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Down Goes #1: Hawkeyes knock off LSU

On3 imageby: Kyle Huesmann02/25/23HuesmannKyle
hawkeyes-baseball-knocks-off-lsu
Photo by Dennis Scheidt

What a difference a day makes in the game of baseball. Last night, the Hawkeyes did not put together their best effort on the mound or at the plate last night against Sam Houston State. It led to a shutout loss.

Flip the clock ahead about 19 hours and Iowa is celebrating a 12-4 win over the top ranked LSU Tigers. The pitching staff battled through tough situations on the mound, while the bats clubbed 16 hits and put up 12 runs in support. The win is a massive boost for the Hawkeyes should they find themselves on the NCAA Tournament bubble come late May.

“I think they were a little embarrased after last night and wanted to go out and show that they were better than how we played,” said head coach Rick Heller. “Kind of answered the bell (offensively) today and score some runs early and had a lot of barrels. That’s what we were hoping for to get out to an early lead.”

Iowa did get out to an early lead and they did it all with two outs in the first inning. Keaton Anthony sent a solo home run out to right field that just barely cleared the fence to put the Hawkeyes up 1-0. It was his second long ball of the season.

After a walk and a bunt single, Sam Petersen served an RBI single into centerfield to make it 2-0. That was followed up by some true Hellerball. Sam Petersen stole second base and with no one covering the base, the throw was no where near Petersen as he slid in safely. Kyle Huckstorf raced home and the double steal worked perfectly to make it 3-0 before LSU even got an at bat.

“To be able to get three runs with two outs in the first, I think it alleviated a lot of pressure from the guys,” said Heller.

On the mound, it was a battle nearly every inning for the Hawkeyes. LSU got a runner on base in eight of nine innings, but they only were able to score in two of them. Brody Brecht’s start had an eerily similar start to his first career start against Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament. Two walks and an infield single had the Tigers threatening with nobody out. However, this time, Brecht buckled down, struck out three in a row and got the defense in the dugout with no runs given up.

“No question we dodged a major bullet,” said Heller. “I was just happy that he didn’t collapse. He was in a spot where he could have collapsed and he didn’t. He fought through it…You don’t work out of those jams very often. Brody has the stuff to do that and he did, so tip your hat there.”

Brecht was able to get through 3.1 innings, but walks were the main reason why his pitch count reached 90. He finished with six strikeouts and eight walks, but gave up just one hit. Brody departed the game with the bases loaded and turned the ball over to Jared Simpson. Heller was still happy with what he got from his talented sophomore.

“I think he was a bit amped and had trouble with his fastball command. The thing that saved him, he was able to hit with slider. Without that, he wouldn’t have been in the game very long…this was a different environment and playing the number one team in the country. I was proud of how he competed.”

Despite the pitching change, preaseason SEC Player of the Year Dylan Crews got the Tigers offense on the board with a two-run single. However, Simpson battled back and struck out Jared Jones to end the inning before more runs could come across. From there, Jared retired nine of his next 11 batters faced. He ran into some trouble and allowed two runs in the 8th inning, but the Hawkeyes were in control at that point. Simpson struck out eight over 4.2 innings and allowed just three hits.

“Jared has been really good for us and he was again today,” said Heller. “Really happy with how he came out and performed. Was in a tough jam and got out of it and then really settled in and pitched well.”

At the plate, it was the Hawkeye bats that came alive and sprayed hits all around Dell Diamond ballpark. After mustering just three hits against Sam Houston State on Friday night, the offense backed up their pitching staff today and had plenty of run support.

After scoring three in the first inning, an RBI double from Sam Petersen put the Hawkeyes ahead 4-0 in the 3rd inning. Then, the 4th inning was the point that the game turned from “Iowa has the lead against #1”, to “Iowa could win against #1”. Brennen Dorighi smashed a laser double over the head of RF Brayden Jobert to plate both Gable Mitchell and Michael Seegers. Kyle Huckstorf followed with a sacrifice fly to bring in Raider Tello and all the sudden the Hawkeyes led LSU 7-0.

Tigers starter Riley Cooper went just 3.0 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits, while striking out five. Sam Dutton was responsible for most of the damage in the 4th, allowing two runs on three hits in his only inning of work.

“We felt like Cooper was going to be a decent matchup for us because he’s around the zone and we just needed to be super agressive and try to barrel some balls up and get things going early,” said Heller. “Keaton hits the home run and kind of eased everything a little bit after last night and then we rolled from there.”

Will Hellmers was good for his first three innings in relief for LSU, but Iowa got to him in the 8th inning and put away any rumblings of a Tigers comeback. Once again, the rally started with two outs. Three straight singles from Michael Seegers, Raider Tello and Keaton Anthony made it 8-2 Hawkeyes. Brennen Dorighi followed and had plans of an exclamation point on the upset victory. He scorched a three-run home run 400 feet to right field and blew the lead open to 11-2.

“Had gone four or five fastballs in a row there,” said Dorighi who led the way with five RBI’s. “I felt like there was going to be something soft coming and I was just hoping it was going to be in the middle of the plate and get my best swing off.”

Brayden Frazier did not want to miss out on any of the fun and added a solo home run to left field to extend the Hawkeyes lead to 12-4 going into the bottom of the ninth. Will Christophersen came out of the bullpen and retired the side with a strikeout to clinch the upset victory over the unanimous number one team in the country.

The Iowa offense racked up double digit runs against the top ranked Tigers on 16 hits. The top six guys in the batting order had at least two hits, while Michael Seegers and Brennen Dorighi each had three. Seven batters got a hit on the day.

“I think it is kind of like a coming out party just to show how dynamic our offense is from hitter one through nine, we had guys producing all the way through,” said Dorighi. “Brayden, even in the eight hole is hitting home runs and driving in runs. We were able to drive in runs throughout all nine spots and be tough outs.”

PLAYER OF THE GAME: 1B Brennen Dorighi (1st) – 3 H, 2 R, 5 RBI, 1 HR, 2 2B, BB

The Wofford transfer has been swinging the bat well for the Hawkeyes and already has three multi-hit games on the season. He had a two-run double in the 4th inning and his 8th inning three-run home run blew the lead open for the Hawkeyes.

What does this win mean for Iowa?

It is very early in the 2023 campaign, but there are just some wins that if you can get them, they will carry weight from February, all the way up until when the field of 64 is unveiled in May. This was one of those wins. The LSU Tigers are widely regarded as the number one team in the country and many experts pick to win the national title in Omaha.

Last year, Iowa missed the NCAA Tournament and had a chance to pick up a win against eventual #5 national seed Texas A&M. The Hawkeyes committed four errors that led to five unearned Aggies runs in a 7-3 loss. Had they won that game, who knows, maybe Iowa makes the tournament.

This time, they took full advantage of the opportunity and now they have a marquee win on their schedule that they can point to, should they find themselves on the bubble at the end of the season.

Up next for the Hawkeyes…

With the win, Iowa moves to 4-1 on the season and will have a chance to win the weekend tomorrow. The Hawkeyes take on Kansas State at 12:00pm. Marcus Morgan will take the mound for Iowa, while it will be German Fajardo for the Wildcats. The ‘Cats lost to LSU 7-3 in their first game of the weekend and will face Sam Houston State this evening. The game will be streamed by D1Baseball.