COLUMBUS, Ohio – The University of Iowa baseball team was defeated by Ohio State, 11-1, in eight innings on Sunday afternoon at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium.
Brody Brecht started for the Hawkeyes on the mound. The Ankeny, Iowa, native threw 3 1/3 innings allowing three runs on three hits. He struck out three and walked four.
The Hawkeyes used five different arms out of the bullpen following Brecht’s departure, but none could styme Ohio State’s offense. The Buckeyes hit four home runs in the run rule victory.
“We came out and scored a run in the first inning and had some good at bats,” said head coach Rick Heller. “Then we had some opportunities in the second and thought we might break it open. Then we had a couple bad at bats and ended up not scoring. Which was big in this game. We had another chance in the fifth offensively, a chance to maybe break the game open, and again we followed it up again with two bad at bats. Went to the bullpen in the fifth and it didn’t go well, they jumped on us for five and four with two outs and we didn’t pitch well after that.”
Davis Cop was 2-for-4 as the lone Hawkeye with a multi-hit performance. Reese Moore plated the only run for Iowa on an RBI single in the first inning.
Iowa hit .179 (5-28) on the day to Ohio State’s .323 (10-31) and the Buckeyes had seven two-out RBIs.
“It was a just a disappointing day for us,” said Heller. “We hit almost 20 groundballs on a day when the wind was blowing out 25 miles per hour. Pitch selection and poor execution when we had opportunities early to jump on them. Kind of the story, we didn’t play well. We didn’t hit well, and we didn’t pitch well, and that is what happens when you do those two things together. Ohio State made us pay.”
The Hawkeyes return to action in Iowa City on Wednesday against Bradley at Duane Banks Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.