At this point, the path forward is clear. And maybe it already was entering the Big Ten Baseball Tournament, but, now, after falling to lowly Penn State, 5-2, in their tournament opener, the Hawkeyes have no choice but to win out and grab the conference’s auto-NCAA Tournament bid.
That’s the damage that’s done from falling to the Nittany Lions in the tournament’s opening game. Iowa was already squarely on the at-large bubble heading into the Big Ten Tournament. Losing to Penn State, who entered the Big Ten Tournament with the lowest RPI ranking of any team in the field of eight, ensures that’s the case.
Iowa ace and Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Adam Mazur gutted it out and fought through back spasms to give the Hawkeyes five innings of work, surrendering a pair of earned runs and striking out eight Penn State batters.
Penn State plated a pair against Mazur in the third after it looked like the Hawkeyes might have induced an inning-ending double play. Instead, the baseball stayed lodged in the webbing of third baseman Brendan Sher’s glove. Penn State’s Anthony Steele followed with a one-out single to take a 2-0 lead.
Then, unfortunately, the Nittany Lions delivered the serious damaging blow against Iowa reliever Duncan Davitt in the top of the sixth inning after Mazur exited. It looked like it was set to be quick work in the sixth for Davitt after he retired the first two Penn State batters.
But, a two-out hit by pitch and a walk set the stage for Matt Wood. Wood sent a full-count pitch deep to right field for a three-run blast and a 5-1 lead. On a day where the Hawkeyes could manage just two hits against a pair of Penn State pitchers, that was the death blow.
Penn State starter Tyler Shingledecker pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed a pair of runs and one earned run as he struck out eight Hawkeye hitters. The Nittany Lions’ Travis Luensmann went the rest of the way, tossing 3 1/3 innings of one-hit baseball with seven more strikeouts of Iowa batters.
Iowa answered Penn State’s scoring twice in the contest, but with just one response run in the bottom of the third and the bottom of the sixth. Iowa’s Kyle Huckstorf brought home Ben Wilmes with a sacrifice fly in the third and Peyton Williams scored on a two-out Penn State throwing error in the sixth that allowed Izaya Fullard to reach safely.
That was it, though, and now the Hawkeyes await the loser of Rutgers and Purdue at 9 a.m. CT on Friday.