Blake Guerin’s gutsy bunt pushes Iowa past Indiana in extra innings
With cold wind blowing in from left field and an increasingly annoying mist cascading down in front of the lights at Duane Banks Field, Rick Heller decided to wrap things up. With runners on the corners, and one out, Heller dialed up a bunt attempt from Blake Guerin with two strikes. The perfectly executed bunt rolled towards first base and Miles Risley slid headfirst across home plate to score the winning run. A gutsy, grinding outing from the Hawkeyes to pull out a 2-1 walk off win in extra innings.
“A win is a win. You’re going to take a win however you can get, and Coach (Heller) is really good at preaching that,” said Blake Guerin. “He says it well; we’re in the get it done business and today we got it done.”
With the win, the Hawkeyes move to 29-12 on the season and 18-4 in Big Ten play. They have now won 16 of their last 18 conference games since starting 2-2.
Players of the Game
C Daniel Rogers: Rogers led the way with a game-high three hits, including a solo home run to tie the game in the sixth inning.
1B Blake Guerin: Guerin finished with a pair of hits, including the game-winning bunt single in the 10th inning.
LHP Cade Obermueller: Obermueller battled, working around six free bases and two hits to allow just one run over 5.2 innings. He threw 64 of his 109 pitches for strikes.
Cade Obermueller battles around some free bases, delivers a gutty 5.2 inning start
Earlier in the week in talking with Coach Rick Heller, he was confident that Cade Obermueller was going to have a bounce back outing against Indiana after a season-low 4.0 inning start at Michigan. It likely wasn’t as clean of an outing as the coaching staff would have hoped for, but Obermueller battled some free bases, as well as a high pitch count and delivered a gutty start.
The junior left-hander put himself in a tough situation right off the bat, issuing a walk and a hit by pitch to put two on, with just one out in the top of the first inning. He was unable to wiggle out of the jam, as Tyler Cerny came through with an RBI single to put Indiana on top 1-0.
He allowed a baserunner in four of the five innings he completed and elevated his pitch count, with ten at-bats that ended with a 2-2 or 3-2 count. However, after that first run crossed the plate in the first inning, Cade was able to put zeros on the board.
“Cade buckled down and he still went a little too deep into counts at times, and got his pitch count up there faster than we would have liked, but he did a great job,” said Heller. “Almost got us through six innings. You can’t ask for more than that and I didn’t think he was his sharpest, but he battled, and it was a lot better than it was last week.”
Obermueller allowed just one run on two hits over 5.2 innings. He struck out six and gave up five free bases, but after the first, Cade retired 14 of the final 19 batters he faced, with just one runner advancing to second base. He threw 64 of his 109 (58.7%) pitches for strikes and while it wasn’t he most dazzling start, it allowed the pitching staff to stay mostly on schedule for the rest of the weekend.
Hoosier pitchers Pete Haas and Ryan Kraft keep Iowa off the board
It was a struggle for both offenses in the series opener, as the weather was far from optimum scoring conditions. However, through the first five innings, the Hawkeyes managed to manufacture some opportunities, but were unable to find the big hit.
They were 1/13 with runners on base and on a day where fly balls were going to be easy outs, Iowa had eight of them through five innings. Reliever Ryan Kraft came in after starter Pete Haas got the first five outs of the game and escaped a couple of jams.
In the fourth, Daniel Rogers led off with a double, but Kraft got a pop out and a fly out, before striking out Andy Nelson looking to end the inning. Then in the fifth, he struck out Reese Moore and then retired Miles Risley on a fly out to leave two runners in scoring position.
Pete Haas and Ryan Kraft combined to throw 5.0 scoreless innings, including three strikeouts to three walks and three hits allowed.
Daniel Rogers ties the game with a solo home run in the sixth inning
Trailing 1-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, it felt like the game was teetering on the edge. On one hand, the Hawkeyes had to feel like the big hit was going to come if the opportunities kept presenting themselves. On the other hand, they were at the point of the game where players can begin to press and try to do too much to make something happen.
