#18/#21 Michigan @ Iowa Baseball

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Very tough matchup, Michigan has a good offense. Going to learn a lot about what Iowa needs to do the remainder of this season after this weekend. This is the start of nine home games in a row for Iowa.

Friday - 6:05pm - CJ Eldred
Saturday - 3:05pm - Ryan Erickson
Sunday - 11:05am - Calvin Mathews

Looks like no Tyler Peyton in the weekend rotation and Calvin Mathews is back. Michigan will throw three lefties against Iowa, Iowa struggled mightily with Indiana's lefties. Evan Hill starts Sunday for Michigan and he has been a pain in Iowa's side. It seems like he has been there forever too. Looks like pretty good weather for this weekend. Hopefully Iowa can be tough at home and get a series victory, it's going to be EXTREMELY tough.

http://www.hawkeyesports.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/042116aaa.html

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Looks like fireworks after the game tonight.

 

[prntennis]

Looks like fireworks after the game tonight.

Would like to see some Hawkeye fireworks during game!!

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Would like to see some Hawkeye fireworks during game!!

Well I hope so, but considering how Iowa has done against lefties this year I am not expecting a whole lot.

 

[Hawkeye78]

After 4 complete innings.
Mich 4
Hawks 0

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Iowa falls to Michigan 8-4. Iowa only managed six hits, Iowa did score four runs in the Bottom 6th mainly via an error and walks when the bases were loaded. Iowa could never get a clutch hit when needed. Iowa had the bases loaded with 1 out in the Bottom 9th and scored zero runs. Michigan gave Iowa chances with seven walks, Iowa is just offensively challenged.

Iowa has two more games, to be frank we need to win them both. However, at the very least we cannot get swept. With Iowa's remaining schedule, our path to the B1G tournament is narrowing. I feel Iowa is a Top 8 team in this conference when they are playing their A or B game. However, our conference schedule is brutal.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Neustrom about had a game tying grand slam, but it didn't quite get out....

 

[2bagger22]

Man, they just can't hit lefties. Eldred threw decent but he had no help. Seems we're a year away offensively with the young kids at the plate and the seniors pitchers aren't producing like we hoped.

 

[Row55]

Just looked at the the conference-only statistics - we're 4th in batting, 2nd in pitching, 1st in fielding...and there we sit in 9th place.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Just looked at the the conference-only statistics - we're 4th in batting, 2nd in pitching, 1st in fielding...and there we sit in 9th place.

That surprises me a lot actually, because we are like 3-9 vs lefties this year. The window of opportunity for this team to make the B1G tournament is closing. Nebraska was the #8 last year with a 9-14 conference record. However, the #7 Ohio State was 13-11. In 2014, Iowa was the #8 with a 10-14 record and Ohio State was also 10-14 and the #7. So that gives you an idea of where Iowa needs to sit. There was an article on Hawk Central I believe talking about how Iowa did not draw ANY of the bottom three teams this year and that definitely hurts. With the way the conference schedule is shaping up I think 12-12 is the magic number to get in, and I am not sure I see six more wins on the schedule, especially with how Iowa has hit lefties.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Man, they just can't hit lefties. Eldred threw decent but he had no help. Seems we're a year away offensively with the young kids at the plate and the seniors pitchers aren't producing like we hoped.

It's actually head scratching. You'd think we'd have a few guys that could consistently hit a lefty. Pitching wise, the thing that hurts is how much Peyton and Mathews have struggled. In addition to that, we do not have a Hibbing type that can come in and shut it down in the 8th/9th. Rick Heller has done an AMAZING job at Iowa in a short time, however not making the conference tournament after a 41-14 and regional final appearance would be a tough pill to swallow. I am sure it is for the players and coaches especially. However, they can't be thinking gloom and doom like us fans can.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

2,297 was the attendance today, great showing by Iowa fans. Iowa Baseball however cannot hit a lefty so todays game so far is pretty brutal. What a shame too with such a great crowd.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Iowa loses to Michigan 12-9 today. Iowa committed two errors and Michigan scored FIVE unearned runs, hmmm....

Iowa's offense was held in check the majority of the game, but had a three run 6th and 8th, and a two run 9th. Iowa hit a three run homerun in the 6th, two run homerun in the 8th, and had the bases loaded in the 9th. Iowa did get a two RBI double in the 9th from Joel Booker with two outs, but could not do any more with it.

If ya told me before today that Iowa would score nine runs, I'd of thought we'd be putting this one up in the W column. Iowa was down 7-1 after five before they got some offense going. It was a great crowd and a shame.

Iowa will face another lefty starter for Michigan on Sunday in Evan Hill. Hill has given Iowa headaches for the past two years and I doubt Sunday is any different. Iowa REALLY needs to avoid a sweep, so we'll see. Iowa is just not getting some of the breaks this year that they did last year.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

Iowa baseball:

 

[2bagger22]

Farley's home run was wind-aided but the kid has all the tools to be a star.

Erickson threw a lot of pitches but was getting squeezed. I thought Heller was going to get tossed as he was really letting the home plate umpire have it and rightfully so; he was terrible.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Farley's home run was wind-aided but the kid has all the tools to be a star.

Erickson threw a lot of pitches but was getting squeezed. I thought Heller was going to get tossed as he was really letting the home plate umpire have it and rightfully so; he was terrible.

There were some questionable calls Friday Night IMO as well

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Just watched Heller's post game and he seemed pretty pissed/irritated about how things have went this weekend. Heck, maybe it's frustration from the year as a whole. Iowa just hasn't been able to consistently get that big hit with RISP or get the lucky bounce it seems.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Iowa beat Michigan 8-3 in the final game of the series. A rather nice crowd of 1,469 on a Sunday Morning.

Calvin Mathews struggled and only lasted 1 2/3 innings giving up five hits, two earned runs, walking one, and struck out two.

Nick Gallagher was excellent today as he went 7 innings and allowed six hits, one run, had seven K's, and walked one. Gallagher ran out of gas late and Zach Daniels got the final out.

Iowa had 16 hits as a team. Joel Booker was 4-5 with 2 RBIs, while Peyton and Roscetti each had two hits and an RBI.

Iowa has two midweek games against Grandview and Omaha before hosting Kansas State in a non-conference series. Iowa is at 7-8 and 9th place in the B1G. Illinois is 6-6 and a 1/2 game ahead. Illinois has a fairly tough schedule like Iowa. Ohio State and Rutgers are 5-7 and right behind Iowa. Each of them gets to play Purdue (OSU) and Northwestern (Rutgers). So we will see what happens. Iowa has their work cut out for them, but as I said before, if Iowa can find a way to get to 12-12 I think they can get in the tournament.