Hawkeyes handle business, blast Northwestern in the series opener
The Iowa Baseball team had one goal in mind, as they traveled to Evanston to face the last place Northwestern Wildcats in the final series of the regular season. Take care of business. Do that and they can go to Omaha for the Big Ten Tournament feeling like they already have a spot in the NCAA Tournament locked up. The Hawkeyes took one step towards that goal with a dominating 15-3 victory over the ‘Cats in the series opener.
The offense scored early and often to build a lead for Marcus Morgan, who was making his second straight start in a series opener. With two outs in the first inning, Brennen Dorighi drew a walk against Northwestern starter Michael Farinelli. That started the two out rally. Raider Tello delivered an RBI double to get the Hawkeyes on the board and Sam Hojnar followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0 Hawkeyes.
The Hawkeyes added a run in the second on a sacrifice fly from Sam Petersen. The scoring then continued on in the third. An RBI single from Michael Seegers extended the Iowa lead to 4-0. Later in the inning, SS Owen McElfatrick booted a Brayden Frazier groundball and Seegers scored to make it 5-0.
The knockout blow came in the fourth inning. Brennen Dorighi delivered an RBI single early in the frame, but it was the Brayden Frazier bases clearing, three-run double that blew the doors open and made it 10-0 Hawkeyes.
“Our offense was balanced and aggressive the entire game,” said head coach Rick Heller. “A nice two-run, two out rally in the first setting the tone. A really nice team win with a lot of guys getting a chance to play and contribute.”
On the mound, Marcus Morgan was able to have a laid back outing. His offense was putting up runs in every inning and it allowed the Iowa coaching staff to take him out after 4.0 innings and just 68 pitches. Morgan allowed three hits and walked three, but struck out five, which helped keep the Wildcats off the board. Excluding the PSU debacle, Marcus has allowed just four runs over his last 31.0 innings (1.16 ERA).
The Hawkeyes offense had more runs left in the tank and they brought them out in the seventh inning. Kyle Huckstorf drove in a pair of runs with a double, while RBI singles from Coy Sarsfield and Cade Moss pushed the lead to 15-0.
Cade Obermueller relieved Marcus Morgan in the fifth and got through 2.1 innings, but three hit by pitches and a walk muddied up his outing. He was still able to throw 28 of his 50 (56.0%) pitches for strikes and struck out four.
Northwestern plated three runs on a bases loaded hit by pitch and an error, but Nick Gotilla was able to come on and get through 1.2 innings. Jack Young came on for the ninth inning and retired the Wildcats in order to finish off a 15-3 win for the Hawkeyes.
“The guys played a great game today,” said Heller. “Marcus Morgan gave us a great start with four shut down innings in a row. Obermueller, Gottilla and Young did a nice job finishing out.”
All nine starters in the Iowa lineup recorded at least one hit, while four hitters had two hits on the day. Brayden Frazier led the way with two hits and 3 RBI’s. The offense as a whole was 7/19 (.368) with runners in scoring position and 19/30 (.633) in advancement opportunities.
Up next for the Hawkeyes…
With the win, Iowa moves to 38-12 on the season and 14-7 in Big Ten play. They currently sit at #30 in the RPI and are still alone in third place in the Big Ten standings. Ty Langenberg will take mound tomorrow, as the Hawkeyes look to clinch the series win. First pitch is set for 4:00pm on BTN+.
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