Tag: Adam Mazur

Social media reacts to Iowa Hawkeyes’ Adam Mazur heading to the San Diego Padres

How did social media react to the San Diego Padres drafting Adam Mazur No. 53 overall in the 2022 MLB Draft?

Iowa right-hander Adam Mazur was selected by the San Diego Padres in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft with the No. 53 overall pick. The South Dakota State transfer became the Hawkeyes’ highest-drafted player since Tim Costo was picked eighth overall by Cleveland in 1990.

The Woodbury, Minn., native earned second-team All-American status from Collegiate Baseball, third-team All-American honors from ABCA/Rawlings and won Big Ten Pitcher of the Year after his standout season with Iowa.

In his first season as a Hawkeye, Mazur went 7-3 with a 3.07 ERA in 15 starts. He allowed just 60 hits and 37 runs (32 earned) over 93 2/3 innings, while fanning 98, limiting hitters to a .178 average and walking just 30.

Mazur led the Big Ten in batting average against, ranked second in innings pitched and strikeouts, third in wins and fourth in ERA. In league games, he led the Big Ten in wins with five, an ERA of 2.59, and 55 2/3 innings pitched. He also ranked fourth in league play in strikeouts.

Mazur registered nine quality starts over the course of the season, including seven consecutive during Big Ten play from April 2 through May 13. During one stretch, Mazur logged eight or more innings in four straight starts. He also tossed a complete game shutout versus Nebraska.

Mazur is the 24th player selected in the MLB draft during head coach Rick Heller’s tenure in Iowa City. Mazur was instrumental in helping the Hawkeyes finish the 2022 season with a 36-19 overall record.

After his breakout season, it is likely that last year was the exclamation mark on a short but fantastic stay in Iowa City. The historic selection was all the buzz on social media. Iowa fans and San Diego supporters alike are happy with the selection.

Adam Mazur is the highest-drafted Hawkeye in 32 years, taken No. 53 overall by the San Diego Padres

Iowa ace Adam Mazur became the highest-drafted Hawkeye in 32 years as the San Diego Padres selected the righty No. 53 overall.

Iowa right-hander Adam Mazur was selected by the San Diego Padres in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft with the No. 53 overall pick. In the process, the 6-foot-2, 180 pound redshirt sophomore became the Hawkeyes’ highest-drafted player since Tim Costo was picked eighth overall by Cleveland in 1990.

According to MLB.com’s Jim Callis, the No. 53 pick value is $1.44 million.

It’s likely the final exclamation point on a transformative stay in Iowa City. After transferring over from South Dakota State, Mazur was marvelous for the Hawkeyes this past season.

The Woodbury, Minn., native earned second-team All-American status from Collegiate Baseball, third-team All-American honors from ABCA/Rawlings and won Big Ten Pitcher of the Year after his standout season with Iowa.

In his first season as a Hawkeye, Mazur went 7-3 with a 3.07 ERA in 15 starts. He allowed just 60 hits and 37 runs (32 earned) over 93 2/3 innings, while fanning 98, limiting hitters to a .178 average and walking just 30.

Mazur led the Big Ten in batting average against, ranked second in innings pitched and strikeouts, third in wins and fourth in ERA. In league games, he led the Big Ten in wins with five, an ERA of 2.59, and 55 2/3 innings pitched. He also ranked fourth in league play in strikeouts.

Mazur registered nine quality starts over the course of the season, including seven consecutive during Big Ten play from April 2 through May 13. During one stretch, Mazur logged eight or more innings in four straight starts. He also tossed a complete game shutout versus Nebraska.

“Yeah, he put himself on the map in the Cape Cod League last summer. And then he came out to Iowa, Big Ten Pitcher of the Year. He throws two different fastballs. He’s got a four-seamer, 93-95, up to 99. He’s got a two-seamer with sink in the low 90’s.

“I think his best pitch is his slider, 82-86, with really good two-plane break. It’s a legit plus pitch when it’s on. Pretty good changeup, too. You know, strike-throwing’s good. And he slipped a little bit in the draft. He had a little back issue late in the season. I think if not for the back issue he goes 10, 15 picks higher,” Callis said of Mazur on the MLB Network’s broadcast.

Mazur is the 24th player selected in the MLB draft during head coach Rick Heller’s tenure in Iowa City. Mazur was instrumental in helping the Hawkeyes finish the 2022 season with a 36-19 overall record.

