Big Ten baseball tournament – Page 2

Iowa baseball staves off elimination, tops Purdue, 5-4, in the Big Ten Tournament

Iowa lived to fight another day, scoring in the ninth to beat Purdue, 5-4, in the Big Ten Tournament.

Redshirt senior Izaya Fullard delivered a two-out, two-strike RBI single in the ninth inning that kept Iowa’s hopes alive in the Big Ten Tournament and staved off elimination as the third-seeded Hawkeyes beat Purdue, 5-4.

“I got behind 0-2 right away and that last pitch I saw him shake off and smirk a little bit. I don’t know why, but it made me think he was going to blow a fastball by me. I made sure to get on time for a fastball and I was able to put a good swing on it,” Fullard said.

Unlike Thursday when Penn State held Iowa to just a pair of hits, Iowa had eight hits on the day and scored three runs in the fifth off Purdue starter CJ Backer.

It was small ball that helped open the door for the Hawkeyes. Only one ball left the infield for Iowa in that fifth inning as the Hawkeyes scored runs on a passed ball, a safety squeeze from Michael Seegers and a wild pitch. After Purdue got one run back in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI groundout from Steve Ramirez, Iowa’s Cade Moss responded with an RBI double in the sixth to put the Hawkeyes in front, 4-2.

The Boilermakers used a three-hit bottom of the sixth inning and an Iowa fielding error to plate a pair of runs and tie things up at four runs apiece. Purdue also had a solo shot in the bottom of the second from Troy Viola.

On the mound, redshirt senior starter Dylan Nedved tossed six innings, surrendering four runs and three earned. One of the stories of the day was Iowa reliever Will Cristophersen and his 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. He had five strikeouts on the day and came away with the save.

Now, Iowa advances and will face the loser of Rutgers-Penn State Saturday morning at 9 a.m. CT.

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: how to watch, stream, listen to the Hawkeyes versus Penn State on Thursday

Here’s how to watch, stream and listen to Iowa Hawkeyes baseball opening up Big Ten Tournament play against Penn State on Thursday at 5 p.m.

The Hawkeyes head into the Big Ten Tournament winners of their final six conference series and seven of their past nine games overall. Iowa finished tied for second in Big Ten play with a mark of 33-17 overall and 17-7 in conference play.

As a result, Iowa earned the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament where the Hawkeyes will square off with sixth-seeded Penn State today at 9 a.m. from Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Neb., in their first postseason matchup. If the Hawkeyes can win, it’s the winner of No. 2 seed Rutgers and No. 7 seed Purdue.

Dating back to March 20 and a 6-3 win over then-No. 12 Texas Tech, Iowa ended the regular season with a 25-9 mark in the season’s final 34 games. A number of Hawkeyes earned hardware from the Big Ten for their efforts this season, including ace Adam Mazur who was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and redshirt freshman Keaton Anthony who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

It’s an important week for Iowa as the Hawkeyes are looking to either win the Big Ten Tournament outright to capture the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament or to enhance their at-large resume.

Here’s how to watch, stream and listen to the Hawkeyes against the Nittany Lions.