Iowa entered this weekend’s series versus No. 8 Rutgers riding a season-best five-game winning streak and with the understanding that this three-game set against the Scarlet Knights held some serious gravitational pull in terms of the Hawkeyes’ potential postseason hopes.
After the series opener, it’s all roses for Iowa. Redshirt sophomore right-hander Adam Mazur delivered a gem, matching his career high in strikeouts with 11 and holding Rutgers to just one run over eight innings. Then, redshirt senior righty Dylan Nedved locked down the save in the ninth with only eight pitches to help the Hawkeyes earn the 4-1 series-opening win.
“Getting ahead and mixing and matching pitches was key. My curveball felt great today, which I hadn’t used too much this year. It was nice to get that and the slider felt good. Everything was clicking and having good defense behind me helped. After the second inning when we scored one and I wasn’t able to get the shutdown inning we needed, it lit a fire underneath me that I needed to keep going and push through,” Mazur said.
Along the way, a pair of Iowa players went yard. Redshirt junior third baseman Brendan Sher lifted a 3-2 pitch into left field for a solo shot to start the scoring in the second inning. Rutgers tied it up at one run apiece in the bottom half of the second when Garrett Callaghan tripled to score Mike Nyisztor.
A sacrifice fly from freshman left fielder Sam Petersen scored redshirt senior second baseman Izaya Fullard. Then, in the eighth inning after sophomore designated hitter Will Mulflur reached, Fullard delivered a two-run blast on a two-strike count to put the Hawkeyes in front 4-1 to stay. The homers were Sher’s third of the season and Fullard’s first.
With the win, Iowa improves its overall record to 22-12 and their Big Ten mark to 7-3.