Notes: Hawkeyes Host Western Illinois

THIS WEEK

The University of Iowa baseball team stays home to host Western Illinois in a three-game series, from March 15-17. The Hawkeyes will take on the Leathernecks at 4:05 pm (CT) on Friday, 2:05 pm (CT) on Saturday, and 1:05 p.m. (CT) on Sunday.

General admission tickets are available for each game for $7 for adult, $3 for youth.

WATCH/LISTEN LIVE

All three games will be available on B1G+ ($).

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).

SCOUTING WESTERN ILLINOIS

The Leathernecks are 4-11 on the season after going 0-3 in a three-game series against Northern Kentucky last weekend and splitting a pair of midweeks with Cincinnati. Of Western Illinois’ four wins, one came to Austin Peay, 6-5, two came to Eastern Kentucky, both 5-3, and their most recent win coming against Cincinnati, 12-11.

Western Illinois is under the direction of a new coach, Terry Davis, the ninth head coach in school history.

Senior catcher Adam Juran was named Ohio Valley Player of the Week February 19. This is Western Illinois’ and Juran’s first honor since joining the OVC.

5th year RHP Caden Kratz had a dominant performance out of the bullpen against Eastern Kentucky, with two saves. Kratz dealt a total of 3.0 innings, striking out six well and not allowing a walk.

SERIES RECORDS

Iowa is 77-28-2 all-time against Western Illinois. The first meeting between the teams was in 1934, with the Hawkeyes coming out on top, 7-0. The most recent meeting was in 2022, with Iowa winning, 11-1 (7).

CADE’S B1G WEEK

Sophomore Cade Obermueller was named Big Ten Pitcher of the week on March 11.

The Iowa City, Iowa, native took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against Jacksonville State. Obermueller ending up pitching a career-high 5.2 innings and struck out nine, also a career-high. The lefty allowed just two hits in the win.

This season, Obermueller has held opposing hitters to a .146 batting average and has 17 strikeouts in 13.0 innings of work.

HUCKSTORF: 5-for-5

Iowa defeated Jacksonville State 20-1 on March 9. The Hawkeyes were led by Kyle Huckstorf, who drove in five runs, scored five of his own and clubbed two home runs.

Huckstorf became Iowa’s first player to hit two home runs since Brennen Dorighi on May 13, 2023, against Michigan State. It was the first five hit performance  for a Hawkeye since Keaton Anthony had five in 2023 against Penn State.

The five runs scored tied a school record and are the most by a Hawkeye since Ben Norman crossed the plate five times against Georgetown on March 7, 2020.

B1G LIST, B1G BALLERS

Junior Brody Brecht, junior Marcus Morgan and junior Sam Petersen — have been named to the Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch list.

The Hawkeyes were selected to finish first in the preseason coaches’ poll. Indiana was tabbed to finish second, followed by Maryland, Rutgers, Nebraska and Michigan. Only the top six were released.

Brecht posted a 3.74 ERA in 17 appearances as a sophomore. The Ankeny, Iowa, native allowed just 38 hits and 28 runs over 77 innings. He allowed just nine extra base hits and a .174 batting average against. Brecht led the nation with 4.32 hits allowed per nine innings and tallied 109 strikeouts, the second most in program history.

Morgan made 17 appearances as a sophomore. He finished with a 5-2 record and a 3.72 ERA. He struck out 72 batters in 61 1/3 innings. The Iowa City, Iowa, native ranked third in the nation with 5.23 hits per nine.

Petersen appeared in 51 games for the Hawkeyes including 49 starts in his sophomore season. He hit .319 with 53 hits, 47 RBIs and led the team with 20 stolen bases. The Huxley, Iowa, native tallied 11 home runs, nine doubles, and a triple.

STOP  WATCH

Redshirt junior Zach Voelker and junior Sam Hart have been named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List by the NCBWA. The award is given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball.

The Hawkeye duo are two of 73 players in the country named to the Watch List, including two of six pitchers from the Big Ten.

Voelker made 15 appearances with two starts last year. The Granite Bay, California, native went 4-1 with a 6.18 ERA. He recorded 32 strikeouts in 43 2/3 innings. Voelker recorded one save, in a four-inning appearance against Quinnipiac.

Hart, an Indian Hills Community College transfer, tallied 13 saves (second most in the NJCAA) though 22.2 innings pitched with a 1.19 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP in 2023. The Highlands Ranch, Colorado, native was a first-team all-region selection.

PRESEASON HONORS

RHP Brody Brecht was named preseason first team All-America by D1Baseball and Perfect Game.

Brecht was named Big Ten Preseason Pitcher of the Year by both Perfect Game and D1Baseball.

