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Iowa

Hawkeyes handle St. Thomas behind a solid pitching effort

On3 imageby: Kyle Huesmann03/16/23HuesmannKyle
hawkeyes-handle-st-thomas
Photo by Dennis Scheidt

The lead wasn’t comfortable until late, but the game was never uncomfortable. The Iowa pitching staff was able to keep the St Thomas offense off balance all night, while it was a six-run eighth inning from the Hawkeyes that put the game away. Iowa picked up a midweek win over St. Thomas 10-1 to move to 12-3 on the year.

Keaton Anthony took the mound for the Hawkeyes and was excellent in his start. He went 3.0 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit. Anthony struck out two and walked none. He threw 22 strikes on 34 pitches.

“Really wanted to get him back out there and get him going a little bit, so that we can get some innings out of him on the weekend and hopefully today, it’ll be the start of that,” said head coach Rick Heller. “I thought he looked like himself.”

Through the first two innings at the plate, the Iowa offense that lost on Friday and Saturday in Lubbock showed up. St. Thomas starter Nolan Kemp put four free baserunners on base, but the Hawkeyes were 0/4 with runners on base and couldn’t convert for any runs.

The Hawkeyes finally took advantage of free bases in the third inning. Raider Tello delivered an RBI single to get on the board. Kyle Huckstorf added an RBI double in the fourth inning to give Iowa a 2-0 lead.

Nick Gotilla came on from the bullpen and worked a scoreless fourth inning, but a walk and a hit in the fifth inning set the table for the Tommies. Sam Kulesa delivered an RBI single to cut the Iowa lead to 2-1. A highlight reel diving catch from Sam Petersen in left field helped keep the Hawkeyes in the lead. Gotilla was able to retire the next batter, while Jacob Henderson came on to get the final out of the inning.

The pitching staff was really good the rest of the way and kept the Tommies from every threatening again. Ty Langenberg, Will Christophersen and Jared Simpson each pitched an inning and each put a zero up on the board. Langenberg has been struggling with velocity issues, but had his fastball working at 94-95 mph today. Simpson was able work a scoreless inning after a tough outing over the weekend.

“I thought it was what we needed to do and I think it’ll help them down the road for sure,” said Heller. “Just glad to see them get back out there and compete like they can. If they were going to throw a bullpen, might as well have done it today and get them back out there and feeling good.”

Meanwhile, at the plate, the offense was slowly building their lead, one run at the time. Sam Petersen had an RBI single in the fifth inning, while Raider Tello added an RBI single in the sixth inning to make it 4-1 Hawkeyes. The Iowa offense scored a one run in four straight innings. It was a weird game, as the St. Thomas pitchers issued six walks and six hit by pitches.

“It was a strange game offensively, with six hit by pitches and they walked us six times. We had opportunities to break it open in really most innings and I liked our approach that way, but for whatever reason, it took until the eighth inning to deliver the blow to do the damage,” said Heller.

“I tip my hat to their because what they do is they try to live on the edges, they don’t throw it over the middle…it was ball one, ball two, corner strike, ball three, corner strike. You never got a great pitch to hammer and we didn’t make them pay.”

In the eighth inning, they were finally able to break through and put up a crooked number to put the game well out of reach. After a hit by pitch and a walk, Brennen Dorighi hit an RBI single through the hole to score Michael Seegers. A double steal right out of the Hellerball handbook added to the lead to make it 6-1. Then, with the bases loaded, Sam Petersen delivered the knockout blow. He ripped a 105 mph two out grand slam to left center field and that put the Hawkeyes up 10-1.

Luke Llewellyn came on from the bullpen and set the Tommies down in order, 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts to wrap up the Hawkeyes 10-1 midweek victory.

“The pitching staff showed up and picked us up today,” said Heller. “It was really pretty clean. Least amount of freebies on the mound, that we’ve had in the last couple of weeks, so that was a real positive today.”

The pitching staff threw 100 of 146 (68.5%) pitches for strikes, including 13 of 16 (81.3%) from Llewellyn to end the game. At the plate, five hitters registered at least one hit, while Brennen Dorighi, Raider Tello and Sam Petersen each had two hits. The Hawkeyes were also active on the bases, with eight stolen bases.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: OF Sam Petersen – 2 H, 5 RBI, 1 R, 1 HR

Sam Petersen has gotten off to a slow start this season, but had two run scoring hits in today’s game. His grand slam in the eighth inning extended Iowa’s lead from 6-1 to 10-1 and put the finishing touches on the midweek win.

“Sam got himself into a little trouble chasing out of the zone at Texas Tech and we need him to be the Sam Petersen that was here today,” said Heller. “Being able to spit on pitches out of the zone, get his good swing off and drive the baseball for us because he’s certainly capable of that.”

Up next for the Hawkeyes…

With the win, Iowa moves to 12-3 on the season. Up next, is a series with South Dakota State. Due to forecasted 30 degree temps on Friday, the Hawkeyes will travel to face the Jackrabbits in Kansas City at Creekside Baseball Complex. They will return home on Sunday to play a doubleheader at Duane Banks Field. First pitch on Friday is set for 2:00pm.

“Everybody said how much we want to play and I was on the phone for 20 hours trying to find somewhere to play,” said Heller. “It’s going to be windy and wind chills are going to be in the 30’s pretty much wherever you go and those aren’t fun conditions to play in. If we’re going to do it then we better go in with the right attitude, right approach and give great effort.”

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