Iowa Baseball Looks For Wins At Snowbird Classic

The University of Iowa baseball team struggled during its opening weekend, but all that can be quickly forgotten if this coming weekend is as impressive as last weekend was disappointing.

The Hawkeyes travel to Port Charlotte, Fla. this weekend to take part in the Snowbird Classic tournament. Iowa is slated to face three different opponents: Indiana State, Dartmouth and Chicago State.

Friday vs. Indiana State (3-1), 1 p.m. CST. Iowa – Tyler Peyton (0-1, 0.00 earned run average) vs. Indiana State – TBA

The Hawkeyes are becoming familiar with the Missouri Valley Conference, which Indiana State is a member of. Missouri State eliminated Iowa from NCAA regional play and is on the schedule this year. Dallas Baptist is a member of the MVC as well.

The conference’s coaches picked the Sycamores to finish fifth out of the eight MVC teams which play baseball before the season began, and so far it looks like Indiana State might surpass that expectation.

The Sycamores opened their schedule last weekend with two games against Oral Roberts and two games against the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, winning three of those four games which were all played at UALR. Indiana State piled up 25 runs in the four games while allowing 14.

The Hawkeyes might face junior Austin Conway, who started the first game of the season for the Sycamores. Conway went four innings in his first career start. Conway served as the team’s closer as a sophomore, and it’s unsure whether his start was because Indiana State played two games that day, or if the Sycamores are planning on converting him to a starter. Conway allowed four runs, all earned, on four hits with three walks. Conway also struck out two.

The most potent bats in the Sycamore lineup are seniors Andy Young and Andy DeJesus. In 2015, Young went .296/.378/.498 over 203 at-bats with 24 extra-base hits and 42 runs batted in. DeJesus knocked in 14 runs with seven extra-base hits, slashing .277/.333/.325.

While it isn’t clear yet exactly who Indiana State will put on the mound yet, none of the starters that the Sycamores will field are on the same level as the Dallas Baptist pitchers the Hawkeyes faced last weekend. If Peyton can replicate his first start of the season, and the defense behind doesn’t let him down, Iowa should be able to put together its first win of the season in this contest.

Saturday vs. Dartmouth (0-0), 10 a.m. CST. Iowa – CJ Eldred (0-0, 2.25 ERA) vs. Dartmouth – Duncan Robinson

Eldred will be making the first start of his collegiate career on Saturday, after pitching four innings in relief last weekend. Those four innings were the first of his collegiate career as well, as he spent 2014 in a redshirt and sat out 2015 due to his transfer from Indiana.

Eldred will face the defending Ivy League champion, and be matched up against Baseball America’s pick for Ivy League Pitcher of the Year in Robinson, which would make him a back-to-back winner of that award if he snags it again in 2016.

In order to give Eldred a chance to win, Iowa’s bats will have to be more productive than they were last weekend. With just five runs on only 13 hits in the three games, there is a lot of room for improvement in the Hawkeye offense.

Big Green hitters to watch include senior shortstop Thomas Roulis, Baseball America’s ninth-best prospect out of the Ivy League and senior outfielder Nick Ruppert. In 129 at-bats for Dartmouth last season, Ruppert went .310/.390/.395 with 10 RBI and nine extra-base hits.

This game will come down to Eldred’s ability to keep Iowa in the game until the Hawkeye hitters can get a read on Robinson, and hopefully adjust to what they are seeing better than they did in the opening weekend.

Sunday vs. Chicago State (1-2), 9:30 a.m. Iowa – Calvin Mathews (0-0, 2.25 ERA) vs. Chicago State – TBA

The Cougars struggled in their opening weekend series at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Chicago State’s pitching staff averaged a hit allowed per inning. Outside of senior Andy Gertonson and junior Sanford Hunt, the Cougars were confounded at the plate as well.

Gertonson and Hunt combined for five of Chicago State’s 13 RBI and 14 of the Cougars’ 27 hits last weekend. While it’s too early to write off the rest of the Chicago State lineup, expect Mathews to be careful with Gertonson and Hunt. Based on early returns, he should be able to go right at the rest of the order.

Senior Dillon Engle started the game last Sunday for the Cougars, taking the loss after five innings. He allowed four runs, all earned on seven hits, walking three with a strikeout. Engle also recorded three wild pitches in the outing.

If Mathews can limit the damage that Gertonson and Hunt put on his pitch count while silencing the rest of the bats, the lineup should have a good chance to give him some run support. Once again, it will be imperative that the Hawkeyes play solid defense to get this win.

With a good chance to win two out of these three games and a fair shot at a weekend sweep, it’s possible that the perception of the 2016 Iowa baseball team could improve as the home opener approaches. That will all depend on the Hawkeyes’ execution, however. As head coach Rick Heller put it:

“I think we will be a solid hitting team as we see more live action. We came away [from Dallas Baptist] with a lot of things to work on, and all of the games were pressure-packed and had a Big Ten weekend feel. With the tough schedule we face this year in the league, this series should help us down the road.”