The ball was jumping around the yard at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Arizona as Iowa Baseball capped off its opening weekend with a big win.
Iowa's pitching staff struggled for most of the weekend, but the Hawkeyes managed to take two of three games in the 2026 MLB Desert Invitational.
The Hawkeyes started the season off with a tough 15-6 loss to Kansas State on Friday in a game where the pitching staff struggled with command.
The group was much better on Saturday, downing Air Force 4-3 to earn their first win of the 2026 season.
Iowa wrapped up the weekend tournament with a high-scoring game against Northeastern, showing their resilence to end the tournament.
Iowa beat Northeastern 21-13 in a high-scoring game
The pitching staff struggled with command once again during an afternoon contest against Northeastern, but the squad managed to come away with a win.
The Hawkeyes sent freshman Carter Wilcox to the mound to start the game, and he struggled in his first collegiate start.
Wilcox gave up four runs (four earned) on three hits, and did not make it out of the first inning.
The rest of the pitching staff did not fare much better, giving up 13 runs (13 earned) on 13 hits and walking nine batters.
Luckily for the pitching staff, the offense came to life with a massive eight-run third inning, bailing them out once again.
The Hawkeyes would tack on runs in every inning except the final two in order to secure a 21-13 win.
The Iowa offense was led by catcher Max Burt, who finished the day with three hits on four at-bats, including three runs batted in.
As a team, Iowa finished with 21 runs on 16 hits and tallied eight walks in the victory. Iowa's 21 runs are the most they have scored in a game since scoring 25 against Grand View in 2024.
Next game: Tuesday, February 17 vs. UW-Platteville at 3:05 p.m. Central Time (Iowa City, IA)