Skip to main content
Join Now

Hawkeyes handle Coe College, match best start since 1942

On3 imageby:Kyle Huesmann•03/07/23•

HuesmannKyle

hawkeyes-handle-coe-college
Photo by Dennis Scheidt

1942 Iowa Baseball. The Hawkeyes got off to a great start and after defeating Michigan State 9-2, they were off to a 12-1-1 start. That’s the last time the Iowa Baseball program had a start like the 2023 squad. That team ended up finishing 15-2-1. This one has it’s sights set on much more than 15 wins. The Hawkeyes defeated Coe College 8-2 on Tuesday evening to move to 10-1 on the season.

“I was wondering what the mood would be like after half the team or more than half got in Atlanta yesterday. Kind of threw us off kilter,” said head coach Rick Heller. “I felt like we had good energy…in batting practice, guys were locked in and they were really working on things. I was really happy with all that and felt good about the start of the game.”

True freshman lefty Cade Obermueller was solid in his first appearance in a Hawkeye uniform last week against Loras College. He got his first career start on the mound against the Kohawks. Things did not get off to the best of starts. Cade hit leadoff batter Mitchell Eckhardt and then sent a pickoff throw down the right field line. An RBI groundout from Tyce Johnson put Coe College on top 1-0.

“I liked the fact that he didn’t let it spiral out of control. He was able to stop it,” said Heller. “Good fastball, good slider. He’s got great stuff and after that he settled in and pounded the zone pretty good.

After hitting the first batter and walking the second batter, Obermueller settled in an retired the next nine batters he faced with six strikeouts. From there, the pitching staff did a good job. Jack Whitlock threw an impressive fourth inning with a pair of strikeouts, while Nick Gotilla struck out the side in the fifth with a walk.

Meanwhile, the Hawkyes got the offense going to take control of the game. Ben Wilmes got Iowa on the board in the second inning with an RBI single. Sam Petersen added a sacrifice fly in the third inning to give Iowa a 2-1 lead. They never looked back.

In the fourth inning, Keaton Anthony ripped a bases loaded double down the left field line to brings in two runs. Brennen Dorighi followed with a sacrifice fly to put the Hawkeyes up 5-1. Then in the fifth, an error by the Kohawks brought in a run, while Gehrig Christensen made it 7-1 with Iowa’s third sacrifice fly of the day.

“I felt like we did hit some balls hard, especially in the middle innings and it wasn’t as if we scored all the runs early and then kind of cruised,” said Heller. “We were threatening in most innings. We just didn’t get a big hit or they made a nice play.

“If you want to be nitpicky, we hit a lot of balls in the air on a day when it’s just tough to hit and stranded too many guys on base…I thought the approach was pretty good tonight. Had the wind been blowing a little different, I think we would have broke out pretty good.”

True freshman Aaron Savary made his first appearance in the sixth inning, but the top of the Coe College lineup was able to get to him. Mitchell Eckhardt started with a single, which was followed by an RBI triple from his former Dubuque Whalert teammate Jacob Brosius. Savary was able to settle in and get a pair of strikeouts to limit the damage to one run.

Over the weekend in Mobile, Raider Tello went hitless, but reached base seven times with six walks and a hit by pitch. Tonight, he delivered a pair of hits. His single in the eighth inning drove in Ben Wilmes and extended the Hawkeyes lead to 8-2.

Luke Llewellyn came in the eighth inning and struck out the side around a leadoff walk. Will Christophersen came on in the ninth inning to close things out and struck out the side to secure the 8-2 victory.

The Iowa pitching staff racked up 20 strikeouts to four walks and held Coe College to just two hits. Gehrig Christensen recorded his first career hit, while seven Hawkeyes logged a hit for the game.

PLAYER OF THE GAME- LHP Cade Obermueller (1st) – 3.0 INN, 1 R, 6 K, 1 BB

The true freshman from Iowa City High got his first start of his Hawkeye career. He worked through a tough start and turned in 3.0 innings to set the tone for the pitching staff.

Up next for the Hawkeyes…

With the win, Iowa moves to 10-1 on the season. Up next, the Hawkeyes travel to Lubbock, Texas for a weekend series against Texas Tech. Although, the team has made their way into the D1Baseball Top 25 at #23, this weekend is another chance to prove that the Hawkeyes are for real this season.

“We’re just going to have fun and play hard and keep a chip on our shoulder,” said Heller. “Things have been going well from a wins standpoint and you focus on the process day in and day out. We can’t stop that just because things are going well. We can’t stop doing that just because some people have noticed and now we’re ranked.”

The weekend gets underway on Friday at 6:30pm on ESPN+. HawkeyeReport will have a full preview of the series later this week.