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Iowa

Hawkeyes hang on against Rutgers, clinch a semifinal spot at the Big Ten Tournament

On3 imageby: Kyle Huesmann05/22/25HuesmannKyle
Cade Obermueller was fantastic for the Hawkeyes on Wednesday night. (Photo by Dennis Scheidt)
Cade Obermueller was fantastic for the Hawkeyes on Wednesday night. (Photo by Dennis Scheidt)

With their season on the line, the Iowa Baseball team put their late season slide in the rearview mirror and stepped up with a big performance in their Big Ten Tournament opener. Cade Obermueller led the way on the mound, with a stellar start, while the offense took an early lead they would never let go in a 4-3 win over Rutgers that came down to the wire in the ninth.

“We needed that. Not only did we need a win, but now that it worked out our way, we needed a close one like that,” said head coach Rick Heller. “How things went down the stretch, I felt that if we could pull that one off, it would be a good confidence boost for our guys.”

With the win, the Hawkeyes move to 33-20-1 on the season and have clinched a spot in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals against UCLA on Saturday evening.

Players of the Game

  • LHP Cade Obermueller: Obermueller tossed 7.0 scoreless innings, including ten strikeouts to just one walk. He held the Rutgers offense to just four hits.
  • SS Gable Mitchell: Mitchell led the way offensively, with a team-high three hits and two runs scored.

Hawkeyes plate three runs in the first inning off of Rutgers starter Justin Shadek

The Iowa offense didn’t exactly come to Omaha trending in the right direction. Over the final ten games of the regular season, the Hawkeyes averaged just 4.0 runs per game. However, they were able to flip the switch for the beginning of the postseason and gave Cade Obermueller some early run support.

“Always nice to have a little bit of a cushion,” said Obermueller. “I try not to think about that a lot of times, but naturally (you do). It does for sure help.”

After retiring Reese Moore to begin the bottom of the first inning, Rutgers starter Justin Shadek ran into some trouble. Gable Mitchell got the rally started with a one out single, while he advanced all the way to third base on an errant pickoff attempt from Shadek, putting Iowa in a position to score the first runs of the game.

“Caught a break with the error. We hadn’t caught a lot of breaks (as of late),” said Heller. “To get a freebie there and really get things going was big.”

The free base immediately came back to bite the Scarlet Knights, as Caleb Wulf bounced an RBI single back up the middle to put Iowa in front. Later in the inning, the Hawkeyes put together productive at-bats to extend the lead. Jaixen Frost won a 3-2 count, drawing a walk to load the bases, while Daniel Rogers delivered an RBI groundout in the ensuing at-bat. To close out the three-run bottom of the first inning, Kellen Strohmeyer laid down a perfect two-out bunt single to score Miles Risley and make it 3-0.

“The third baseman was way back, and I just felt like another run there was going to be big,” said Heller. “Shadek, he’s not the greatest fielder and we felt that even if it was a bunt that went towards the pitcher, we’d have a decent chance to beat it out. Kellen executed and got it down.”

Miles Risley extends the Iowa lead with a fourth inning RBI single

Leading 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Hawkeyes were in an advantageous position, but it felt like even another run or two would make things significantly more comfortable.

Rutgers reliever Luke Fithian retired the first two hitters he faced in the inning, but consecutive singles from Gable Mitchell and Caleb Wulf gave Iowa a chance to scrape across another run. The Scarlet Knights turned to Quinn Berglin out of the bullpen to try to get the final out of the inning, but Miles Risley was able to drive home a run with an RBI infield single that deflected off of Berglin on the mound.

“We had two outs, nobody on and we ended up scrapping out a run, had a little two out rally and that run proved to be very big,” said Heller. “I like how we were dialed in and when our team is dialed in like that offensively, I know good things are coming.”

On the night, the Iowa offense scored just four runs, but tallied ten hits and drew four walks. Although it wasn’t a crooked number on the scoreboard, the Hawkeye hitters looked more confident and locked in at the plate.

“We had an overall confidence that we kind of haven’t had (lately),” said Gable Mitchell. “Just a calmness going all day long, being around the guys, I really felt like we were ready to go…Things clicked today, and they haven’t the last couple weeks, but that doesn’t matter anymore.”

Cade Obermueller, in the bright lights of Omaha, twirls a much-needed gem for Iowa

Just a few weeks ago, Cade Obermueller was being talked about as possibly the leader to win Big Ten Pitcher of the Year. However, down the stretch, he had some starts that were not up to standard, causing him to settle for First Team All-Big Ten honors.

Under the bright lights at Charles Schwab Field, Obermueller delivered and outing that should land him on the Big Ten All-Tournament Team. Brennan Hyde led off the game with an opposite field double, but Cade was able to escape with no damage, recording a pair of strikeouts and a fly out to end the inning.

He was dominant from there, retiring 18 of the next 23 batters he would face, working around a leadoff walk in the fifth and two on, one out in the sixth inning. Obermueller tossed 7.0 scoreless innings, including ten strikeouts to just one walk and four hits allowed. He threw 70 of his 102 pitches for strikes (68.6%). It was the outing they needed if they were going to keep their season alive and advance to the semifinal round of the tournament.

“There’s a lot of ebbs and flows throughout the season and even though last week’s results were horrible, I felt more like myself…I was ready for the big stage, and I wanted to come out on top for the boys,” said Obermueller. “I had really good fastball command. I could throw it wherever I wanted, and I executed the slider well off of that.”

Rutgers battles back late, Brant Hogue gets Iowa out of trouble at the last second

Although it looked like it might be a relaxing and commanding win for the Hawkeyes, Rutgers rallied, trying to keep their season alive. A sac fly from Yomar Carreras got the Scarlet Knights on the board in the eighth inning, but their push to tie or take the lead came with their backs up against the wall in the ninth.

The rally started with a leadoff walk issued by Daniel Wright, prompting Rick Heller to turn to Brant Hogue out of the bullpen. Rutgers kept the pressure on with a one out single from RJ Johnson Jr to flip the lineup back to the top. Brennan Hyde flew out, putting Iowa within an out of a win, but back-to-back singles from Ty Doucette and Trevor Cohen cut the lead to 4-3, with the tying run standing on third base.

Fortunately for Iowa, Hogue was able to escape, striking out Pablo Santos on a 2-2 pitch to end the game. It went from a comfortable feeling to an uneasy feeling to a nail-biting at-bat with Santos, but the win counts all the same. A spot in the semifinals clinched.

“Things started to get interesting and we knew Rutgers wouldn’t go away…Brant Hogue stepped up at the end and finished it off for us.”

What’s next for Rick Heller and Co?

The Hawkeyes will wrap up play in Pool C late on Thursday night with a matchup against the Indiana Hoosiers at Charles Schwab Field. First pitch is set for approximately 9:00pm CT on the Big Ten Network.

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