Iowa finished in a tie for second in the Big Ten regular season standings and became the first team to win two games on the same day at the Big Ten Tournament.

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Iowa baseball suffers debilitating Big Ten Tournament loss to Penn State

Despite riding into the Big Ten Tournament having won their final six conference series, Penn State handed Iowa a damaging, 5-2, loss.

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.

Iowa baseball’s Adam Mazur completes transformation, named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year

After a magical first season in Iowa City, Adam Mazur was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year. It completes quite the transformation.

For the second straight season, Iowa baseball lays claim to the Big Ten’s best pitcher. Redshirt sophomore Adam Mazur was honored as the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year as league awards were announced.

The 6-foot-2, 180 pound righty picked up the award after posting a 7-2 record with a 3.05 ERA in 14 regular season starts. The Woodbury, Minn., native posted nine quality starts and struck out 90 batters in 88 2/3 innings of work.

Mazur arrived in Iowa City as a transfer from South Dakota State where he went 3-9 and posted a 5.50 ERA over 16 starts in two seasons as the Jackrabbits’ No. 1 arm.

Mazur joined The BIG Baseball Podcast with hosts Drew Charters and Kyle Charters to discuss this renaissance of a season.

“Yeah, kind of getting into it and working with Robin (Lund) right away really helped. Just tweaking minor mechanic things really kind of helped point me forward and then really just learning my arsenal and how to attack hitters with it and learning what works best for me and what are things that I can look forward to,” Mazur said.

Lund’s early work on Mazur’s fastball made all the difference this season.

“Definitely learning how to throw a fastball a little bit more effectively, getting more vertical break on it. It was really big for me and that really kind of helped me pitch up in the zone also while spotting up down in the zone. And then, adding the changeup, adding the curveball and just kind of getting the four-pitch mix into it and being able to throw all four,” Mazur said.

Mazur always knew the fastball was in his arsenal, but perfecting it allowed him to add in an effective changeup and curveball.

“I knew the fastball was in there. In high school, I had a pretty good fastball. And then, kind of as I got older and put more weight on, the velo started to come with it. So, I knew that the fastball was going to be there and changeup I really started to develop out this summer.

“I was basically forced to throw it with those guys out there. You had to have at least three pitches to get outs. The curveball was something we kind of started in winter and just kind of stuck with it. Then, one weekend it kind of just all clicked and we were able to run with that,” Mazur said.

When Mazur says it all clicked, just look at Big Ten play for the confirmation. Mazur went 5-1 with a 2.59 ERA in eight Big Ten starts where he led the league in ERA (2.59), wins (5) and innings (55 2/3).

In the process, Mazur joined Trenton Wallace from last season as the only Hawkeyes to have captured Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors. Starting pitcher Brett Backlund was also a Big Ten Player of the Year in 1992.

Mazur and Wallace represent the fifth time in Big Ten history that a duo from the same school went back-to-back capturing the league’s highest pitching honor. Prior to Mazur and Wallace, Illinois most recently had consecutive honorees in 2015 and 2016.

Mazur is also the fourth starting pitcher to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors under Iowa head baseball coach Rick Heller.

The Hawkeyes open Big Ten Tournament play as the No. 3 seed and will play sixth-seeded Penn State at 9 a.m. from Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Neb. Every game will be televised on the Big Ten Network, with each game also available on the FOX Sports App.

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Iowa versus Michigan State: How to watch, listen, stream Hawkeye baseball against the Spartans

Iowa heads to East Lansing, Mich., for a pivotal three-game series. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream the Hawks against the Spartans.

After securing a fourth consecutive Big Ten series win with a 9-1 rubber game victory over Purdue, Iowa (28-16, 12-6 Big Ten) hits the road for East Lansing, Mich., for a three-game series against Michigan State.

With the Hawkeyes sitting at No. 64 in the RPI and tied for third in the Big Ten standings with a 12-6 mark in league play, Iowa needs to play well in this three-game series against the Spartans in order to enhance its case for an at-large bid into an NCAA Regional.

In Iowa’s series-clinching win over the Boilermakers, sophomore Ty Langenberg registered a career-long seven innings start where he surrendered just one run and struck out seven.

“We gave a mature, professional effort today. After a tough day yesterday, we came out with a lot of energy. We were really dialed in against a good team and we needed a good start. Ty Langenberg delivered with that; he was solid today,” Iowa head baseball coach Rick Heller said after capturing the series over Purdue.

