Tag: Brody Brecht

Three Iowa Hawkeyes stamped preseason All-Conference players by Perfect Game

With first pitch inching closer, take a look at the three Iowa Hawkeyes named to the preseason Big Ten All-Conference team by Perfect Game.

Coming off of an impressive 44-16 season in 2023, the Iowa Hawkeyes are looking to run things back again in 2024 and make another postseason appearance and potentially a postseason run.

Three individuals will be key to leading the Hawkeyes to another successful year. Perfect Game took a look at the Big Ten Conference preview and has named three Hawkeyes to their preseason All-Conference team.

The three named are outfielder Sam Petersen, starting pitcher Brody Brecht, and relief pitcher Marcus Morgan. Brecht was also named the preseason Big Ten Pitcher of the Year by Perfect Game.

Sam Petersen is one of four outfielders named to the team after an All-Big Ten First Team performance in 2023. Iowa will need Petersen’s blend of power and speed on offense.

All-Big Ten 1st Team in ’23. Slashed .319/.449/.584 with 11 home runs (2nd on team) and 47 RBI. Led team in SB with 20. – Tyler Kotila, Perfect Game

Brody Brecht has all the hype in the world around him and he also has the arm talent to match. The flamethrower stepped on the scene in dominant fashion last year and will look to expand on that in 2024.

All-Big Ten 1st Team in ’23. 16 starts, 77.0 IP, 3.74 ERA, 109 strikeouts. Triple-digits FB. POTY favorite in ’24. – Kotila, Perfect Game

Rounding out the preseason team for the Hawkeyes is Marcus Morgan. The reliever has the fastball and strikeout ability. If he can continue his performance, Iowa could find themselves a reliable bullpen arm.

All-Big Ten 2nd Team in ’23. 15 starts, 65.1 IP, 3.72 ERA, 72 strikeouts. Up to 99 mph this fall, potential for breakout in ’24. – Kotila, Perfect Game

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Perfect Game tabs Brody Brecht as preseason Big Ten Pitcher of the Year

In their preview of the Big Ten conference, Perfect Game listed Iowa Hawkeye Brody Brecht as their Big Ten Pitcher of the Year.

Iowa pitcher Brody Brecht just may be the ace of the Big Ten. The junior pitcher was recently named to the preseason All-Conference Team for the Big Ten by scouting organization Perfect Game.

The 6-foot-4, 225 pound junior right-hander was also selected as Perfect Game’s preseason Big Ten Pitcher of the Year.

This placement marks a projected step up for the Ankeny, Iowa, native after a successful sophomore campaign that saw him garner first-team All-Big Ten recognition.

Brecht posted a 3.74 ERA in 17 appearances as a sophomore. He allowed just 38 hits and 28 runs over 77 innings. He allowed just nine extra-base hits and a .174 batting average against. Brecht led the nation with 4.32 hits allowed per nine innings and tallied 109 strikeouts, the second most in program history.

For the Pitcher of the Year award, Michigan’s Connor O’Halloran was named the recipient last year. Now that O’Halloran is off to the big leagues, Brecht is projected as the top pitcher in the conference.

On a national scale, Brecht was named a third-team All-American by the NCBWA and Perfect Game last season, a year after earning freshman All-American honors by both Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Gamein 2022.

Perfect Game expects big things out of Brecht, including him in their preseason first-team All-Americans earlier this month. In that report, the publication noted the incredible pro potential Brecht possesses.

Very few players in the country can match the pure stuff that Brecht possesses and it’s why Brecht will be one of the first college arms off the board in July’s draft. He can run the fastball up to triple digits and his slider might be the best pitch in the country. Brecht is an excellent athlete too, he played two years on the football team as a wide receiver, and made notable improvements to his command throughout the year, leaving the possibility for a huge breakout in 2024 possible. – Vincent Cervino, Craig Cozart, Perfect Game.

Iowa will begin its season at the Swig & Swine College Classic in Charleston, S.C., from Feb. 15-17. The team will face Seton Hall in its season opener.

