Weekend Summary:

The first game of the weekend against Hawaii featured the Iowa batters once again being on fire as they chalked up a season high 17 hits and 7 runs with 2 HRs. The final of this game wasn’t a real representation of how this game went as the score was 7-3 going into the final inning of the game until the Rainbow Warriors scored 3 runs in the ninth until the Hawkeyes could close the game out with the tying run at third. Besides for the 9th inning, Iowa’s pitching was a highlight with ace Nick Gallagher pitching a career best 8 innings allowing only 3 runs and 7 hits.

After an offensive game on the previous day, Iowa didn’t slow down on offense as the had a barnburner of a win over Oral Roberts. The game started with Iowa hopping ahead 3-0 in the top of the first inning after first baseman Jake Adams drove in three with a home run. Iowa proceeded to homer again from Matt Hoeg in fourth. However, with Iowa batting well and getting in runs, Oral Roberts was doing the same. Scoring 4 runs through 6, tightening the game up to 5-4 in the six. Iowa ended up extending the lead to 7-4 in the 8th, securing the victory. Iowa would finish with 10 hits during the game with 3 HRs and allowing only 7 hits. Overall a great win for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa did have a low point in the weekend. On Sunday against Minnesota both pitching and hitting for the Hawks struggled to be successful. Iowa was able to keep the game close at 4-3 with a first inning bomb from Robert Neustrom. That was the best Iowa would do from the plate as they only got 4 hits with a game hitting average of .138. The game however was sitting at 4-3 until the 8th inning where Minnesota knocked in two more runs to have the final of 6-3. Iowa gave up a total of 9 hits with 6 runs.

Key Player Spotlight:

Hottest Bat: Chris Whelan, Robert Neustrom, and Jake Adams

McCoy, Whelan, and Neustrom all were at the top of their game this week. Neustrom hitting a bomb of a home run on sunday extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Chris Whelan again was

hitting great at the lead off role in the lineup, hitting for .500 (6-12) over the weekend with 2 RBI’s and 4 runs scored. Moving him up to the front has looked to have been the best decision manager Rick Heller. Finally, Jake Adams added two more home runs to his season total leading the Hawkeyes with 4. Adams went .417 (5-12) over the weekend with 6 RBI’s and 2 runs.

Most Improved: Ben Norman

Freshman Ben Norman had a breakout weekend in Minneapolis. He went .500 (6-12) at the plate with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI’s. Going into the weekend he was batting (2-13) which was one of the lowest out of Iowa starters. Going from batting .154 to .320 in one weekend is quite the accomplishment.

Next Week Preview:
Iowa takes on Northern Illinois at home on Tuesday March 7th at Duane Banks Field. Then over the weekend they head down to Florida to take on Villanova, Bucknell, and a double header against Lehigh University.

The post Hawkeyes Heat Up in Minneapolis appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Going into the week, Iowa was (1-2) hoping to recover from last weekend’s disappointing series with University of South Florida. The Hawkeyes did just that with a powerful win over Loras College on Wednesday, with an even better chance to improve at the Hoover Classic.

The Hawkeyes’ bats were once again alive after outscoring their opponents 26-13, with 31 hits and 3 home runs over the three games. Although the defense had only been strong in a couple of games, it was definitely the offense that played the key role in the Hawkeyes’ victories.

The entire week, manager Rick Heller had focused with the team on trying to battle at the plate and get better overall plate appearances. It appears that it has finally worked out for the Hawkeyes. They got on base 9 times from walks while only striking out one time in the final game of the weekend against Morehead State.

Mason McCoy, again, looked to be in mid-season form, collecting 5 RBI’s over the weekend with 6 hits. Simultaneously, Jake Adams batted in 4 runs, two of them being a rocket of a home run. Chris Whelan had a promising debut in the leadoff spot of the lineup going 3-4 on Sunday.

Iowa will look to further improve in the following week where they will take on Cornell College on Tuesday at Home. (Update: This game was canceled due to Weather) After that they head out to Minneapolis for the Dairy Queen Classic over the weekend and will face Hawaii on Friday, then a one-loss Oral Roberts on Saturday, and Minnesota to end the weekend on Sunday.

DQ Classic Preview:

Hawaii is coming off of a (2-2) series tie with University of San Francisco, and is currently (3-4) overall for their season. However, the Rainbow Warriors will most likely be jet lagged from the insane travel.

Oral Roberts will be one of the better teams that Iowa has faced yet this season. Oral Roberts is (7-1) and going into the weekend high off of a 3 game sweep of Alabama last weekend and a thrashing of Kansas on Tuesday. Although the record is intimidating, Oral Roberts has had some troubles with pitching. In the three games against Alabama, Oral Roberts gave up 28 hits. This is intriguing for Iowa hitters, especially if they’re still hot throughout the week.

The hosts, Minnesota, are coming back from a sweep of Seattle University and a 3-1 loss to NDSU, which featured some not so great early pitching from the Golden Gophers, but this team is (4-2) and was tied with Iowa at 6 in the Big Ten preseason poll. So this match up will most likely be a good preview for Big Ten play coming up in a couple weeks. This game will also be available to watch on Big Ten Network plus, which is free if you’re on campus.

The post Hawkeyes Find An Improved Offense In Alabama appeared first on KRUI Radio.