IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa baseball team (9-5) out-hit Kansas 14-4 en route to an 8-0 shutout victory over the Jayhawks on Tuesday afternoon at Duane Banks Field.
Redshirt junior Hunter Lee and senior Adam Ketelsen combined to strike out 11 batters to record Iowas second shutout in its last four games. Juniors Izaya Fullard and Trenton Wallace recorded three-hit games, and eight of Iowas nine starters recorded at least one hit.
“I was happy with how our guys came out and played today,” head coach Rick Heller said. “Only one free base and when you do that, youre going to win a lot of games. We got a great start out of Hunter Lee and Adam (Ketelsen) came in and went five strong. Those two combined for a four-hit shutout, thats outstanding when we have to play nine more innings tomorrow.”
In the first inning, Iowa failed to capitalize on a bases-loaded opportunity, but the Hawkeyes answered with clutch pitching of their own by Lee, who started the game, throwing a career-high four innings of scoreless ball.
With no outs and Jayhawks on first and third, Lee forced an infield pop out, followed by an inning-ending double play. The Hawkeyes found their groove after that, scoring three runs in the third and fourth innings.
In the third, Fullard singled to center for his second hit of the game, and then freshman Peyton Williams doubled off the right field wall to put Hawkeyes on the corner with one out.
Junior Dylan Nedved singled through the left side, driving in Fullard and Williams came around to score on a throwing error. Wallace capped off the inning with an RBI double to right field.
The Iowa bats stayed hot the next inning, scoring three runs on three singles. Senior Zeb Adreon had a two-out, opposite-field single to left field to give the Hawkeyes a 4-0 lead through four.
In the fifth inning, Ketelsen relieved Lee. The Mount Vernon, Iowa, native retired 15 of the 17 batters he faced, including the last eight batters. Ketelsen punched out a career-high seven batters in a career-high five innings of relief.
“Hunter and I set a game plan we have been working all year to attack the zone,” Ketelsen said. “We thought to ourselves if theyre going to beat us with hits, make them beat us with hits. We wanted to attack and make it happen with fast balls, off speed, and just attack them.”
The Hawkeyes tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth inning, before Ketelsen put the game away in the ninth.
OF NOTE
- Iowa has recorded six straight games of 10+ hits. Iowa is 5-1 in such games.
- With a 3-for-4 performance today, Fullards team-high batting average is up to .411. Fullards multi-hit streak is up to six games.
- Wallaces 3-for-4 day raised his batting average to .600 in 15 at-bats.
- Williams raised his team-best hitting streak to 10 games.
- Freshman Tyler Snep made his first career start at catcher, recording one hit in four at-bats. In the first inning, he gunned down a Kansas base runner trying to steal second.
UP NEXT
Iowa faces Kansas tomorrow afternoon at 2:05 p.m. (CT) from Duane Banks Field.