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Brody Brecht makes another All-American team

Brody Brecht grabbed another All-American honor, picking up third team recognition from Perfect Game.

Iowa is a throwing team! At least the baseball squad is.

While the Iowa football program has struggled mightily over the past few years to throw the ball, it’s actually an area where their baseball program has excelled. Funnily enough, a former Hawkeyes football player is leading the charge on the mound.

Brody Brecht decided this year to fully commit to baseball, pursuing the sport where his future was brightest. The choice has worked wonders for the sophomore, Brecht recently named a third-team All-American by Perfect Game. The news comes days after Brecht was selected as a third-team All-American by the NCBWA.

Brecht continues a streak of Iowa All-Americans on the mound. The Ankeny, Iowa, native joins Adam Mazur and Trenton Wallace as Iowa’s third straight.

Brecht earned third-team honors after going 5-2 with a 3.74 ERA in 16 starts. The right-hander posted four quality starts and fanned 109 batters over 77 innings. The Ankeny, Iowa native leads the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (4.32).

Brecht’s excellence on the mound helped Iowa to one of their best seasons in program history, finishing with a team record-tying 44 wins. The Hawkeyes advanced to the Big Ten Tournament championship game and subsequently won two games at the Terre Haute Regional. It was Iowa’s first NCAA Regional appearance since 2017.

Brecht is a name to watch out for ahead of the 2024 MLB draft. Analysts and scouts have raved about his fantastic stuff, specifically his lightning fastball. He is viewed as a potential top prospect.

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Brody Brecht earns NCBWA All-American honors

After a fabulous sophomore season, Brody Brecht keeps garnering recognition. He was honored as an NCBWA All-American.

After a terrific sophomore campaign, the recognition keeps rolling in for junior-to-be Brody Brecht. Brecht was recognized by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association as a third-team All-American.

The 6-foot-4, 205 pound right-hander ascended into the Iowa Hawkeyes‘ weekend rotation, starting 16 games and registering a 5-2 record with a 3.74 ERA. He posted four quality starts and struck out an astounding 109 opposing hitters across 77 innings of work.

The Ankeny, Iowa, native led the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (4.32) and he established himself as an oftentimes dominant force in the Hawkeye rotation. As a result, he helped Iowa to a regional final appearance in the Hawkeyes’ sixth all-time NCAA Tournament trip. The Hawks tied their school record for wins this season with 44.

It’s the second straight season with serious postseason recognition for Brecht. Last year, Brecht was named a freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game a year ago. Meanwhile, Brecht’s return alongside fellow junior-to-be Marcus Morgan in the Hawkeyes’ starting rotation has Iowa fans thinking about even more in 2024.

Recently, Iowa has added a pair of transfer arms to bolster its pitching staff via the transfer portal. The Hawkeyes have brought in Oklahoma State transfer Brant Hogue and Dallas Baptist transfer Reece Beuter.

As Hawkeye Report’s Kyle Huesmann notes, a partial UCL tear cut Hogue’s season short with the Cowboys in April. While he didn’t see much work at all at Oklahoma State, he was fantastic during the 2022 campaign with Iowa Western.

The 6-foot-4, 223 pound lefty tossed 59 1/3 innings with the Reivers, surrendering just 11 earned runs to post a 1.67 ERA across 13 starts and 14 overall appearances. Hogue ended the 2022 season with a perfect 6-0 record and he racked up 93 strikeouts against just 16 walks. His strikeouts per nine innings while at Iowa Western was 14.11. Hogue had one complete game performance as well.

Beuter made 15 appearances with the Patriots, compiling a 4.86 ERA across 16 2/3 innings of work. The 6-foot-1, 196 pound redshirt junior struck out 15 and walked six.

Beuter had a pair of outings in February and March where he tossed two innings against Austin Peay and Grambling, respectively. Those were his longest outings of the 2023 season. He also threw 1 2/3 innings of one-run ball against Oklahoma State in an 18-4 win over the Cowboys in the Stillwater Regional.

