Redbirds Down Hawkeyes

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa baseball team fell to Illinois State, 13-6, on Tuesday night at Duane Banks Field.

“They gave us a ton of free bases, and we didn't get the hit to break the game open,” said head coach Rick Heller. “We had 12 left on base in the first five innings. They tried to give us the game, and we didn’t take it when we were getting decent pitching. We just didn’t capitalize when they were trying to give it to us.”

Iowa jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning when senior Caleb Wulf drove in senior Kooper Schulte with an RBI groundout. The Hawkeyes added to their advantage in the second as redshirt junior Ben Swails scored on a wild pitch.

Illinois State got on the board in the top of the third inning and added two more runs in the fourth to take its first lead of the game.

The Hawkeyes responded in the bottom of the fourth inning when Schulte was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Swails and tying the game at four. Iowa regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth as Swails drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 5-4.

From there, the Redbirds pulled away. Illinois State scored one run in the sixth to tie up the game before breaking it open with six runs in the seventh, two more in the eighth, and one in the ninth.

NOTABLES
- Gable Mitchell ranks 11th in program history with 206 career hits.
- Iowa suffered its first midweek loss of the season. The Hawkeyes are now 11–1 in midweek games.

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes welcome Illinois to Iowa City for their final weekend series at Duane Banks Field. Friday’s game is scheduled for 6:02 p.m. and will air on B1G+ and the Hawkeye Radio Network.