After finishing off a sweep of Indiana with a 2-1 victory in a pitcher’s duel, Iowa made one of its final statements for an at-large berth into the NCAA Baseball Tournament.
Iowa starting pitcher Ty Langenberg delivered five shutout innings with four strikeouts. Then, Hawkeye pitchers Connor Schultz and Ben Beutel threw the final four innings, surrendering just a lone run and combining for seven strikeouts to lock down the sweep of the Hoosiers.
Iowa right fielder Keaton Anthony hit a solo shot in the bottom of the first inning to stake the Hawkeyes to a 1-0 lead over Indiana. It was the third straight day Anthony homered and his 14th bomb of the season. Then, Kyle Huckstorf scored what proved to be the game’s winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Hawkeyes’ RPI ranking of No. 54 leaves Iowa in limbo as they head into the Big Ten Tournament. Some corners of the college baseball world will feel like their at-large NCAA Baseball Tournament work is still unfinished. That will be especially true if Iowa drops its Big Ten Tournament opener as the No. 3 seed against sixth-seeded Penn State.
Consider for a moment, though, that Iowa won seven of the eight Big Ten series it played this season and each of its final six Big Ten series. The one Big Ten series that the Hawkeyes didn’t win included an extra-innings loss versus the fourth-place finisher Illinois.
A slow start to the season that saw Iowa limp out to an 8-8 start is part of what’s anchoring the Hawkeyes’ RPI down. That stretch included losses to Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Loras College, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Iowa also lost a pair against Wichita State and its series versus UC-Irvine.
The Hawkeyes have gone 25-9 since and made a compelling case with their 33-17 overall record and 17-7 finish in Big Ten play that their finish to the season is more indicative of the team they have than the season’s first 16 games.
First things first, Iowa needs to take care of business versus Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament. After that, though, if the Hawkeyes pair it with one win over Rutgers, then how many teams can say they finished third in a Power Five league and ended the regular season 25-9?