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Brody Brecht garners 2023 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team training camp invite

Iowa baseball star right-hander Brody Brecht earned a 2023 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp invite.

From the black and gold to the red, white and blue. Iowa Hawkeyes righty Brody Brecht earned an invite to the 2023 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team training camp in Cary, N.C.

The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team training camp takes place in North Carolina from June 25-28 and will feature 56 of the premier non-draft eligible college players for a four-game Stars vs. Stripes intrasquad series.

All four of the training camp games will be played at the USA Baseball National Training Complex. Game one is at 2 p.m. CT on June 25, game two is at 5 p.m. on June 26, game three on June 27 at 6 p.m. and game four at 5 p.m. on June 28.

After the intrasquad series, USA Baseball will then name a final, 26-man Collegiate National Team roster. That final, 26-man roster will represent the United States in a friendship series against Chinese Taipei and Japan from June 30 through July 12.

The 6-foot-4, 205 pound righty ended his sophomore season with a 5-2 record, a 3.74 ERA and a batting average against of just .143. The right-hander posted four quality starts and fanned 109 batters over 77 innings. The Ankeny, Iowa native leads the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (4.32).

Brecht will return to Iowa baseball next season looking to help the Hawkeyes to their first back-to-back NCAA Tournament Regional appearances. He will also form a nice one-two punch at the start of Iowa’s starting pitching rotation alongside junior-to-be Marcus Morgan.

Iowa’s season ended in the regional championship against No. 14 overall seed and regional host Indiana State. The Hawkeyes tied the school record for wins in a season, posting a 44-16 overall mark.

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Brody Brecht named Terre Haute Regional’s Player to Watch by NCAA.com

When Brody Brecht’s stuff is on, it’s downright filthy to opposing hitters. He was named the Terre Haute Regional’s Player to Watch.

The Terre Haute Regional features plenty of fantastic storylines.

The Sycamores are hosting a regional for the first time and it’s just the sixth all-time NCAA Tournament appearance for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Also, it’s a homecoming for Iowa head baseball coach Rick Heller to Indiana State where he coached before coming to Iowa City.

Meanwhile, Iowa (42-14, 15-8 Big Ten) will play North Carolina (35-22, 14-14 ACC) for just the third time in program history. 247Sports’ Brad Crawford picked the Tar Heels to win the Terre Haute Regional, so that’s some indication that analysts nationally view this as a region that anybody could wind up winning.

NCAA.com already highlighted a pair of the pitching staffs in this Terre Haute Regional as two of the top-five rotations in all of the NCAA Baseball Tournament. Alongside Indiana State, Iowa was recognized as one of those top-five pitching rotations.

That’s in no small part because of the sheer electricity of sophomore right-hander Brody Brecht. In another NCAA Baseball Tournament preview piece, NCAA.com’s Alberto Camargo chose one dark horse and one player to know from each regional across the country.

Camargo spotlighted Brecht as the one player every college baseball fan should know from the Terre Haute Regional.

Among all the pitching talent in this regional, there’s only one starter who can hit triple digits, and that’s Brecht. If he’s on his game, he’s got devastating stuff — and even if he’s not, he throws 100, folks. Tune in for the show. – Camargo, NCAA.com.

The 6-foot-4, 205 pound righty from Ankeny, Iowa, has been on future MLB teams’ radars for some time already. Brecht was tabbed as Perfect Game’s top-rated 2024 MLB draft prospect in the Big Ten.

He has backed it up with some downright filthy results. Brecht allows opponents to bat just .148 against him. He has racked up 101 strikeouts in 70 innings of work with a 3.86 ERA and sports a 5-2 record.

Brecht was a first-team All-Big Ten selection. Sophomores Keaton Anthony and Sam Petersen were also first-team choices. Meanwhile, sophomore Marcus Morgan and fifth-year Brennen Dorighi earned second-team honors and junior Cade Moss was named to the third team.

Iowa opens up play against North Carolina at 6 p.m. on Friday on the ACC Network and ESPN+. Indiana State plays Wright State at noon on ESPN+ to open up Terre Haute Regional action.

