After beating No.1-seed Minnesota, 8-2, in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament on May 25, it appears that the Hawkeye baseball team’s bad luck may be starting to change.

When senior Joel Booker hit a ball back up the middle in the first inning, glancing Minnesota off pitcher Matt Fiedler’s glove and rolled to a stop just in front of shortstop Luke Pettersen, there was a feeling things may go Iowa’s way in the first-round matchup.

In the following inning, when senior Tyler Peyton hit a ball to right field that got past a diving Alex Boxwell and rolled to the warning track for a triple, it was pretty certain Iowa was going to get the breaks.

And when junior Mason McCoy hit a bloop single that same inning into the Bermuda Triangle — the area just out of the range of the shortstop, second baseman, and center fielder — scoring two Hawkeyes, including Booker all the way from first base, it was clear the Baseball Gods were with the Hawks in Omaha, a night in which the forecast called for rain, but none fell.

“We didn’t hit every ball hard. We had a lot of balls that found holes, a lot of balls that fell in,” Iowa head coach Rick Heller said. “That’s how baseball is. It didn’t seem like it was going to turn for us this year; it was just one of those crazy years where we ran into hot teams. We’d play well, lose close games, hit line drives right at people. I kept telling the guys to just stick with the plan, and they’ll eventually even up.”

The Hawkeye bats exploded against Fiedler, the Big Ten Player of the Year, and the Gopher bullpen to the tune of 18 hits and the aforementioned 8 runs.

Five different Hawkeyes had numerous hits in the game, including Peyton who contributed four hits, and Booker, who tied a Big Ten Tournament record with five base knocks.

“One thing we do a really good job on is feeding off of each other’s energy,” Booker said. “Rosie or Peyton got on, and that takes the load off my shoulders, I don’t have pressure to get on and get things started.”

Peyton and Booker, along with senior Nick Roscetti, McCoy, and sophomore Austin Guzzo combined to go 14-for-26 as the top-five hitters in Heller’s lineup.

The Hawkeyes continually put pressure on the Gopher pitchers, putting a runner on base in every inning, and getting the leadoff hitter on base in six different frames.

Iowa was also solid on the mound. Sophomore starter C.J. Eldred was as good as he has been all year for the Hawkeyes, going seven innings, allowing only 2 runs on 6 hits with 6 strikeouts.

The 2 runs the Gophers managed to score came on one swing of Connor Schaefbauer’s bat, a home run into the right-center field bleachers.

“When I’ve been pitching, these guys have caught some tough breaks,” Eldred said about the lack of run support this season. “That’s not really something I pay attention to. You handle it the same way, whether we have 10 runs or a tie ball game or down … All year long it seems like these guys can’t find holes when I’m pitching, but they’ve hit it well all year. But today to jump out like that, especially against a team like Minnesota, that definitely helps you relax.”

Lefty sophomore Nick Allgeyer relieved Eldred, throwing two innings and striking out 4, including the side in the ninth.

The Hawkeyes will advance to take on Ohio State.

Peyton will man the bump for Iowa, and he will enter the game with a streak of 23 scoreless innings. Peyton has thrown three-consecutive scoreless starts against Ohio State, Michigan State, and Penn State; against the Nittany Lions, he went the distance for a shutout.

“I’m pretty excited,” Peyton said. “I’m excited to get out on the mound tomorrow night; I believe it’s a night game, so that will be fun. I’m just going to do what I can to keep us in the game and get us a win.”

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