By Adam Hensley
Border rivals clashed this past weekend when Iowa and Nebraska went head-to-head in a Hawkeye-Husker showdown.
The Hawkeyes clinched the series on April 15, snapping Nebraska’s streak of six-straight conference series wins.
That’s big for a couple reasons — the Hawkeyes got even with the Huskers in the win column in conference play, and they also gained some momentum beating a possible NCAA Tournament team a week after losing two of three to Northwestern.
Consistent hitting For the second-straight Big Ten series, Iowa connected on 34 hits. In the three games against the Huskers, the Hawkeyes finished with at least 10 hits (13 on April 14, 10 on April 15, and 11 on Sunday).
Seeking an all-around hitting balance up and down the batting order earlier this season, at least seven different Hawkeyes recorded a hit during the three-game series; Iowa got hits from eight different players twice (April 14 and Sunday). Currently, Iowa and Michigan State share the second-best hits total, with 330.
The Hawkeyes also rank fourth in the Big Ten in team batting average (.286), third in RBIs (197), and third in doubles (68).
Jake Adam’s big weekend Adams failed to go yard against the Huskers, but he compiled one of his top hitting performances in a series.
The junior from South Dakota went 3-for-5 with an RBI on April 14, 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs on April 15, and 2-for-5 on Sunday; that’s 7-for-14. Not a bad weekend for the junior-college transfer.
Not only did his play at the plate boost the team to two wins, but Adams solidified himself as one of the conference’s top players.
After the Nebraska series, he ranks fourth in the Big Ten with a .358 batting average. He’s also third in the conference in hits (49), and his 46 RBIs command the No. 2 position as well.
It’s worth noting that while he did not register a home run this weekend, Adams leads the Big Ten in that department. His 14 deep shots remain three more than Illinois’ Pat McInerney and Michigan’s Drew Lugbauer, who are tied for second.
Top 5 in the top 25 The first five batters in Iowa’s batting order (Chris Whelan, Mason McCoy, Adams, Robert Neustrom, and Ben Norman) all appear in the Big Ten’s top 25 batting averages.
As noted earlier, Adam’s .358 sits at No. 4 and remains a team high, but Neustrom’s .356 barely trails him, tied with Minnesota’s Luke Pettersen at No. 5. McCoy is tied for 12th in the conference (.333), Norman is 17th (.322), and Whelan is 24th (.311), rounding out the top 24.
Those five batters combined for 23 of the Hawkeyes’ 34 hits against Nebraska. All five recorded at least one hit in each game, except for Norman, who failed to connect in the final game of the series on Sunday.
Three pitchers in one inning In Iowa’s lone loss in Lincoln, head coach Rick Heller’s squad wound up on the wrong end of a 3-run eighth.
The Huskers rattled off what turned out to be the game-deciding runs in the inning (Iowa took its first lead of the game right before in the top of the eight, 6-5). Nick Nelsen, who pitched a scoreless seventh inning, gave up 2 runs in the eighth. With only one out, Heller pulled him, inserting Josh Martsching. But Martsching did not last long before finding his way to the bench, giving up another run while only registering the inning’s second out.
Zach Daniels entered to close out the inning with out No. 3, but not before Nebraska’s damage on the scoreboard.