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Iowa flamethrower Brody Brecht tabbed midseason All-American

Thanks to a terrific start to his sophomore campaign, Brody Brecht is garnering first-team All-American love.

If there were any questions as to why Iowa sophomore Brody Brecht decided to cease football to devote his full attention to baseball, this should provide a clear answer.

Hawkeyes pitcher Brody Brecht was named a midseason first-team All-American by Perfect Game on Tuesday afternoon. He is one of five starting pitchers selected by Perfect Game for this first-team list.

The Ankeny, Iowa, native leads the Hawkeyes with a 2.60 ERA in seven starts. Brecht ranks 11th in the nation in strikeouts with 59 and is third in strikeouts-per-nine innings (15.77). He is also 14th in the country with 5.08 hits allowed per nine innings.

Brecht has dazzled fans and scouts alike with his fantastic arm on the mound. According to the official press release that Iowa Athletics put out today, Brecht has topped 100 mph 26 times on the radar gun where TrackMan data is available. He has surpassed 95 mph 189 times. Brecht recently turned heads throughout the baseball world with his casual 104 mph fastball against Maryland. He struck out 13 batters in that outing.

LSU coach Jay Johnson praised Brecht recently, giving him credit as one of few pitchers to slow down the Tigers’ offense so far this year.

Midway through the season, there is a ton of buzz around the sophomore right-handed pitcher. Much has been made about his fastball, casually topping 100 mph, but he’s shown off a wicked slurve as well. Even his breaking pitches are the speed of an average college pitcher’s fastball.

Still only 20 years old, look for Brecht to be one of the top collegiate prospects in the MLB draft.

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Brody Brecht stepping away from football to follow ‘true passion’ of college baseball

Brody Brecht announced his intention to fully focus on his “true passion” of baseball. Here’s a look back at his Hawkeye football career.

When you throw a baseball like Brody Brecht throws a baseball, it felt like this announcement was just a matter of time.

If you’ll allow me to turn this into a brief editorial for a moment, it’s the right decision for Brody, too. Why jeopardize an opportunity at a multi-million dollar contract in professional baseball to play college football? I certainly wouldn’t have knocked Brecht if his love for football meant he was willing to take that risk, but this just makes so much more sense.

You’ve probably guessed or know by now that Brecht announced his intentions to step away from college football, sharing the following statement on social media last night.

“I want to say thank you. Thank you to the great Hawkeye fans for your unwavering support. Thank you to the coaches and staff of the Hawkeye football program for giving me a chance to fulfill my childhood dream as part of this incredible program.

“Thank you to my football teammates for a lifetime’s worth of great memories. Thank you to my friends and my family for their unwavering support and love. Thank you to God—for the blessings of my life, and for the clarity to make the choice I’ve made.

“Football is my first love. But in the past few years, baseball has become my true passion. With that said, I have decided to step away from football to focus full-time on my college baseball career. I want to be great at baseball and hope to play Major League Baseball in the future. I believe putting my focus fully on baseball is the best way for me to achieve that goal. Go Hawkeyes,” Brecht wrote in his social media statement.

Brecht finishes his football career with 11 games played, five starts and nine receptions for 87 yards. The 6-foot-4 wide receiver arrived as a three-star signee per 247Sports. He was regarded as the country’s No. 111 wide receiver and as the No. 11 player from Iowa per 247Sports.

The Gazette’s John Steppe shared the following statement from Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz on the Brecht news.

“We wish Brody the very best as he focuses solely on his baseball career. He is a talented and dedicated athlete and we are appreciative of his contributions while a member of the football team,” Ferentz said.

Brecht had a standout high school football career ahead of his time with the Hawkeyes. Here’s a look at his football career in photos from Ankeny to Iowa City.

Brody Brecht garners elite honor from D1Baseball following season debut

After one start, Iowa flamethrower Brody Brecht is already picking up massive national honors from D1Baseball.

That didn’t take long at all. And, really, it shouldn’t have. Budding superstar righty Brody Brecht picked up a massive national honor from one of college baseball’s biggest media entities after just one start.

