Hawkeyes Fall in Extras to Fighting Irish

DELAND, Florida – The University of Iowa baseball team dropped an extra-innings contest on Friday afternoon to Notre Dame, 2-1. The Hawkeyes and Irish played 11 innings and a solo-home run in the top of the 11th would prove to be the difference at Melching Field at Conrad Park. 

Iowa outhit Notre Dame, 10-7 and struck out 18 Irish batters but the Hawkeyes were unable to capitalize and left 10 stranded on the bags. 

“It was a tough loss today,” said head coach Rick Heller. “Our pitching was outstanding-Obermueller, Watts and DeTaeye all pitched great. Offensively, we put ourselves in a position to win three times late but shot ourselves in the foot with bad base running and poor situational hitting. We played hard and saw a lot of positives, but we are still learning how to win.”

Left hander Cade Obermueller got the start for the Hawkeyes on the bump. He threw 5 1/3 innings allowing one run on four hits while walking three and striking out eight. 

Anthony Watts entered in relief and worked for 2 2/3 innings allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out four. Ben DeTaeye was the final pitcher for the Hawkeyes and was tagged with the loss after throwing three innings. The senior allowed one run on two hits and a walk while striking out six. 

Four Hawks had two hits in the contest with Caleb Wulf and Miles Risley going 2-for-4, Kooper Schulte was 2-for-3 and Jaixen Frost was 2-for-5 with an RBI. 

Iowa got the scoring started in the fourth as Risley and Frost traded places with a pair of doubles. The Irish would string three hits together to tie the game in the sixth.

Iowa threatened in the bottom of the ninth and 10th innings putting runners in scoring positions in both frames, but each time Notre Dame worked out of the jam. The solo-home run in the top of the 11th put the Irish in front and the Hawkeyes were unable to rally. 

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes will face tournament host Stetson tomorrow at 4 p.m. (CT). Aaron Savary will get the start for the Hawkeyes and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.