To say Iowa Baseball needed to respond in game two is an understatement. The Hawkeyes were demolished 10-0 in seven innings in game one of a three-game series against No. 7 Oregon.
Iowa starting pitcher Cade Obermueller was tagged for eight runs (eight earned) during a rough night for the Iowa lefty. The Hawkeye hitters also struggled in the loss.
Iowa batters combined for two hits and zero runs and gave the pitching staff no help during a dreadful night.
Iowa had a chance to right its wrongs and maintain its first-place position in the Big Ten standings with a win on Friday night.
In front of a Duane Banks Field-record 3,339 fans, Iowa took the field in game two against a tough Oregon Ducks squad. After a blowout loss on Thursday night, the Hawkeyes needed a win to stay in first place in the Big Ten Conference.
Aaron Savary took the mound for the Hawkeyes and attempted to keep the red-hot Oregon bats at bay. The junior from Dubuque, Iowa, pitched well, giving up three runs (three earned) on seven hits, striking out two batters.
Brant Hogue replaced him in the sixth inning. Hogue pitched a scoreless inning, but it all unraveled in the seventh.
After the Ducks put two quick runs on the board, Manager Rick Heller went to the bullpen to bring in Justin Hackett. Hogue was responsible for the runners on second and third base.
Hackett (1-0) has been stellar for the Hawkeyes this season with a 0.56 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 16 innings. Drew Smith was the first batter he faced, and he knocked in a run with a hard-hit ball to third base.
The next Duck hitter made a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third base. After Hackett got the next Ducks batter to line out, he was one out away from getting out of the inning. He walked the next batter to load the bases.
Oregon second baseman Ryan Cooney came to the plate and came up big. Cooney doubled to deep left field and put the Ducks on top 7-6. Oregon would add two more runs in the ninth inning to seal the 9-6 win.
After Oregon beat Iowa and UCLA beat Northwestern, there is a three-way tie for first place. Each team holds a 21-8 Big Ten Conference record. The Hawkeyes must win Saturday's game to have a chance to be in first place at the end of the season.
Game three of the series takes place at 12:02 p.m. Central Time from Duane Banks Field in Iowa City.