Brody Brecht dominates, Hawkeyes defeat Northwestern
As Brody Brecht walked off the mound for likely his final time in an Iowa uniform, he let out a loud yell directed towards his teammates in the dugout. On his 115th pitch of the day, Brecht struck out Northwestern catcher Bennett Markinson to match his career-high in strikeouts with 13. He was dominant on Saturday afternoon, as the Hawkeyes defeated the Wildcats 9-2 to clinch the series.
“It’s just having fun and being proud of the work I put in. Never getting satisfied, but being able to enjoy the wins that you have out there,” said Brody Brecht. “I think sometimes I’m too hard on muyself, I beat myself up, so letting it out, having fun and just enjoying it.”
The back-to-back Big Ten Pitcher of the Week dealt with some adversity in the top of the first inning, with Preston Knott turning on an inside fastball for a double on the second pitch of the game back. A sacrifice fly from Jackson Freeman put Northwestern on the board 1-0, but Brody settled in and the ‘Cats offense had little to no chance.
“I just continue to preach the mental side of the game and controlling what I can control, taking one pitch at a time,” said Brecht. “It’s really been a big thing, big focus for me, whether it’s a double, a home run, a strikeout, doesn’t matter. I’m just going to attack the next hitter the same way I always do.”
His outing had a lot of strikeouts, with not much traffic to work around. Brody threw first pitch strike to 16 of the 25 batters he faced after the first inning and tied his career-high with 13 strikeouts. He completed 8.0 innings, allowing just one run on two hits and two walks. Brecht threw 72 of his 115 (62.6%) pitches for strikes. It’s the third straight week that he has eclipsed the 60% strike thrown mark.
“He was in control the entire time. He’s in a good zone right now and when he would hit a little spell where he wasn’t getting ahead, he’d just step back and find a way to get back into the zone,” said Coach Rick Heller. “He’s in a great place right now and he’s not putting the weight of the world on every pitch.”
Offensively, the Hawkeyes were held scoreless against Northwestern starter Jack Dyke. He completed 4.0 innings, but not without a bit of trouble. Iowa had runners on base in three innings, but was 0/4 with runners in scoring position. The Wildcats coaching staff opted to go to the bullpen in the fifth inning and reliever Peter Michael put his team in a tough position allowing all three hitters he faced to reach base. Drew Dickson entered the game in a tough spot.
Reese Moore got the Hawkeyes on the board drawing a bases loaded walk, while Gable Mitchell drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Then, Rick Heller dialed up a bit of Hellerball and used a double steal to plate another run. It wasn’t a loud inning with the bats, but Iowa led 3-1. Raider Tello added on an RBI single in the sixth to give the Hawkeyes a 4-1 lead going into the final third of the game.
“There were so many quality at-bats today where there was no reward and then to finally have it break through shows you that the mentality was right,” said Heller. “We didn’t let it cause frustration. The guys just kept at it and finally were able to break through.”
The real breakout came in the bottom of the eighth. It felt like the Hawkeyes were in complete control with a three-run lead, but the offense tacked on a big number to put the game to rest.
Andy Nelson started the scoring with a two-run double into the right-center game to make it 6-1. Later in the inning, Reese Moore continued his hot stretch with a two-run home run to right field to make it 9-1. He goes into Sunday with three home runs on the week.
On Friday night, it was the bottom of the order coming through with four straight hits to carry the Hawkeyes to victory. Today, Andy Nelson and Raider Tello combined for five hits and four RBI’s at the top of the order. Gable Mitchelll also had a pair of hits and an RBI.
“It’s great to see our balance throughout the offense. I felt like Andy and Raider would bounce back today and have a solid game and they did.”
Up Next, the Hawkeyes will go for a series sweep against the Wildcats on Senior Day Sunday. Marcus Morgan will take the mound for Iowa, while a starter for Northwestern has not been announced. First pitch is set for 1:05pm CT on BTN+.
