IOWA CITY – The University of Iowa baseball team (17-11) scored in every inning but the first, including nine unanswered runs, to bounce back from Saturday’s loss with a 15-4 victory over Northwestern (12-15) on Sunday at Duane Banks Field.
Led by redshirt seniors Zeb Adreon (4-for-4, four runs, four RBIs) and Ben Norman (3-for-6, five RBIs), Iowa’s offense tied a season-high 18 hits to score the second-most runs on the season.
“It started with our attitude when we showed up at the ballpark,” head coach Rick Heller said. “I loved how we showed up. I could tell today guys were dialed in and ready to play. That was a great sign after a tough loss yesterday.”
Northwestern scored the game’s first run in the top of the first off redshirt junior Cam Baumann, who pitched six innings, allowing only two runs, to improve to 4-2 on the season, but then it was all Iowa the rest of the way.
“Cam went out and gave us a great start,” Heller said. “He had four shutdown innings in a row where we scored, and he put up a zero. He did exactly what we needed today. He gave us a lot of consistency and confidence. He has been on a roll for us.”
The Hawkeyes scored two runs in the bottom of the second and one in the third, before tallying three runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to take a 12-2 lead.
Norman’s bases-clearing, two-out double in the fourth gave Iowa a 6-1 advantage and blew the game wide open. Northwestern’s starting pitcher Quinn Lavelle (4-2) trotted out for the fifth, but could only record one out, before giving way to the bullpen. Iowa chased him for nine hits and only punched out once against the soft-throwing left-hander.
Iowa tallied 12 hits in the fourth through the sixth, including four for extra bases.
Redshirt freshman Peyton Williams hit Iowa’s first home run of the weekend in the bottom of the seventh, before Norman capped off Iowa’s offensive output with a two-RBI double in the bottom of the eighth.
True freshmen Ty Langenberg, Tyson James, and Will Semb, pitched the final three innings. Semb struck out the side in the ninth inning.
QUOTING HEAD COACH RICK HELLER
Iowa has not lost back-to-back games in a month.
“We like to think it’s what our program is about. Some days it is better than others. Yesterday we didn’t play extremely well, but we still fought. We didn’t let the bad day yesterday effect the good day today. We try to get better every day, have a good approach, focus on the process, and play the game as hard as you can. At the end of the day, the scoreboard will tell you how you did. We’re not going to get caught up in ups and downs and peaks and valleys. We try to play consistent baseball day-in, day-out.”
OF NOTE
Iowa has scored 10+ runs four times this season.
Adreon’s four runs and four hits set a new career high. His four RBIs tied a career high. Adreon is 8-of-12 in three games this weekend, with five RBIs and six runs scored.
Norman’s five RBIs and three doubles set new career highs.
Baumann recorded his third quality start of the season and for the first time since March 7, his first start of the season, that he allowed two earned runs or more.
Redshirt senior Matthew Sosa recorded two hit-by-pitches to move into a tie for fourth in school history with 17 hit-by-pitches in a single season. The single-season record is 22, set by Keith Brand in 2013.
Seven Hawkeyes recorded multi-hit games.