Following his debut appearance of the season against Quinnipiac, Brecht has been named D1Baseball’s Pitcher of the Week.

The 6-foot-4, 205 pound sophomore from Ankeny, Iowa, regularly tops the triple-digits mark on the radar gun and he had Bobcats fooled left and right all day long last Saturday.

In fact, Brecht was perfect in his season debut and second career start, striking out 10 of the 15 batters he faced in five innings of work. Both the strikeouts and innings pitched were career highs for Brecht.

It’s the latest honor for Brecht and a sign that the end-of-season hype from 2022 and the preseason hype for 2023 were right on the money. Brecht was named a freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game a season ago after posting a 3.18 ERA in 17 appearances.

The flamethrower allowed just 13 hits and 16 runs (eight earned) over 22 2/3 innings with 44 strikeouts last season. Of those 13 hits, just one was an extra base knock. He also limited batters to a .155 average.

As a result, he was a popular preseason choice for a breakout season. Baseball America tabbed Brecht as a preseason third-team All-American heading into 2023.

Perfect Game also listed Brecht as the Big Ten’s top draft prospect in 2024.

Iowa (3-0) won in walk-off fashion in its season opener over Indiana State. Incredibly, it was a grand slam from Kyle Huckstorf. Then, the Hawkeyes won convincingly twice over Quinnipiac, 7-1 and 10-0.

Iowa returns to play on Friday evening from the Lone Star State in the Karbach Round Rock Classic versus Sam Houston State at 6 p.m. Then, the Hawkeyes could make some serious waves in the event on Saturday.

Iowa plays No. 1 LSU at noon on Saturday before closing with Kansas State at noon on Sunday. Fittingly enough given this national honor, it should be Brecht on the bump against the Tigers on Saturday.

If he’s similarly great, D1Baseball might be tossing the same recognition Brecht’s way next week.

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Iowa Hawkeyes’ Keagan Johnson, Nico Ragaini practicing, Brody Brecht learning

While Keagan Johnson and Nico Ragaini aren’t on the Week 3 depth chart, the positive news is that Kirk Ferentz noted they are practicing.

While the Iowa Hawkeyes may again be without Nico Ragaini and Keagan Johnson against Nevada, the duo of receivers has been confirmed to be practicing. The two receivers will be very welcomed reinforcements once they suit up and are 100% healthy.

“Well, they’re practicing. That’s a starting point, right? That’s column number one right there. The first step to getting in a game and playing well is practicing. You can’t do it without practicing, you know, so having them actually in a helmet and catching a ball with shoulder pads on, that’s encouraging. They’ve missed time obviously.

“Nico’s a more experienced player, and he’s been in the fight a lot sooner than Keagan. Keagan you’re looking at about an eight-plus month deficit right now, so that’s what he’s got to overcome. It’s great to see him out there and it’s great to get Nico back, too. I just think we’ve got to be careful about how fast and how far we push them as we move forward,” Ferentz detailed when asked about their progress.

Unfortunately, neither was included on Iowa’s two-deep that was released to start the week. As a result, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz was asked if that meant the pair was definitively out versus the Wolf Pack.

“Yeah, we’ll see. I mean, there’s a chance, and, again, Nico I think is probably further along because he was practicing not that long ago. I can remember when he was practicing, recent memory,” Ferentz said.

Another Hawkeyes wide receiver, Brody Brecht, while healthy and even appearing in last week’s game, is still learning and getting up to speed. Ferentz was asked about Brecht’s ability to catch up.

“Brody is kind of facing the same challenges as Keagan in that Brody hasn’t played a lot of football. Last December I guess he was with us, and that’s been it since he’s been a Hawkeye. He wasn’t here last summer, was hurt in camp, hurt during the season. He’s playing catch-up, as well,” Ferentz said about Brecht’s learning curve.

“But he’s a great guy and he’s got a great attitude, he’s working
hard, and hopefully we’ll get him involved moving forward,” Ferentz added about the positive progress Brecht has made thus far.

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