Iowa 2B Sam Hojnar enters the transfer portal
After two seasons in Iowa City, Hawkeye infielder Sam Hojnar has decided to enter the transfer portal and play his final season of college baseball elsewhere. He started 59 of 60 games for the Hawkeyes this past season. Sam spent a year each at Southern Illinois and Heartland Community College prior to his arrival at Iowa.
In his first year with the Hawkeyes in 2022, Hojnar started 23 games and appeared in 33 total games. He missed a three-week stretch in April with an illness. Sam batted .273 with seven doubles and 11 RBI’s, but it was his 5/11 (.455) weekend against Indiana to end the regular season.
This past season, Sam was a full-time starter for the Hawkeyes, as he started 57 of 60 games at second base. He batted .255 with a .339 on-base percentage, as well as 13 doubles, ten home runs and 59 RBI’s. He finished second on the team in RBI’s, third in home runs, fourth in doubles and fourth in stolen bases.
With the surprising transfer of Hojnar, true sophomore Gable Mitchell will be the guy to beat at second base. Mitchell appeared in 31 games this season, including a .121 batting average and a .286 on-base percentage. In his senior year at Iowa City High in 2021, Gable was named 4A All-State Team Captain after batting .482 with a .613 on-base percentage.
The Hawkeyes have taken a bit of a hit to their infield depth so far this offseason. 3B Raider Tello and SS Michael Seegers return to solidify the left side of the infield, while 2B Gable Mitchell and 1B Blake Guerin figure to step in and fill the right side. The departures of Hojnar and Andy Nelson to the portal, as well as Brennen Dorighi’s graduation leave the things a bit thin behind them. The only player remaining on the roster with playing experience on the infield at the collegiate level is Ben Wilmes, who made 15 starts in the infield as a freshman. It will be interesting to see if the coaching staff attempts to add some depth through the transfer portal.
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