Hawkeyes dominate Illinois State for a midweek win

No one has given the Iowa Baseball team more trouble or heartburn than Illinois State over the last few seasons. For whatever reason, the Redbirds have had the Hawkeyes number and came into Tuesday night having won five of the last seven meetings. This time, Rick Heller’s squad was dominant from start to finish, earning an 11-0 shutout win over ISU at Duffy Bass Field in Normal. With the win, the Hawkeyes move to 15-8 on the season.

“It was a nice team win tonight,” said head coach Rick Heller. “The pitching staff did an awesome job. Eight guys combined for a three-hit shutout. We led from the 1st, but it was a tight game until the 7th when our offense broke out for eight runs in the final three innings. It was a great way to start our week.” 

Just a 3-0 lead after six innings, Miles Risley broke the game open with a two-run home run in the seventh inning. That sparked three consecutive innings with multiple runs scored, including a four-run eighth inning. On the mound, the Hawkeye pitching staff was impressive, holding the Redbirds to a season-low three hits.

Players of the Game

OF Miles Risley: The former Kirkwood transfer recorded a multi-hit night, including a two-run home run in the seventh inning that broke the game open. He has extended his hit streak to seven games.

2B Gable Mitchell: A business-like performance, Mitchell finished the night with two singles, a walk and three runs scored. He also tacked on a sac fly in the eighth inning. After a 1-for-13 weekend, Gable needed a bounce back game.

The Hawkeye pitching staff steals the show, holding ISU to a season-low three hits

Coming into this game, Illinois State’s top hitters were on an incredible hot streak. The Redbirds trio of Bakes, Mastros and Stulga had combined for 50 hits over the last eight games. On Tuesday night, that trio was 2-for-12, with Luke Stulga tallying two singles.

On the mound, the Hawkeye pitching staff was impressive. Just once did an ISU baserunner reach scoring position and it came in the second inning with two outs. Carter Wilcox retired Nolan Barry on the first pitch of the at-bat, getting a pop out and that was all ISU had in terms of a real threat to score.

The coaching staff went with their normal approach, throwing eight different arms over nine innings and while Tyler Guerin was the only one to tally multiple strikeouts (2.0 INN), everyone was solid in their limited outings. True freshman Cole Moore set the with a 1-2-3 first inning, including a strikeout of ISU’s top hitter Brayden Bakes. In total, the pitching staff tallied seven strikeouts to four walks and allowed just three hits, while they threw 71-of-118 (60.2%) pitches for strikes. A complete effort from the Hawkeyes on the mound.

Miles Risley’s seventh inning home run breaks the game open

Leading 3-0 in the top of the seventh, the Iowa pitching staff had silenced the Redbird bats, but the lead still felt less than comfortable. Needing some insurance, Miles Risley came through with one big swing that changed the game.

ISU reliever Carson Cormier had tossed 5.0 innings to keep the Redbirds within striking distance and retired the first two in the seventh with ease. After a Gable Mitchell two-out infield single, Risley came up with what might have been the biggest swing of the night. On the first pitch he saw from Cormier, Miles delivered a two-out, two-run home run to left center, pushing the Hawkeyes lead to 5-0 with just nine outs left to get.

A tightly contested game becomes a blowout in the late innings

The 5-0 lead quickly ballooned into a blowout, as the Hawkeyes took advantage of some free bases to put the game away. A four-run eighth inning was helped by four walks, an error and a wild pitch, but Iowa hitters did their job with plate discipline, as well as a couple more productive at-bats. Gable Mitchell drove in a run with a sac fly, followed by a Miles Risley bunt single to drive in another run.

In the ninth, after Carter Geffre reached via hit by pitch, the Hawkeyes came up with three straight singles, including RBI knocks from Kellen Strohmeyer and Kooper Schulte to extend the lead to 11-0 Iowa. On the night, the Hawkeye offense was 5-for-14 (.357) with two outs and 8-for-19 (.421) with runners in scoring position.

Up next for Rick Heller and the Hawkeyes…

For the first time in program history, the top-ranked team in the country will visit Duane Banks Field. The Roch Cholowsky led UCLA Bruins will come to Iowa City for a three-game series this weekend. First pitch on Friday is set for 4:02pm CT on BTN+.