After recording 12 strikeouts in the Mother’s Day win, Iowa ran its strikeout total to 507 to set a single-season program record. Redshirt freshman Keaton Anthony hit his 10th home run of the season and finished with a pair of RBIs. Sophomore Cade Moss added two RBIs as well.

Meanwhile, Michigan State (22-25, 6-12 Big Ten) was swept by Penn State. A pair of games originally scheduled for Friday and Saturday were postponed. The Spartans played a Sunday doubleheader, losing both against Penn State by scores of, 15-3, and, 10-4. Then, Michigan State dropped the Monday contest against the Nittany Lions, 10-9, in 11 innings.

The Spartans split their midweek games at Notre Dame and at Western Michigan, losing to the Fighting Irish, 15-6, before topping the Broncos, 3-1.

Here’s how to watch, listen and stream the Hawkeyes’ series against Michigan State.

Iowa baseball’s Adam Mazur shines, Hawkeyes shutout Cornhuskers in series opener, 1-0

Iowa got a solo shot from Izaya Fullard and starting pitcher Adam Mazur shutout the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a 1-0 series-opening win.

When redshirt sophomore righty Adam Mazur is dealing the way he was Friday afternoon, it doesn’t take much to put the Iowa Hawkeyes into the winner’s circle. Mazur surrendered just a pair of hits and struck out six in a complete-game shutout of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the series opener.

Redshirt senior second baseman Izaya Fullard went opposite field and lifted a 3-2 pitch out of Hawks Field at Haymarket Park just past the right field fencing. That was all it took in a 1-0 series-opening win over the Huskers.

With the win, Iowa has now won for the ninth time in its past 10 games. Dating back a little further, the Hawkeyes have won 12 of their past 15 and 17 of their past 22 contests.

Mazur got into a bases-loaded jam in the third inning after a pair of walks to Nebraska’s Core Jackson and Cam Chick and a hit by pitch of the Huskers’ Garrett Anglim. The Woodbury, Minn., native made sure it was no big deal for the Hawkeyes as he struck out Griffin Everitt to thwart the threat.

Mazur and Iowa didn’t allow another Nebraska base runner to reach second base after the third inning. Jackson singled to right field for the Huskers’ first hit in the bottom of the fifth, but he was promptly caught stealing. Then, after allowing a seventh-inning single to Nebraska’s Brice Matthews, Mazur induced a Jackson fly out to end the inning.

Overall, Mazur induced 12 fly outs and eight groundouts to go along with his six strikeouts and the caught stealing. Mazur improves to 5-2 on the season and Iowa looks to capture the series over Nebraska on Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. CT.

Adam Mazur dazzles, Iowa tops No. 8 Rutgers in series-opening game, 4-1

Behind a sensational start from Adam Mazur, Iowa beat No. 8 Rutgers, 4-1, in the first game of their three-game Big Ten series.

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.

Iowa vs. Central Michigan: baseball series details, how to watch, stream and listen

Iowa baseball hosts Central Michigan this weekend in a three-game series. Here’s how to watch, stream and listen to the Hawks.

Iowa hosts its final nonconference series before the Hawkeyes jump in to Big Ten play. The Hawks welcome Central Michigan into Iowa City for a three-game series starting on Friday.

The Hawkeyes come into this weekend series riding the momentum of a two-game split with then-No. 13 Texas Tech. Iowa beat Texas Tech 6-3 last Sunday thanks to big pitching performances from sophomore starting righty Ty Langenberg and senior righty Dylan Nedved. That duo combined to strike out 17 Red Raider batters over their collective nine innings.

“Ty set the tone for us, he was outstanding and gave us a great start. Nedved, it was a perfect situation to bookend the game and he did a nice job. The big thing for us is fastball command and you see what you can do if you have that command. We have six games until conference. Today was a positive day, win or lose. We played better, we played with intent, we were more focused and confident. Let’s try to string something together and it starts tomorrow,” Iowa head baseball coach Rick Heller said.

With the win over Texas Tech and Monday’s 6-5 win over St. Thomas, the Hawkeyes are now 10-8 overall entering this weekend’s series. Central Michigan arrives 9-8 overall. Here’s a look at how to stream, watch and listen to the action this weekend. Plus, a look at some of the starting pitchers for both and game details.