IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa baseball team defeated Rutgers, 8-1, on Friday night at Duane Banks Field.
The Hawkeyes and Scarlet Knights were locked in a 2-1 pitcher’s duel until the Iowa offense unleashed for six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to put the game away.
Cade Obermueller made his third straight Friday night start and had his best appearance of the season. The Iowa City, Iowa, native threw 6 1/3 innings and struck out six while scattering five hits and allowing one run.
“I felt like my stuff was pretty good tonight,” said Obermueller. “My velocity wasn’t the best it’s been, but I felt like I was executing my slider when I had to, especially later in the game. And the fastball was there, I felt good with that. My changeup and splitter were good.”
Anthony Watts entered in relief and threw 1 2/3 innings allowing just one hit. Jack Young threw the final inning of the game and struck out two while allowing a hit.
“I just kept telling Cade to stay locked in and pound the zone and he was going to do just fine,” said head coach Rick Heller. “After that inning, for the most part, he did it. Really could have run him out there for another inning, but it felt like his right time. You get us as deep in the game as he did. That’s how the Friday night game is supposed to go.”
Michael Seegers led the Hawkeyes with a 2-for-3 night with an RBI. Davis Cop added two RBIs for the Hawkeyes and Andy Nelson, Raider Tello, Sam Petersen and Ben Wilmes each added an RBI.
“We’ve been talking about it all week,” said Heller. “That we just had to put everything else aside and just fight and fight hard. Fight the kind of fight where you’re not afraid, the kind of fight like you’re fighting for your life and the kind of fight when you’ve got a chip on your shoulder. That’s what we need to do the rest of the year, and so that was the challenge in the locker room tonight.”
The Hawkeyes hit .357 (5-for-14) with runners on, 1.000 (3-for-3) with runners on third with less than two outs and .550 (11-for-20) in advancement opportunities.
Iowa and Rutgers will face off in game two of the series tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. (CT) at Duane Banks Field.