Hawkeyes Drop Series Opener to Minnesota

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa baseball team dropped the series opener to Minnesota, 9-4, on Friday afternoon at Duane Banks Field.

“If you pitch that poorly, especially on a Friday night, you really have no chance at winning,” said head coach Rick Heller. “You just don’t, and if it continues, we are not going to put ourselves in a place to win. It is tough to think you are going to score eight or nine runs every Friday night. Somebody has to step up and give us something, some level of consistent start, but tonight it was pretty much tons of free bases. Didn’t make them work for it.”

Minnesota struck first in the opening inning, plating two runs on a double down the left-field line and adding another on a groundout.

Senior Gable Mitchell put Iowa on the board in the first with a solo home run — his third long ball of the season.

The Gophers extended their lead by scoring one run in each of the second, third and fourth innings before adding another run in the sixth to push the advantage to 7-2.

The Hawkeyes responded in the bottom of the sixth when Mitchell doubled to left-center with the bases loaded, scoring redshirt freshman Carter Geffre and redshirt junior Kellen Strohmeyer.

Sophomore Jaron Bleeker was charged with the loss, allowing five runs on five hits. Sophomore Tyler Guerin, senior Justin Hackett, senior Joe Husak and freshman Brolan Frost followed Bleeker on the mound.

Mitchell led Iowa offensively, going 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and three RBIs.

Up Next
Iowa (16-12, 3-7 Big Ten) continues the series against Minnesota on Saturday at Duane Banks Field. First pitch is scheduled for 2:02 p.m. (CT).