Tag: Brendan Sher

Iowa rocks Purdue, 9-1, captures fourth straight Big Ten series win

Iowa used a five-run fifth inning to rock Purdue, 9-1, on Sunday. As a result, the Hawkeyes have now won four consecutive Big Ten series.

A Saturday hiccup couldn’t stop Iowa from unleashing on Purdue on Sunday. The Hawkeyes scored two runs in the first, two more in the third and then used a five-run fifth inning to race away from the Boilermakers en route to a 9-1 rubber game win.

The series win is Iowa’s fourth consecutive Big Ten series win and the Hawkeyes’ sixth series win over the past seven weekends. Iowa improved to 28-16 overall and 12-6 in Big Ten play with a pair of weeks remaining in the regular season.

Sophomore right-hander Ty Langenberg struck out seven Purdue batters over a career-long seven innings of work to pick up the Mother’s Day win from Duane Banks Field. The Urbandale, Iowa, native allowed just five hits and surrendered only the lone walk. In the process, Langenberg improved to 5-1 on the season.

It was a great day for the Iowa pitching staff in general. Redshirt junior righty Duncan Davitt came on in relief and pitched a pair of scoreless innings and struck out five of the final six Boilermaker batters. With the Hawkeye pitchers 12 strikeouts on the day, Iowa ran its season total to 507 to set a new single-season program record. The previous mark was 499 strikeouts by the 2018 squad.

Redshirt freshman Keaton Anthony got the scoring started for Iowa in the first with a two-run homer after Purdue plunked Iowa’s Peyton Williams. Then, in the third, redshirt junior Brendan Sher added a two-run double into left center to plate Anthony and redshirt senior Izaya Fullard.

The Hawkeyes officially broke things open in the fifth. Sher drew a bases-loaded walk and Williams scored on a wild pitch to give Iowa a 6-0 lead. Freshman Ben Wilmes followed with a two-run single and sophomore Cade Moss’ single to right made it 9-0 Hawkeyes.

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.