After a red-hot finish to April, Iowa Baseball has lost three of four games to start May. Iowa welcomed No. 10 Oregon State to the Hawkeye state for a neutral site, three-game weekend series at Principal Park in Des Moines, Iowa.
Principal Park is home to the Iowa Cubs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.
The Hawkeyes shut out the Washington Huskies 8-0 in Seattle in their previous game. Oregon State entered the weekend series on a hot streak after winning three of four games against Hawai'i.
The Beavers scored 21 runs in four games against the Rainbow Warriors in Manoa, Hawai'i.
The Hawkeyes look to end the season strong, beginning with a three-game series against a tough Beavers squad. A late Iowa rally was insufficient as multiple miscues on the mound sank the Hawkeyes' upset bid.
The Hawkeyes sent lefty Cade Obermueller to the mound to start the series strong. Obermueller has been reliable for Iowa this season with a 2.72 earned run average (ERA) and 94 strikeouts in 68 innings.
On Friday night, Obermueller's command and glove failed him. He gave up three runs on five hits in 3.1 innings, but only one run was earned. He walked two batters, threw one wild pitch, and had two errors that forced manager Rick Heller to pull him early.
Senior Sam Hart replaced Obermueller in the fourth inning, but struggled to close it out. He gave up three runs (three earned) on three hits and put the Hawkeyes in 6-0 hole.
After scoring four combined runs in the fourth and fifth innings, the Hawkeyes cut the deficit to 6-4. A HUGE seventh inning blast by Gable Mitchell tied the game 6-6, but more pitching miscues doomed the Hawkeyes.
Anthony Watts entered the game in the eighth inning to preserve the tie, but could not. He gave up three runs (one earned) on one hit, walked two, hit a batter, and had a throwing error in a wild inning.
Chas Wheatley pitched a scoreless top of the ninth inning, striking out three hitters, but the Hawkeyes went one-two-three in the bottom and lost 9-6.
Iowa pitchers gave up a combined nine runs (five earned), walked six, threw one wild pitch, hit one batter, and had three errors in an abysmal night on the mound.
The Hawkeyes will look to bounce back in game two on Saturday at 3:35 p.m. Central Time at Principal Park.