Iowa Baseball falls to Michigan in extra innings
The year for Rick Heller and Co. has been one that has gone far different than many predicted. One that has failed to meet the lofty expectations placed on them by themselves and the media. Despite that, they arrived in Omaha this week hoping to put the entire regular season behind them and create some magic on the diamond where dreams come true every year. Unfortunately, their shot at a magical run got off to the wrong start.
Coming into the game, Jack Young had given up just nine walks in 31.0 innings of work. In the bottom of the tenth, he issued three straight walks and Stephen Hrustich was able walk to the plate to score the winning run for the Wolverines. That’s a tough pill to swallow. The season, which is now within a game of ending, has really been just one big tough pill to swallow.
“Jack Young has been great for us all year and never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that would happen,” said head coach Rick Heller. “Even with the bases loaded and nobody out, I felt like Jack was the best option we had for getting out of it. He just lost his command.”
“Losing the first game in the tournament is always tough,” said Ben Wilmes. “Hell of a performance from Brody and Jack, they kept the other team to three runs…We put up ten hits as a team, good for us to get on base, but at the end of the day, it matters how many runs you score.”
An RBI double from Michael Seegers gave Iowa a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning and that is the way the score stayed until the bottom of the sixth. Brody Brecht and Kurt Barr went back-and-forth in a good ole fashion pitchers duel. In a season filled with bad bounces and unlucky breaks, the baseball gods had another one dialed up for the Hawkeyes to try to handle.
After loading the bases with nobody out, Brody Brecht battled back, retiring back-to-back hitters and getting ahead in the count against Will Rogers. His 1-2 slider hit the dirt in front of the plate, deflected off the mask of catcher Cade Moss and far enough away for Stephen Hrustich to take off for the plate. Moss raced after the ball, slid, corralled it and fired to the plate. The throw was wide of Brecht at the plate and Collin Priest was able to come around to score from second. Michigan took a 2-1 lead on a wild pitch that plated two runs.
“I felt confident in the slider, thought I could get him, I know he chased one earlier in the at-bat,” said Brecht. “I just yanked it a little too much, got away…Definitely wish I could have it back, but you can’t change it now.”
Although the wild pitch was a big point in the game, Brody Brecht did what he needed to do and some to give the Hawkeyes a chance to win. Brecht allowed two runs, one earned on four hits over 7.1 innings, including ten strikeouts to two walks, although he did hit four batters. He threw 72 of his 113 (63.7%) pitches for strikes in what may very well be his final appearance in an Iowa uniform.
“I’ve been working with a mental performance coach. The only thing we can do as a pitcher is execute pitches. Once the ball leaves my hands I can’t do anything else,” said Brecht. “Only thing I can do is locate the ball where I want to and just committing to every single pitch. That’s really helped me a lot.”
After the Wolverines took the lead, there was a bit of a sinking feeling that the Hawkeyes had just let another game get away, but the offense fought back in the top of the seventh. With one out, Ben Wilmes drove a ball into the right-center gap, scoring Will Mulflur from first base to tie the game. Iowa would get runners on the corners, with just one out, but a failed squeeze bunt and a pop out to second base ended the threat.
“Michigan did a really good job. Whenever we had runners on base, they did a really good job of keeping us on base and not letting us score,” said Ben Wilmes.
Failure to execute was the downfall for the Iowa offense. Although they got a leadoff runner on in just three of ten innings, they were able to manufacture opportunities with runners on base. The Hawkeyes finished the day just 1/7 (.143) with runners in scoring position and 2/14 (.143) with runners on base. None of the missed opportunities stung more than the one that came in the top of the tenth inning.
With Raider Tello on first and two outs, Davis Cop took the first pitch he saw from Michigan reliever Jacob Denner and pulled it into the corner in left field. Michigan left fielder AJ Garcia tracked it down at the wall, but mishandled it and kicked it off the fence in front of the bullpen. Tello raced around third base and tried to score, but the Wolverines executed a perfect 7-4-2 relay to cut him down at the plate. Rick Heller stood behind the decision of third base coach Mitchell Boe in the postgame press conference.
“With two outs, I felt like he had to send him. I have to go back and watch it, I don’t know if Raider slowed down assuming he wouldn’t score, but he had to go, especially when (Garcia) bobbled it,” said Heller. “Opportunities were so few and far between for us and to get another two out hit, the odds of that happening were less than them executing a perfect tandem relay and tag play, so you take your chances and it didn’t work out.”
For the most part, Michigan pitchers Kurt Barr and Jacob Denner were able to keep the Hawkeyes off balance. They retired the first two batters in seven of ten innings and gave us just one walk. The two combined to throw 91 of their 151 (60.3%) pitches for strikes, racking up eight strikeouts. Rick Heller felt like his team was a little off at the plate, swinging at some pitches that may have been out of the zone.
“It just felt like we were off. That’s the best way I can describe it. We’re our best when we really can spit on pitches on the edges and spit on pitches out of the zone,” said Heller. “We thrive on free bases that other teams give us and I thought we conceded early in the count at times. In the middle innings, we were swinging at pitches that were on the edges and getting ourselves out…I knew this was going to be a day that we had to take advantage of the opportunities we had and unfortunately that didn’t happen.”
With the loss, the Hawkeyes now have their backs up against the wall. Any loss the rest of the week will mean the season is over. Even worse, the journey all the way back through the losers bracket is one that has not been completed since the Big Ten went to the the eight-team format. Just one team since 1996 has been able to win the tournament after losing their first game. That 2006 Michigan team won four in a row, while Iowa will have to win five in a row to take home the trophy.
Up Next, the Hawkeyes will look to stave off elimination against the top seed Illinois Fighting Illini on Thursday morning. First pitch is set for 10:00am CT on the Big Ten Network.
