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)
- Anthony has nine doubles this season bringing his career total to 31.
RANKED OPPONENTS; RANKED WINS
Iowa is 2-2 against ranked opponents this year having defeated #1 LSU at the Round Rock Classic on February 25 before going 1-3 at Texas Tech on March 10-12.
- 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 17 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 86 games since the start of the 2017 season and posted 16 walk-offs. 35 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 five games this season, winning all five 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 128-40 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 against Maryland, the Hawkeyes travel to Bradley for a midweek game. Iowa then continues on to Indiana for a three-game series in Bloomington with the Hoosiers on April 7-9.