IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa baseball team defeated Rutgers, 15-5, to win the series on Saturday afternoon at Duane Banks Field.
The Hawkeyes used a four-run second inning and an eight-run fourth inning to pull away. Rutgers had a big fifth inning scoring four runs, but Iowa put up three runs in the seventh to secure the 10-run win.
“I thought our guys played hard again,” said head coach Rick Heller. “Offensively, for the second day in a row we did a really good job of sticking to the gameplan. Got their starter out quick, it was good to get four runs in the second. We had a couple 1-2-3 innings but then we had the eight run fourth which was an awesome inning for us.”
Marcus Morgan got the start for Iowa; he threw 4 1/3 innings and allowed five runs on two hits. He walked seven and struck out six.
Reese Beuter entered in relief and threw 2 2/3 innings allowing three hits and no runs to earn the win. Jack Whitlock threw the final two innings without a hit to close out the game.
Four different Hawkeyes had two hits in the contest as Davis Cop went 2-for-5, Sam Petersen was 2-for-4, Gable Mitchell was 2-for-4, Michael Seegers was 2-for-4 with three runs scored and Cade Moss was 2-for-4.
Kyle Huckstorf had a grand slam, Raider Tello had three RBIs, and Moss added two RBIs for the Hawkeyes.
“Overall, we came out and stuck to our approach,” said Huckstorf. “Tried to hit the ball hard, and at the end of the day it seemed to work out, we had 15 hits. When we get those base runners and we leave them on base we don’t get down on ourselves, we just know the next inning is our inning and we stick to our approach.”
Iowa was 4-for-4 on the day with the bases loaded and hit .700 (7-10) with runners in scoring position.
The Hawkeyes and Scarlet Knights wrap up the series tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. (CT) at Duane Banks Field.