Hawkeyes battle, fall 5-2 to top-ranked UCLA

Duane Banks Field played host to the #1 team in the country for the first time in program history on Friday night. When trying to steal a series or even a game from a team of that caliber, the margins are slim. The top-ranked UCLA Bruins scored runs in just two innings, but their pitching staff did the rest. Iowa battled and hung around, but couldn’t pull off the comeback, falling 5-2 in the series opener.

“There’s no consolation prizes,” said head coach Rick Heller. “I just told the guys, we fought hard, but let’s look at what could have made it better and that’s getting lead off guys on base, clutching up when we need to. (UCLA) gave us the perfect blueprint for it. They had two innings where they did damage and scored a bunch of runs. We just didn’t have that inning.”

It only took a handful of at-bats to change the game. A two-run home run in the third inning, followed by a solo home run and three singles in the fourth gave the Bruins a 5-0 lead. That was enough for UCLA to win the series opener. The Hawkeyes got a two-run home run in the 7th and loaded the bases in the ninth but couldn’t get the big swing they needed.

Player of the Game

RHP Maddux Frese: Frese was impressive out of the bullpen tossing 5.0 scoreless innings, including six strikeouts to two walks and just two hits allowed. He threw 46 of his 80 (57.5%) pitches for strikes.

The Bruins get a lengthy start out of Logan Reddemann

UCLA would have had a really good ballclub without him, but San Diego transfer Logan Reddemann came into the be the ace of the Bruins staff. He was exactly that on Friday, allowing just one run on four hits over 6.1 innings, including nine strikeouts to just one walk. Advertised as a high-level strike thrower, Reddemann threw 67 of his 93 (72.0%) pitches for strikes.

“He’s confident, aggressive and he’s got good stuff. He’s got a good fastball, but guys can’t cheat, that’s the biggest thing,” said Heller. “You kept seeing our guys want to cheat for the heater and then it wasn’t the heater.”

Although the Hawkeyes had just three baserunners through three innings, they forced Reddemann’s pitch count into the 50’s. There was a path to getting him out of the game in the fifth or sixth inning, but it just didn’t happen. He averaged just 3.1 pitches per at-bat over the next three innings and got into the seventh inning.

“We actually did a pretty good job for the majority of the lineup, but we had a couple of guys today that just had really bad days. We did get his pitch count up a little bit and I was hoping to have him out by the 6th, but he was really efficient in a couple of innings. We let him off the hook late.”

Reddemann was finally knocked out of the game in the seventh inning after a one out single from Kooper Schulte. However, the UCLA bullpen, stocked with eight arms with sub-4.00 ERA’s had plenty to choose from.

Jaron Bleeker gets off to a strong start, but the Bruins bats string together offense in the 3rd and 4th

Last week, sophomore Jaron Bleeker bounced back after his first rough outing of the season, allowing just two runs over 6.0 innings against Michigan State. He got off to a great start against UCLA, tallying five straight strikeouts through 2.2 scoreless innings to start his outing.

A 3-2 coin flip went pitch went in favor of Roch Cholowsky for a two out walk and that came back to hurt as Mulivai Levu hit a two-run home run on the first pitch he saw to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead. That was a major momentum swing ahead of a crooked number for the Bruins in their next time up.

In the fourth, Payton Brennan ambushed a first-pitch fastball and sending it out for a mammoth 514-foot solo home run. A couple of singles, a sac bunt and an RBI single from Phoenix Call followed to extend the lead to 4-0. Dean West tacked on an RBI groundout and what felt like a solid start for Bleeker ended with UCLA holding a 5-0 lead.

Over 4.0 innings, Jaron allowed five runs on seven hits, including six strikeouts to just one walk. He threw 65.8% of his 76 pitches for strikes.

“Bleeker gave us a really good start. He struck out five guys in a row and then gets a pop out, but loses a 3-2, 50/50 pitch and then boom home run and two runs with two outs,” said Heller. “The next inning, home run, four hits in the inning. They strung them together when they needed to. Bleeker got a few pitches up (in the zone) in that one inning, but other than that, he did a great job. He competed and did everything we asked him to do.”

Hawkeyes able to hang around, Maddux Frese silences the UCLA offense

Trailing 5-0 in the top of the fifth, Rick Heller surprisingly went with Maddux Frese out of the bullpen. Almost exclusively used as a Sunday long-relief arm, the coaching staff opted to go with one of their top bullpen options on Friday.

“My decision to go with Maddux, we had a day with the wind blowing in,” said Heller. “He’s a big-time strike thrower and with their lineup, just thought that it might be the best matchup for him with the wind expected to blow out the next two days.”

In the short-term, it ended up being a great decision. Frese was lights out, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings, including six strikeouts to two walks and just two hits allowed. Although he fell behind 1-0 to six of the first eight batters he faced, Frese settled down and gave up just two harmless walks through the eighth inning. UCLA had two hits in the ninth off of him, including a Dean West double, but a Phoenix Call strikeout, plus batters’ interference came between the two hits.

It was a dice roll for Rick Heller and the staff to go with Frese and even though the game ended in a loss, it was the right decision. Maddux kept the Hawkeyes within striking distance and it nearly paid off.

“Wish it would have been two or three runs (from Bleeker) instead of five, so we rolled the dice that we were going to get something off Reddemann late or something off the bullpen.”

Mitch Wood comes up with a pinch-hit home run, but Iowa’s 9th inning rally comes up short

The seventh inning was a bit interesting with UCLA’s pitching changes, but the Hawkeyes managed to get on the board to keep their hopes alive. After a one out single from Kooper Schulte brought out head coach John Savage to make a change from Reddemann, lefty Ian May came on for just one batter, retiring Kellen Strohmeyer.

Rick Heller went with a pinch-hitter, calling on right-handed hitter Mitch Wood. That caused John Savage to go to righty Justin Lee, but Heller won the chess match. Wood delivered a two out, two-strike, two-run home run to pull the Hawkeyes within 5-2.

In the ninth, a fourth bullpen arm, Easton Hawk, retired the first two of the inning to put UCLA within in an out of a win in the series opener. However, the Hawkeyes didn’t go down without a fight. A Roman Martin error kept the game alive and consecutive walks, one drawn by pinch-hitter Matthew Delgado, loaded the bases with two outs. Iowa just came up a hit or two short.

Facing a 1-2 count, Jaylen Ziegler, who finished the game with two hits, pounded a chopper up the middle. Had it got over Easton Hawk, it was going to be an RBI infield single, instead, Hawk snagged it and got it over to first for the final out.

“All you can do is play hard and do things right and hopefully you get the opportunity to win a game like that,” said Heller. “We gave ourselves a chance but just didn’t get the hit.

Bombs Away 💣 pic.twitter.com/JXDb7u0IeB

— Iowa Baseball (@UIBaseball) March 27, 2026

Up next for Rick Heller and the Hawkeyes…

The Hawkeyes will look to even the series on Saturday, with first pitch coming at 1:02pm CT on BTN+. It will be Logan Runde on the mound for Iowa, while it will be Michael Barnett getting the start for the Bruins. The Sunday series finale is set for a 12:02pm CT first pitch on BTN+.