Brecht, Marcus Morgan and Sam Petersen were named to the preseason All-Big Ten team by Perfect Game.

Freshmen Elliot Cadieux-Lanoue was named an impact freshman by D1Baseball.

FROM DOWNTOWN (DSM)

The squad will play a three-game series against Florida International that will take place in Des Moines, Iowa, at Principal Park the home of the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, on May 16-18. Tickets go on sale on March 8.

GOLDEN BOY

University of Iowa junior pitcher Brody Brecht was named to the preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List by USA Baseball. Since 1978, the award has been given to the top amateur baseball player in the country. The preseason list includes 55 players across high school and college baseball.

Former Hawkeye Jake Adams was a semifinalist for the award in 2017. Tim Costo was a finalist in 1990.

Brecht was named a preseason first-team All-American by Perfect Game, D1Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Brecht posted a 3.74 ERA in 17 appearances as a sophomore. The Ankeny, Iowa, native allowed just 38 hits and 28 runs over 77 innings. He allowed just nine extra base hits and a .174 batting average against. Brecht led the nation with 4.32 hits allowed per nine innings and tallied 109 strikeouts, the second most in program history.

Brecht was named a third-team All-American by the NCBWA and Perfect Game last season and a freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game in 2022

ROSTER BREAKDOWN

Iowa’s 41-man roster features three redshirt seniors,  seven seniors, three redshirt juniors, seven juniors, nine sophomores, three redshirt freshmen and nine freshmen.

Iowa returns 18 letterwinners, and welcomes 18 newcomers (nine of which are transfers) to the squad.

MR. WORLDWIDES

The Hawkeyes roster features 24 Iowa guys, a California quartet, two confident Canadians, two magic Minnesotans, two Nebraska natives, two wonderful Wisconsinites, one charming Coloradoan, one Georgia peach, one Illinois boy, one Missouri man, and one Washington winner.

I KNOW HIM! I KNOW HIM!

Iowa’s roster features seven sets of previous

teammates:

Hart/Mathews: Indian Hills CC (22-23)

Brosius/Savary: Dubuque Wahlert (20-22)

Beuter/Moss: Kirkwood CC (21)

Huckstorf/Hogue: Iowa Western (21)

Archer/Moore: Van Meter (19-22)

Obermueller/Mitchell: City High (19-22)

Wilmes/Moss: Johnston (18-20)

O CAPTAINS! MY CAPTAINS!

Junior Brody Brecht, redshirt junior Zach Voelker, and seniors Cade Moss and Michael Seegers have been voted team captains for the 2024 season.

MORE MOORE!

The Hawkeyes welcomed back former Hawkeye player (class of 2015) and assistant coach Sean Moore to the baseball staff as director of player development.

The Coralville native was a volunteer assistant coach for the Hawkeyes from 2017-2018  before his departure  for Happy Valley- he is returning after five seasons on staff at Penn State.

IMPACT TRANSFERS

The Hawkeyes added five Division I transfers to their 2024 roster. Brant Hogue (Oklahoma State), Reese Beuter (Dallas Baptist), Davis Cop (Utah), Anthony Watts (Creighton), and Justin Hackett (TCU).

30 WINS X 8

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)

2023: 44-16 (Tied for most wins all-time)

THE NO. 1 TAKE DOWN IN 2023

The Hawkeyes defeated No. 1 LSU 12-4 at the Karbach Round Rock Classic

The win vs. No. 1 LSU is believed to be the first win ever for the Hawkeyes against the No. 1 team in the country.

The last matchup for the Hawkeyes against the top ranked team in the country is believed to be in 1972 when they faced Arizona State in the College World Series (ASU, 2-1).

The last win for the Hawkeyes against a top 10 team came last season at No. 8 Rutgers (4/23/22).

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

WINNING BASEBALL

The Hawkeyes have posted ten 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.)

RANKED OPPONENTS; RANKED WINS

Iowa went 2-2 against ranked opponents last year having defeated #1 LSU at the Round Rock Classic on February 25 before going 1-2 at Texas Tech on March 10-12.

The Hawkeyes have 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.

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 hit 100 or higher on the radar gun 31 times in 2023 (in games where Trackman data was available).

Brecht has hit 98.5 or higher on the radar gun nine times and 99.0 or higher two times (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.

BANKS MAGIC

The Hawkeyes are 123-40 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.

DON’T COUNT ‘EM OUT

The Hawkeyes have overcame deficits to win 92 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.

#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 276 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.

WHAT’S TO COME

Following the three-game stand in Iowa City against the Leathernecks, the Hawkeyes play on Wednesday, March 20, against Grandview.  Following the mid-week match up Iowa heads to West Lafayette to take on Purdue March 22-24 for a three-game series to open B1G play.