By Jake Mosbach
On the heels of a thrilling 10-inning win over Indiana on Sunday, the Hawkeye baseball team (17-17) will try to keep winning against Bradley (16-13) tonight in Peoria, Illinois.
The nonconference midweek contest is set to get underway at 7 p.m.
Iowa head coach Rick Heller said after the extra-inning victory against the Hoosiers that there would be more good things to come for his Hawkeyes, currently in the heart of their 2016 schedule.
“It was a step in the right direction,” he said. “I was happy to see us string some quality at-bats together and some balls started to fall. That’s going to be big moving forward … the guys showed some toughness.”
Hawkeye freshman right-hander Cole McDonald (3-1, 2.51 ERA) will start on the mound against the Braves facing a fellow freshman lefty Ben Olson (1-4, 5.64 ERA).
McDonald also started for the Hawks against Bradley when the two teams met on March 22 at Banks Field (a 7-6 walk-off win for Iowa). The New Hampton native wound up with a no-decision, going 1.1 innings and allowing 2 runs on 4 hits.
Coming in to the midweek game hitting .266 as a team, offensive production has been spotty for the Hawkeyes so far. Up-and-down outputs at the plate have been a trend. As a comparison, the Braves have a .282 team average.
There have been bright spots in recent weeks for Iowa, however. Senior pitcher and first baseman Tyler Peyton is hitting .351 over the last 10 games, with third baseman Mason McCoy trailing closely at .333.
Iowa senior outfielder John Barrett says he and his teammates have reason to believe that the offense is improving and that coming down the stretch in Big Ten play, it will be crucial.
“We struggled earlier in the season in putting up runs,” Barrett said. “It’s nice to finally see it all come together. Everyone is swinging the bat well.”
The increased production has begun to pay off for the team, Barrett pointed out. The Hawks are 11-6 in their last 17 games, especially shining in the midweek nonconference matchups.
Iowa is undefeated so far in the midweek games (6-0), with the help of a 14.5 run-average during those contests.
The midweek domination has been enjoyable for Hawkeye players and fans alike, there’s no doubt about that. Just last week, the Hawks beat the Air Force Academy, 22-2.
Hawk senior catcher Daniel Aaron Moriel said that while the midweek nonconference games are important in putting together a good season, there has to be an element of fun involved, especially with the dominant manner in which his team has been winning them.
“As much as you don’t want to get away from being too serious, we just have fun with it,” Moriel said. “We just like to enjoy the game rather than tense up.”
After tonight’s game against Bradley, the Hawkeyes will host Michigan for a three-game weekend series at Banks Field, beginning Friday.
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