IOWA CITY — The Iowa Hawkeyes baseball team won its Big Ten weekend series against Illinois, taking the first two games at Duane Banks Field before dropping Sunday’s finale.
Iowa opened the series with a 9-3 win Friday night, then clinched the series Saturday with a 6-5 victory. Illinois avoided the sweep Sunday, beating the Hawkeyes 6-2.
The Hawkeyes started fast in Friday’s opener, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Miles Risley singled to left, Caleb Wulf followed with a hit and Max Burt drove in the game’s first run with a single up the middle.
Illinois answered with two runs in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead, but Iowa broke the game open in the fifth. The Hawkeyes put together a six-run inning behind seven straight hits. Jaylen Ziegler and Kooper Schulte started the rally with singles, and Gable Mitchell tied the game with an RBI single. Risley then doubled off the left-field wall to give Iowa the lead.
Wulf kept the inning going with another single before Burt delivered the biggest swing of the night, a three-run home run. Kellen Strohmeyer later doubled and scored on a fielder’s choice to cap the inning.
“I thought our guys were locked in,” Iowa head coach Rick Heller said. “I thought they were disciplined against Hall. He was locating well and mixing well, and then it just happened. I don’t really have anything to say other than that, because we had seven straight hits. I was really happy with our effort, our focus and our energy.”
Illinois added a solo home run in the seventh, but Iowa answered in the bottom half when Ben Swails doubled and scored on Schulte’s single.
Tyler Guerin started for Iowa and allowed two runs on three hits in three innings. Kyle Alivo earned the win in relief, throwing five innings and allowing one run on four hits while striking out eight. Brolan Frost closed the game with a scoreless ninth, striking out two.
On Saturday, Iowa clinched the series with a 6-5 win.
Jaixen Frost gave the Hawkeyes an early lead in the second inning with a three-run home run to left. Iowa added two more runs in the third when Matthew Delgado drove in Mitchell and Wulf, extending the lead to 5-0.
Illinois scored three unearned runs in the sixth to cut Iowa’s lead to 5-3, but the Hawkeyes answered in the bottom half of the inning. Joey Nerat singled to right, scoring Strohmeyer from second for what proved to be a key insurance run.
Illinois scored twice more in the eighth to make it a one-run game, but Iowa escaped the inning when JR Nelson was caught stealing home. Joe Husak finished the game to earn the save.
Maddux Frese started for Iowa and worked six innings, allowing five hits and three unearned runs while striking out three and walking two. Jaron Bleeker and Husak combined to pitch the final three innings. Frese earned his fourth win of the season, while Husak recorded his third save of the year and the 17th of his career.
“I thought Maddux gave us a great start, and Bleeker came in and went one-two-three with really good stuff. Husak is our closer, and he did exactly that,” Heller said. “Today was Jaxien’s day, and he stepped up with a big home run to give us the lead. Maddux does a really nice job pitching with a lead and pounding the zone. I loved that we only had two walks today, and we definitely cleaned things up.”
Illinois took Sunday’s finale 6-2. The Fighting Illini opened the scoring with a three-run home run in the second inning and added another homer in the third to take a 4-0 lead.
Iowa got on the board in the bottom of the third when Frost tripled and scored on Ziegler’s sacrifice fly to deep right. Frost homered again in the eighth, giving him home runs in back-to-back games, but Illinois added two runs in the ninth to put the game away.
“I thought Illinois played well overall today,” Heller said. “Defensively, they didn’t give us a good chance to get going throughout the game. There weren’t a lot of opportunities, but when Illinois needed to make plays, they made them, and they just didn’t give us any free bases to get going.”
The series victory marked Iowa’s third straight series win. The Hawkeyes were scheduled to return to action Tuesday against St. Thomas in their final home game of the season.