Hawkeyes fall in the series finale at Illinois
When facing an offense as potent as Illinois, it doesn’t take much for things to go awry. On Sunday afternoon, a three home run third inning was all the Illini needed to get by the Hawkeyes for a 6-3 win the series finale. Iowa closes Big Ten play with a 14-10 record and could be anywhere from a 4 to a 6 at the Big Ten Tournament.
Although Illinois is the Big Ten leader in home runs hit, it was the Hawkeyes that used that long ball to throw the first punch of the game. On the first pitch of the game, Andy Nelson took starter Payton Hutchings over the wall in right-center for a solo home run. Then to leadoff the second inning, Connor Hennings sent a no doubter to left field for his first home run in an Iowa uniform. Two innings, two home runs, 2-0 Hawkeyes.
Unfortunately for Iowa, Marcus Morgan did not have his best stuff on the mound. He worked around three walks and a hit by pitch to put up a pair of zeros to start his outing, but things fell apart in the third. Morgan issued a one out walk to Camden Janik and the free base came back to haunt him, as Vytas Valincius delivered a two-run home run to tie the game a batter later. After a hit by pitch put another Illini batter on base, Jacob Schroeder and Brody Harding hit back-to-back home runs.
That’s how quickly things can turn against Illinois and Iowa was suddenly trailing 5-2. Marcus Morgan allowed five runs on three hits over 2.2 innings, including six free bases. He threw just 32 of his 67 (47.8%) pitches for strikes.
The Hawkeye offense battled back in the fourth inning to answer the five-spot from the Illini. An RBI single from Michael Seegers cut the deficit to 5-3 and they threatened for more, with two runners in scoring position and two outs. Ben Wilmes hit the 2-1 offering from Payton Hutchings on the button, but right at left fielder Vytas Valincius to end the inning. The Illinois bullpen was able to silence the Hawkeyes the rest of the way.
Jake Rons, Ben Plumley and Joe Glassey combined to toss 4.2 scoreless innings, including five strikeouts to three walks. The Hawkeyes managed just one hit over their last 19 at-bats in the game. The Illini tacked on a run in the eighth inning with an RBI single off the bat of Camden Janik and that was enough. Illinois picked up the 6-3 win to keep sole possession of first place in the Big Ten going into the final weekend of the regular season.
Up Next, the Hawkeyes will return to Iowa City for their final home game of the season at Duane Banks Field. Iowa will host Illinois-Chicago on Tuesday evening. First pitch is set for 6:05pm CT on BTN+.
