Hawkeyes Down The Leathernecks

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa baseball team defeated Western Illinois, 22–3, in seven innings on Tuesday night at Duane Banks Field.

“There was a lot of good-quality offense today,” said Iowa head coach Rick Heller. “At one point, we had 21 of 22 quality at-bats in a row, and you just don’t see that. We had 14 two-out RBIs.”

The Hawkeyes jumped out to an early lead in the second inning when senior Caleb Wulf hit a solo home run, his second of the season.

Iowa broke the game open with a big third inning. Max Burt and Jaylen Ziegler drew back-to-back walks before senior Gable Mitchell singled through the right side to score both runners. Redshirt freshman Carter Geffre followed with a bases-loaded walk to bring home Mitchell, and senior Ben Swails was hit by a pitch to score Miles Risley.

The inning continued as Burt doubled to right-center, scoring Wulf and Geffre. Ziegler followed with a double to center field to drive in Swails and Burt. Senior Kooper Schulte added a three-run home run — his sixth of the season — to score Ziegler, and Wulf later capped the inning with a three-run homer – his second of the night and his third of the season – to right field that plated Mitchell and Risley.

Iowa added more runs in the fourth inning when redshirt freshman Brett White and Swails started the frame with back-to-back singles. Burt recorded his second double of the game, scoring both runners, before Schulte brought Burt home with a sacrifice fly to right field.

The Hawkeyes extended their lead in the fifth inning. White walked, Swails reached on a fielding error, and Burt singled to left-center to score White.

Western Illinois scored three runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by a solo home run and back-to-back singles.

Iowa responded in the bottom half of the inning. Ziegler singled up the middle and later scored on a sacrifice fly by senior Matthew Delgado. Senior Mitch Wood followed with a three-run home run to center field, his fifth of the season.

On the mound, freshman Cole Moore earned the win. Moore pitched four innings, allowing two hits and no runs. Freshmen Nick Heitmann and Tate Slagle, along with redshirt freshman Ty Mikkelsen, also appeared in relief.

Up Next
The Hawkeyes host UIC on Wednesday at 6:02 p.m. (CT). The game will be streamed on B1G+ and broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network.