The red-hot Iowa Baseball team entered the weekend series against Indiana on a high note after demolishing St. Thomas 15-5 in eight innings on April 23. The Hawkeyes looked to stay hot during a three-game weekend series against a middling Hoosiers ball club.
Iowa has dominated in Big Ten play this season, winning seven straight series entering the weekend. The Hoosiers acted as a speed bump on the way to 31 wins and eight straight series wins for the Hawkeyes.
An extra-innings extravaganza in game one (April 25)
The first game in the series was a pitchers' duel. Iowa ace Cade Obermueller took the hill for the Hawkeyes, but only lasted 5.2 innings. He struggled with his command, walking four batters, but held the Hoosiers in check, only allowing one run on two hits.
Chas Wheatley closed out the fifth inning with a strikeout and got the Hawkeyes out of a jam. After walking the first batter of the sixth inning, Wheatley was pulled in favor of Brant Hogue.
Hogue was fantastic. He struck out six batters in 2.2 innings and kept the Hawkeyes in the game. After not scoring any runs in the final few innings, the game went into extras.
The Hawkeyes would walk it off in the bottom of the 10th inning to earn the victory.
A seven-inning blowout in game two (April 26)
After winning in a tight game on Friday, the Hawkeyes looked to carry momentum into game two on Saturday. In game two, Indiana did not show up. The Hawkeyes dominated the Hoosiers from start to finish and ended the game early in seven innings.
The Hawkeyes got on the scoreboard early after a second-inning two-run home run by Jaixen Frost. Iowa added two more runs in the third inning and never looked back. The Hawkeyes scored 13 runs on nine hits and held the Hoosiers to two runs on seven hits.
Senior Ben Wilmes led the way on offense, going three for four, with a career-high six runs batted in. Aaron Savary started on the mound and earned the win after 6.2 solid innings.
After earning their 30th win and eighth consecutive series win, the Hawkeyes have their best start to a season since 1990.
Hawkeyes sweep the Hoosiers after 10-0 game three victory (April 27)
In another blowout win, the Hawkeyes dominated the Hoosiers 10-0 on Sunday, earning their 31st win of the season. After the weekend sweep, the Hawkeyes moved to 31-12 (20-4 Big Ten) on the season. This marks the fourth time the Hawkeyes have swept an opponent this season.
The Hawkeyes used strong second and third innings to bury the Hoosiers. Iowa started its scoring in the second inning, scoring three runs. They added three more runs in the third inning to take a commanding lead.
Iowa would add four more runs in the sixth inning to push their lead to 10-0. The Hawkeyes held on to their 10-run lead to earn their 31st win. Reece Beuter started on the hill and got the win to improve to 5-0 on the season.
Up next
The Hawkeyes welcome the Illinois State Redbirds to Duane Banks Field for a mid-week contest on Tuesday, April 29, at 6:00 p.m. Central Time.