Hawkeyes Down WMU in Series Opener

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa baseball team defeated Western Michigan, 9-3, on Friday evening at Duane Banks Field to extend their winning streak to seven games.

“I thought our guys came out really ready to play today,” said head coach Rick Heller. “Loved our at bats up and down the lineup. Pretty much the entire game. Against a good arm in Miller. I thought we had some great takes on fringe pitches, and got his pitch count up. On a day that wasn’t a great day to hit we hit a lot of balls hard.”

The Hawkeyes got five 2/3 innings from Brody Brecht who struck out 10 Broncos en route to earning the victory.

Jacob Henderson threw 1/3 of an inning and Marcus Morgan pitched 2 2/3 innings striking out six. Jack Whitlock entered and got the final out of the game on three pitches.

“Brody Brecht gave us a great start,” said Heller. “He just continues to improve each time out. Almost got us out of the sixth. Marcus had a couple good innings and Jack Whitlock was able to come in and get the double play to end the game.”

Kyle Huckstorf was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, Brennen Dorighi was 1-for-3 with two RBIs, and Sam Hojnar was 2-for-4. Sam Petersen added a solo home run for the Hawkeyes.

“Huckstorf had another good day,” said Heller. “Dorighi had another good day. Lots of guys up and down the lineup, Cade Moss had a double. We just got good production, and if guys weren’t getting hits they were finding ways to get on base.”

Of Note

  • The Hawkeyes are off to their best start since 1939. They have started 17-3 once (1939). The 1939 season was the best start in program history, starting 18-3 and finishing 19-5 on the season.
  • Brecht improves to 2-1 on the season with a 2.20 ERA.
  • Iowa is now 7-0 at home, and the Hawkeyes have won seven games straight for the second time this season.

Up Next

The Hawkeyes continue the series with Western Michigan tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. (CT).