IOWA CITY – The University of Iowa baseball team swept a doubleheader on Saturday evening to finish off a three-game sweep of Western Michigan. Iowa won the first game 13-8 and run ruled the Broncos 21-6 in seven innings in game two.
The Hawkeyes are off to their best start in program history improving to 19-3 on the season.
“I told the guys it was a really impressive weekend,” said head coach Rick Heller. “Offensively, great job getting pitches in the zone to hit. Didn’t chase hardly at all, all weekend long. When you do that, you end up with the opportunity to hit ball hard. We had a lot of extra base hits.”
Jared Simpson got the start in game one and went 2 2/3 innings striking out six and allowing five runs. Zach Voelker entered and earned the win throwing 4 1/3 innings of three run ball. Luke Llewellyn pitched the final two innings of the win.
In game one, Michael Seegers was 3-for-6 and Sam Hojnar was 3-for-5 with 4 RBIs.
Ty Langenberg got the start in the second game throwing five innings of two run baseball, striking out ten Broncos.
Raider Tello was 5-for-5 with five RBIs and Brennen Dorighi was 2-for-2 with 3 RBIs. Kyle Huckstorf, Brayden Frazier, Sam Hojnar, and Gable Mitchell all had two RBIs.
“You just play them all the same,” said Heller. “That’s how we try to our business. It gives you opportunities to be consistent like that. Eliminate the peaks and valleys. I don’t think our guys will fall prey to that. The biggest challenge for us as a staff is to keep working and keep pushing to get better because we still have a lot of things we need to improve on.”
Of Note –
The Hawkeyes are off to their best start in program history, passing the 1939 team which started 18-4.
The Hawkeyes scored 20 runs for the second time this season, they have scored double figures 10 times.
Iowa has won nine games in a row. Under Rick Heller Iowa has posted winning streaks of nine games twice (in 2015 and 2023) and eight games (in 2017).
Iowa improves to 9-0 at Duane Banks Field.
Up Next
The Hawkeyes head to Normal, Illinois for a midweek matchup with Illinois State at 5 p.m. (CT) The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the Hawkeye Radio Network.
