Hawkeyes drop the opener against Texas Tech

The Iowa Baseball team had been on a roll. The pitching staff was doing well and even when they weren’t, they were limiting big innings. At the plate, the Hawkeyes were hitting really well with two outs and runners on base. Tonight, everything went by the wayside in the series opener against Texas Tech. The Red Raiders took advantage and defeated the Hawkeyes 17-5, snapping their seven game winning streak.

Iowa got on the board first in the top of the second inning on a sacrifice fly from Cade Moss, but a double play on a line drive from Michael Seegers allowed the Red Raiders to wiggle out of a bases loaded jam with just one run allowed. That became a trend for the Hawkeyes tonight.

The offense drew 12 walks, while the Texas Tech pitching staff threw just 99 strikes on 200 pitches. The Hawkeyes were just 3/23 (.130) with runners on base, 1/12 (.083) with runners in scoring position and 1/8 (.125) with two outs. The Red Raiders were the exact opposite.

“We never capitalized,” said Rick Heller. “We weren’t able to turn it into a true slugfest back and forth. With the amount of free bases we gave up that was the only hope to have a chance to win tonight.”  

Ty Langenberg had another tough start and lasted just 2.0 innings. Dillon Carter clubbed a three-run home run to put Texas Tech on top 3-1 in the bottom of the second inning. Ty now has a 5.96 ERA over 16.2 innings this season.

In the fourth inning, the Hawkeyes cut into a 4-1 deficit. With the bases loaded, Kyle Huckstorf grounded one to 1B Gavin Kash, but his throw to second base sailed into the outfield allowing two runs to score. A strikeout and a caught stealing ended any further damage from the Iowa offense. From there, things went south.

From the second to the fifth, Langenberg and reliever Jared Simpson walked the leadoff batter in each inning. The Red Raiders were able to take advantage of it and then some. An RBI groundout from Austin Green and an RBI single from Gavin Kash extended the Texas Tech lead to 6-3.

The fifth inning was when Tech broke it open and poured it on. Will Burns made it 7-3 with an RBI double in the gap, while singles from Nolen Hester and Kevin Bazzell extended the advantage to 9-3. Later in the inning, Dillon Carter tacked on a second three-run home run to make 14-3 Red Raiders.

The Hawkeyes got a couple of runs in the seventh inning, but Drew Woodcox got the runs right back with a two-run home run. Texas Tech took the series opener by a final score of 17-5. They racked up 15 hits, but really took advantage of runners on base. The Red Raiders batted an impressive 11/23 (.478) with runners on base, as well as an equally impressive 7/17 (.412) with runners in scoring position.

“Strange game. It was almost a mirror image of one another where both team’s pitching staffs fell behind all night. Walked guys, walked leadoff guys,” said Heller. “The only difference was when we did it, they made us pay. They delivered the blow when they got runners in scoring position or bases loaded.”  

The Hawkeyes registered just six hits on the night. Brennen Dorighi and Raider Tello each had two hits, while Chase Moseley drew two walks in a pinch-hit role. Five of Texas Tech’s eight ‘free’ baserunners scored, while just one of Iowa’s 15 ‘free’ baserunners scored.

Up next for the Hawkeyes…

The loss snaps a seven game winning streak for Iowa and they fall to 10-2 on the season. The Hawkeyes will look to even up the series tomorrow afternoon. Brody Brecht will take the mound for Iowa, while it will be Mason Molina for the Red Raiders. First pitch is set for 2:00pm and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.