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Pitching staff stumbles, Hawkeyes fall to Illinois-Chicago

On3 imageby: Kyle Huesmann04/19/23HuesmannKyle
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Photo by Dennis Scheidt

There is not a whole lot that can be said to summarize the Iowa Baseball teams’ trip to Chicagoland to take on the Illinois-Chicago Flames tonight. The Hawkeyes shook off a series opening loss and took two of three from Minnesota in Minneapolis. Rick Heller said he hoped the team bouncing back would be a springboard into a tough week with a pair of midweek games and a big home series against Nebraska.

It was not, as the Iowa pitching staff put 15 runners on via walk/hit by pitch, while six of the seven pitchers that threw in the game allowed at least two runs. The defense, which is normally solid, made three errors.

“Not a lot of good that happened here tonight on our side,” said head coach Rick Heller. “We got beat up pretty bad, not a whole lot more to say.”  

The Hawkeyes got on the board in the first inning, as they took advantage of a Ben Wilmes leadoff walk. Keaton Anthony followed with a single and Brennen Dorighi drove Wilmes in with an RBI groundout to make it 1-0 Hawkeyes.

UIC responded in the bottom of the first with a pair of runs off of Iowa starter Keaton Anthony. Breck Nowik drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, while Ryan Nagelbach gave the Flames the lead with an RBI single. Anthony got through just one inning, giving up two runs on two hits and two walks.

However, Iowa retook the lead in the top of the third inning. Ben Wilmes was hit by a pitch, while Keaton Anthony singled to help set the table. Sam Hojnar tied the game at 2 with an RBI groundout to score Wilmes. A wild pitch from Flames reliever Ysen Useni scored Anthony to put the Hawkeyes on top 3-2.

That was all the Hawkeyes would get in the fun department. From there, the wheels fell off, the train derailed, and then caught on fire.

Nick Gottilla worked around bases loaded in his first inning of work, but an RBI single from Jackson Bessette tied the game in the third inning. A wild pitch later in the inning gave the Flames a 4-3 lead. Gottilla allowed two runs over 2.0 innings and walked three.

Iowa entered the danger zone in the fourth inning when Rayth Petersen hit a towering two-run home run off of reliever Jack Young to make it 6-3. From then on, the Hawkeye pitchers could not find the strike zone and things got worse.

Zach Voelker got just one out in the fifth inning, while he walked three and allowed one hit. Jacob Henderson came in and allowed two hits over 0.1 innings, while Cade Obermueller added a pair of bases loaded walks before recording the final out of the inning. The Flames plated six runs on three hits, six walks/hbp and one error.

“We didn’t pitch well, that’s probably an understatement,” said Heller. “We didn’t command the strike zone, lots of free bases. Compounded by some errors. Ran a lot of guys out there and didn’t have anybody who was sharp tonight, and when that happens you see the result.

Breck Nowik added an RBI single in the sixth and later scored on a wild pitch to make it 14-3. Former Hawkeye Reece Lawler came on to pitch the seventh and struck out the side to end the game after seven innings.

Keaton Anthony kept his hot streak going with a pair of hits and a run scored. Ben Wilmes reached base three times and scored two runs. The rest of the lineup managed to reach base just five times over 22 plate appearances.

Up next for the Hawkeyes…

With the loss, Iowa falls to 25-10 on the season and drops to #58 in the RPI. The Hawkeyes return to Duane Banks Field tomorrow for the second half of the double midweek slate against Bradley. First pitch is set for 6:05pm on BTN+.

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