Daniel Rogers calmed all the nerves in the Iowa dugout rather quickly. Facing new Indiana pitcher Gavin Seebold, Rogers quickly got ahead in the count 2-0 and took advantage of a fastball over the plate. He sent a towering 349-foot blast to right field, tying the game 1-1. All of the sudden it was all square and the game was back up for grabs.
“That was big, it was really big, and it gave everybody a lot of life in the dugout,” said Heller. “I felt like everyone believed that we were going to find a way to win and Dan stepped up big time for us.”
Seebold settled in after allowing the home run to Rogers, retiring 12 of the next 15 batters he faced to get the game to extras, including six strikeouts.
Hawkeye bullpen buys time for the offense, strings together five zeros after Obermueller exits
Cade Obermueller exited the game in the sixth and Chas Wheatley inherited a runner on first with two outs. Caleb Koskie made it a tighter situation with a single to right field, but Wheatley struck out TJ Schuyler to strand runners on the corners.
“If you put yourself in those spots, you don’t have a choice and it doesn’t always work out if you live in that house, it’s eventually going to get you.”
It didn’t get the Iowa bullpen on this night. They ran into a couple of precarious situations along the way, but dodged every bullet, making pitches when they needed to escape innings.
After Wheatley issued a leadoff walk in the eighth, Rick Heller turned to Brant Hogue. After back-to-back strikeouts, Hogue issued a walk to Hogan Denny, moving the go-ahead run into scoring position. But nothing came of it, as Brant struck out Caleb Koskie looking.
Then, in the top of the tenth, a walk and a Cooper Malamazian single put two on with one out. Again, Heller went to the bullpen and again a fire was put out. Anthony Watts got Hogan Denny and Caleb Koskie both to fly out, sending the game to the bottom of the tenth. A second chance to walk it off.
“I thought they were all sharp, thought they all had good stuff, and the misses were really close,” said Heller. “I thought all of them were really competitive and really confident and I was really pleased with them. I’m not happy with the free bases, but the made pitches. To hold an offense like Indiana down to one run, it’s a pretty impressive outing by our staff.”
Wheatley, Hogue and Watts combined to throw 4.1 scoreless innings, including eight strikeouts to four walks, but allowed just two hits. They only threw 50 of their 91 (54.9%) pitches for strikes, but it ended up being enough.
Rick Heller rolls the dice; Blake Guerin executes the walk-off bunt single
In the bottom of the tenth, thing started to come together with one out. Miles Risley drew a five-pitch walk to reach base, while Daniel Rogers followed with a single to right field, putting runners on the corners with just one out.
Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer went with a change, bringing in freshman Brayton Thomas to face Blake Guerin. A surprise to some, but not all. Guerin squared to bunt on the first pitch he saw from Thomas and pushed it hard down the first base line, but foul. Right idea, right speed, but just off on the placement.
Guerin swung through an 0-1 fastball and then took a ball, working the count to 1-2. Far from a bunting count, Rick Heller rolled the dice and asked Guerin to lay it down with two strikes. The risk paid off with reward, as Blake laid down a perfect bunt and Miles Risley slid headfirst across home plate before first baseman Jake Hanley could field it and even consider a glove flip to the plate.
“(First one) was a slider, and I just pushed it a little too hard. Didn’t let myself try to get it down,” said Guerin. “I looked over with two strikes and I saw both Marty and Heller with their hands over their mouths like they might give it to me. Do whatever you’ve got to do…We practice this every single day, and that’s the reason we practice this.”
Rick Heller, who is known for rolling the dice with smallball situations, pulled off the classic ‘Hellerball’ call. He said he almost pulled the trigger on the pitch before, but was confident Blake would get it down.
“It was kind of last second. He kind of blew that fastball by him and I thought about it the next pitch, and then it was a ball. Then I was like, Blake’s a smart player and it’s really not as risky as you’d think,” said Heller. “I thought it would be a good opportunity for Blake to get it down. He’s a good bunter…I’m happy it worked out, that was a big win.”
What’s next for Rick Heller and Co?
The Hawkeyes will look to clinch their eighth consecutive Big Ten series on Saturday afternoon at Duane Banks Field. It will be Aaron Savary on the mound for Iowa, while Cole Gilley will get the start for the Hoosiers. First pitch is set for 2:02pm CT on BTN+.
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