IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa baseball team outscored Minnesota, 24-1, in a doubleheader sweep of the Gophers on Sunday afternoon at Duane Banks Field.
The Hawkeyes won game one, 6-1, and thrashed the Gophers, 18-0, in game two to complete the three-game sweep over Minnesota for the first time since 2015, improving to 12-9 this season.
It’s Iowa’s first three-game sweep since 2018 and the Hawkeyes have won eight of their last nine games and currently sit in fifth place in the Big Ten.
Game 1 | Iowa 6, Minnesota 1
In the first game of the doubleheader, Iowa blasted a season-high four home runs.
Redshirt junior Dylan Nedved started the power surge in the bottom of the second with his first career home run of the solo variety to right field. Nedved added two singles and a triple in his last three at-bats to tally a career high four hits.
“I was seeing the ball well,” Nedved said. “Before the game I was feeling comfortable in the cages. We had good scouting reports on these guys, so I had a good approach going up to the plate. I stuck with it and things turned out well.”
Minnesota’s Ronald Sweeny knotted the game at one with a solo shot in the following inning, but that was the only run the Gophers could manage off Iowa’s starting pitcher Drew Irvine (1-2).
Irvine, a redshirt sophomore from Waukee, Iowa, pitched a career-high seven innings of two-hit ball to earn his first win of the season, while punching out six Gophers.
“I feel like I’m getting into a groove here and as a team, we’re really hitting a hot spot right now,” Irvine said. “We have to keep that going and build momentum into the next few weeks.”
Redshirt senior Ben Norman put the Hawkeyes on top, 2-1, with his team-leading seventh home run in the bottom of the third.
Following a Matthew Sosa single to lead off the seventh inning, redshirt senior catcher Brett McCleary hit a two-run home run – the first of his career – to right field to increase Iowa’s lead to 4-1.
Redshirt senior Zeb Adreon capped off Iowa’s home run barrage with a two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth. Adreon’s second home run of the season made the score 6-1.
Nedved pitched the final two innings, allowing no runs on two hits to earn his team-best fifth save of the season.
“I’m feeling good about where we are,” Nedved said. “We’re starting to click on all cylinders – defense, pitching, and hitting. We’re confident right now. Everybody’s playing well.”
Game 2 | Iowa 18, Minnesota 0
Iowa blew the game wide open from the get go, scoring 12 runs in the first two innings.
With the bases loaded and one out, Adreon laced a two-RBI single to left center field to give Iowa a 2-0 lead. After redshirt senior Matthew Sosa drove in another Hawkeye run on a sacrifice fly, Iowa rattled off four straight doubles to score four more runs and lead 7-0 after the first inning.
“Where we find our success is when we’re able to lock it in every single pitch,” said redshirt senior Austin Martin, who had one of the four straight doubles. “Whether we’re up 12 to nothing or down 12 to nothing, we have the same focus and that’s what made us successful this weekend.”
Iowa batted around for the second straight inning to score five runs, but this time around, the damage was done with two outs.
Redshirt junior Trenton Wallace continued the scoring onslaught with a single to right field for his second RBI of the game. Iowa capitalized on three Minnesota errors to cap off the five-run fifth inning.
Twelve runs were plenty for Iowa starting pitcher Cam Baumann (2-2), who allowed only one Minnesota baserunner to reach second base in five innings of work. The southpaw from Fairfield, Iowa, surrendered only two hits and added five strikeouts.
Freshman Tyson James, redshirt sophomore Duncan Davitt, and freshman Ty Langenberg combined to pitch four innings of scoreless relief.
The Hawkeyes tacked on one run in the fourth inning, two in the seventh, and three in the eighth to put an exclamation mark on the weekend.
Six Hawkeyes recorded multi-hit games in the series finale.
QUOTING HEAD COACH RICK HELLER
“You have to be relaxed and confident. I saw that a lot today, especially in game two. The way we came out stroking the ball, took what they were giving us, and didn’t try to do too much.
“We took another big step this week. We need another have a good week of practice and another good weekend next weekend. Every weekend’s going to be a big challenge. These next weekends are really tough.”
OF NOTE
- Nedved was 6-for-7 today and hit for the cycle across the two games with a home run, triple, double, three singles, and four runs scored.
- Iowa outscored Minnesota, 31-2, in the three-game series.
- Iowa’s 18 runs scored in game two are the most in a Big Ten game since beating Michigan State 19-7 on April 3, 2011. The runs are the most in a shutout since March 8, 2016, when the Hawkeyes beat Northwestern College, 28-0, and most in a Big Ten game since 1990 when Iowa beat Minnesota, 13-0.
UP NEXT
Iowa hits the road next weekend for a four-game series against Rutgers in Piscataway, New Jersey. Friday’s series opener is set for 1 p.m. (CT).
