Hawkeyes Walk-Off Lindenwood to Take Series

IOWA CITY, Iowa —The University of Iowa baseball team clinched the series over Lindenwood with a 10-9 victory in 10 innings at Duane Banks Field on Sunday afternoon. 

"We needed to win a game like that,” said UI head coach Rick Heller. "It felt good to see our guys fight through some adversity today. It didn’t go as clean as we would have liked, but we fought hard the last three innings and found a way to get it done. It's good to be home after being on the road for three weeks."

Freshman Brady Ferguson took the mound for the Hawkeyes, pitching three innings while allowing four runs on two hits. Freshman Tate Slagle secured his first win and went 1-2-3 in the 10th inning. 

The Lions struck first, scoring one run in the first inning. The Hawkeyes answered in the second with three unearned runs, all with two outs. Redshirt junior Kellen Strohmeyer began the rally with a bunt single, and junior Kooper Schulte followed with a ground-rule double down the line to advance Strohmeyer to third. Junior Ben Swails then reached on a fielding error, allowing both Strohmeyer and Schulte to score. Senior Gable Mitchell capped the inning with a single to left-center, bringing Swails home and a 3–1 advantage.

Lindenwood took the lead in the third with a three-run home run and later extended its advantage to 6–3 in the fifth inning. The Hawkeyes tallied a run in the fifth with a solo home run from junior Ben Swails.

Iowa continued its momentum in the sixth with a leadoff single to left-center by senior Caleb Wulf, followed by a single to left field from senior Mitch Wood that advanced Wulf. Senior Kooper Schulte then drew a walk, and senior Bryce Phelps followed with a two-run single to tie the game.

The Hawkeyes took the lead in the seventh inning when Swails led off with a walk to bring up Mitchell. Swails recorded his first stolen base, and Mitchell advanced him to third base. Swails later scored on a passed ball to break the tie and give the Hawkeyes a 7–6 advantage. 

The Lions took an 8–7 lead in the eighth, but the Hawkeyes quickly answered when Wood hit a solo blast to even the contest. Schulte drew a walk, and senior Joey Nerat put the Hawkeyes back on top with a double to center field that scored Schulte, making the score 9–8. 

Lindenwood hit a solo home run in the ninth inning to send the Hawkeyes into extra innings for the first time this season. Wood led off the 10th inning with a walk. Strohmeyer followed with a double off the wall, advancing pinch-runner Miles Risley to third base. Nerat then secured the victory with a walk-off sac fly to score Risley.

"We showed a lot of grit today” said Nerat. "It’s nice to get the series win heading into Big Ten play next weekend."

OF NOTE
- Gable Mitchell leads the team in hits with 28.

- Ben Swails recorded his first homerun of the season, along with his first stolen base for the season.

- Mitch Wood leads the team in homeruns with three, one being in today's game. 

- Tate Slagle earned the first win of his career.  

- For the first time this season, the Hawkeyes went into extra innings.

UP NEXT

The Hawkeyes return to action on Tuesday, hosting St. Thomas at 3:02 (CT) at Banks Field.