of the Year and second-team All-Big Ten and all-region honors.   

• The Georgia native hit safely in 44 games and reached safely in 50 contests this season.  He had a team-best 22 multi-hit games.

• Anthony ranked in the top 10 in five Big Ten categories, sitting third in slugging (.678) and OPS (1.183), tied for fourth in doubles (22), sixth in batting average (.361) and 10th in OBP (.455).   

• In league games, Anthony tied for fourth in home runs (10), fifth in slugging (.768), tied for sixth in RBIs (30) and seventh in OPS (1.193). 

• Twelve of Anthony’s 14 home runs came in his final 25 games. He hit a three-run blast in Iowa’s 16-2 road win at Milwaukee on April 12, hit a two-run homer in the series opener against Minnesota (4/15) and homered in back-to-back games in the series win over Purdue (5/7-8).

• He connected on his 11th homer — a grand slam — in the series finale at Michigan State and he hit a blast in three straight games in the sweep of Indiana.  His 14 home runs were the most by a Hawkeye freshman since Brad Carlson hit 21 in 1999.

• Anthony had a career day 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.  

• Anthony earned six Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors — Feb. 23, March 16, April 5, April 19, May 11, May 24.  They were the most weekly honors in a single season in program history (Jake Adams earned three Big Ten Player of the Week honors in 2017).

LANGENBERG –> WEEKEND ROTATION

After starting the 2022 season in the bullpen, sophomore Ty Langenberg settled into the weekend rotation as the Hawkeyes’ Sunday starter.  He made 12 straight Sunday starts, finishing the season with a 7-2 record and a 3.71 ERA.  The Urbandale, Iowa, native allowed 60 hits, 28 runs (26 earned) and fanned 74 over 63 innings.

• Langenberg won his final two starts of the season, tossing five shutout innings in a 2-1 victory over Indiana on May 21.  He scattered four hits and fanned four.  In the Big Ten Tournament, Langenberg allowed three runs on three hits and fanned five in an elimination game victory over Penn State.

• Langenberg’s fifth win came after tossing a career-long seven innings in the series-clinching win over Purdue on May 8.  He allowed one run on five hits and fanned seven en route to being named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week on May 11.

• Langenberg’s fourth win came after tossing 5 2/3 shutout innings at Michigan on April 3.  He scattered five hits and had a career-high 11 strikeouts.

• He had 34 strikeouts (10 vs. Texas Tech, 7 vs. Central Michigan, 11 at Michigan, 6 vs. Illinois) in four starts from March 20-April 10.  He had eight or more Ks in three appearances last season.

• Langenberg ranked in the top eight in the Big Ten in six categories.  He was tied for second in fewest runs allowed (28), tied for fourth in wins (7), tied for sixth in fewest earned runs (26), eighth in fewest walks (23), ninth in ERA (3.71) and tied for ninth in fewest hits allowed (60).

ONE OF THE B1G’s & NATION’S BEST

The Hawkeye pitching staff was superb in 2022, leading the Big Ten in ERA (3.72), shutouts (5), strikeouts (609), fewest hits allowed (374), fewest runs allowed (246), fewest earned runs (202) and batting average against (.210). 

• The Hawkeyes gave up just 374 hits over 489 1/3 innings with just 109 going for extra bases.

• Iowa ranked in the top 17 nationally in five categories, sitting second in hits allowed per nine innings (6.88), third in strikeouts per nine innings (11.2), fourth in ERA (3.72), 11th in WHIP (1.29) and 17th in shutouts (5). 

• Iowa’s starting pitchers went 21-11 with a 4.06 ERA, fanning 270 over 244 innings.  Opponents hit just .217.

LIMITING 1Bs

• In 2022 the Hawkeyes allowed five or fewer hits in 23 games.  

• Iowa posted a one-hitter against Air Force on Feb. 18 — the first for the program since 2019 (vs. Simpson, 7-2 win).  

• Iowa had eight games, allowing three or fewer hits.  The Hawkeyes had five games allowing two or fewer hits.

HEAT ALERT

Freshman RHP Brody Brecht had a blazing debut in his first career appearance at Duane Banks Field in 2022.  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.

