IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa baseball team won both games of a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at Duane Banks Field to sweep the three-game series against the Jackrabbits.
The Hawkeyes run-ruled the Jackrabbits 12-2 in seven innings in the first game, before winning 5-3 in a scheduled seven inning contest in the second.
“Proud of our guys,” said head coach Rick Heller. “They played hard for two games on a chilly day. Found a way to get the job done. It wasn’t always the cleanest, or we didn’t always come through with the situational hitting. We had the bases loaded early with a chance of breaking out twice and weren’t able to do it.”
Sam Petersen (3-of-6 with four RBIs) and Kyle Huckstorf (3-of-7 with two RBIs) had big days at the plate for the Hawkeyes. Raider Tello was 2-for-5 with three RBIs. All three hit home runs on the day.
“I felt like our guys had good at bats throughout the course of both games,” said Heller. “Put pressure on them and weren’t chasing much. We kept coming after them and finally got the big hits in both games. Because we did just stay after it. Huckstorf had another great day.
Marcus Morgan got the start in game one, throwing three innings allowing two earned runs and striking out four. Jared Simpson pitched the remainder of that contest throwing four innings and striking out 10 including striking out the first six batters he faced before allowing a baserunner.
“Jared Simpson came in and neutralized the game,” said Heller. “He was really good especially his first couple innings when he came in. Getting a lot of swings and misses and strikeouts. It was good to see Jared have a bounce back game where he was really solid today.”
Cade Obermueller got the start in the second game allowing two runs in the first before being relieved by Luke Llewellyn. Ty Langenberg earned the win throwing four innings of one hit ball and striking out six. Will Christophersen earned his first save of the season.
“Luke Llewellyn came in to a tough situation and minimized the damage,” said Heller. “When Langenberg came in he was really good, and that was great to see. He had a good sixth inning. Went to the closer and Will was really sharp again today and closed the game with the top of their lineup coming up.”
The Hawkeyes used two big innings to put the Jackrabbits away early in the first game scoring five in the third and seven in the sixth. The second game was closer as Iowa and SDSU were tied 3-3 going into the fifth before Tello’s two run blast gave the Hawkeyes the lead for good.
Of Note
- Iowa improves to 15-3 on the season, and 5-0 at home.
- Iowa is 6-0 on Sunday this season.
- This is the first series sweep of the season for Iowa.
- The Hawkeyes have scored 10 or more runs seven times this season.
Up Next
The Hawkeyes return to action on Tuesday, March 21 at home against Grand View at 4:05 p.m.