• Brecht hit 100 or higher on the radar gun 37 times in 2022 (in games where Trackman data was available).

• Brecht has hit 100 or higher on the radar gun 10 times in 2023 (in games where Trackman data was available). 

• In 2022 Brecht had 25 strikeouts and allowed just one earned run (on five hits) over his final 10 relief appearances, spanning 13 2/3 innings, giving him 44 Ks over 22 2/3 innings this season.  He went 1-4 with a 3.18 ERA in 17 appearances and he gave up just one extra base hit.

SEEGS AT THE TOP

Since seeing his batting average dip to a season-low .242 on March 15, sophomore Michael Seegers was one of the Hawkeyes’ most consistent hitters in 2022.

• In the 40 games from then on, the Wisconsin native hit .303 (50-of-165) with his 50 hits ranking second on the team.  Seegers drove in 27 and has scored 34 runs during the stretch.  Iowa went 28-12 in the 40 contests.

• Seegers hit safely in 29 of the 40 games with 15 multi-hit games, including two four-hit contests at Michigan on April 2 and a 4-for-5, four RBI game in game two against Indiana on May 20.  Seegers set a program record, drawing five walks in the series-opening win against the Hoosiers on May 19.

• Seegers hit .286 (65-of-227) with 31 RBIs and 43 runs scored as Iowa’s leadoff hitter.  He batted leadoff in all but three games this season, where he hit safely in 37 games and reached base safely in 45 contests.

• As good as Seegers was offensively, he was just as good defensively.  The Hawkeye shortstop had just four errors in 55 games, where he had a .980 fielding percentage.

ON THE OFFENSIVE

• The Hawkeyes scored 358 runs in 55 games, averaging 6.5 runs per contest in 2022.  Iowa had 12 games with 10 or more runs and 24 games with 10 or more hits. 

• Iowa went 23-8 when scoring first last season and 27-8 when out-hitting its opponent.

• The team went 24-4 when scoring six or more runs.

• The Hawkeyes outscored opponents, 104-96, over the first three innings and 112-73 over the final three innings (including extras).

TEAM CAPTAINS

Graduate student Brennen Dorighi, redshirt senior Jared Simpson, redshirt junior Brayden Frazier, and juniors Ty Langenberg and Michael Seegers were voted team captains for the 2023 season.

DON’T COUNT ‘EM OUT

The Hawkeyes have overcame deficits to win 79 games since the start of the 2017 season and posted 16 walk-offs. Thirty-four of those victories have come with Iowa trailing or being tied entering or through seven innings. 21 have come in the final at-bat.

• Iowa has overcome deficits in two  games this season, winning both contests.

30 WINS X 7

Since head coach Rick Heller’s first season in 2014, the Hawkeyes have reached the 30-win plateau in every “non-COVID affected” season.  The program’s six consecutive year stretch was the longest 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)

2022: 36-19 (8th-most wins all-time)

BANKS MAGIC

• The Hawkeyes are 122-40 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.

#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.  The Iowa native won his 950th career game on April 17, 2022, against Minnesota. 

• The Hawkeyes won 30 or more games in each of Heller’s seven 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 282 at Iowa, including the second (41), fifth (39) and eighth-most (36) wins in a single-season 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 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 seven of his nine (full seasons), and has 27 Major League Baseball Draft picks in nine seasons (29 players have gone on to play professional baseball).

• Heller had three players drafted in the top 10 rounds of the 2022 MLB Draft — a first in program history.  That included Adam Mazur, who was the 53rd pick overall (San Diego) — the highest pick by a Hawkeye since 1990.

• Iowa had a school-record six All-Big Ten selections in 2015 and five in 2017. The Hawkeyes have had 30 All-Big Ten honorees in nine seasons under Heller.

• Heller has coached one Big Ten Player of the Year (Jake Adams), two Big Ten Pitcher of the Years (Trenton Wallace, Adam Mazur) and one Big Ten Freshman of the Year (Keaton Anthony) during his time as a Hawkeye.

• 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.

ON DECK

Following the three-game stand in Alabama, the Hawkeyes head  home for a midweek game with Coe College on  March 7.  Iowa then heads to Lubbock, Texas for a three-game series with Texas Tech.