Tag: Izaya Fullard

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 captures the series over Nebraska with a 5-3 extra-innings win

After a 1-0 win on Friday, Iowa won 5-3 in extra innings in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader to take the series from Nebraska.

After a forgettable first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, Iowa found its resolve early and then again late in the second game of the doubleheader to capture the series from the Nebraska Cornhuskers with a 5-3 extra-innings win.

With the win, Iowa has now secured three consecutive Big Ten series and four of the five conference series the Hawkeyes have played thus far.

Redshirt freshman Keaton Anthony delivered a first-inning blast to start the scoring for the Hawkeyes as Iowa’s designated hitter. Redshirt sophomore first baseman Peyton Williams added a two-run homer in the third to score himself and Kyle Huckstorf and Iowa led 3-1.

Then, after Nebraska evened the game at three runs apiece with a pair in the sixth, Iowa found the scoring it needed in extras to ensure it wouldn’t be a gloomy trip back to Iowa City.

The top of the tenth started with a pair of Hawkeye singles from sophomores Anthony Mangano and Michael Seegers. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch and then the Huskers intentionally walked Williams.

Anthony followed the Williams’ walk with a sacrifice fly to center field to give the Hawkeyes the lead back at 4-3 and then redshirt senior Izaya Fullard added an insurance run with his RBI single to score Seegers.

Sophomore right-hander Ty Langenberg delivered a solid start, tossing five innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts on 78 pitches.

Redshirt senior Dylan Nedved settled down after surrendering a pair of earned runs in his first inning of work in the sixth and added four innings in relief with three strikeouts. After Nedved allowed a leadoff single to Nebraska’s Cam Chick to start off the bottom of the 10th, Iowa head baseball coach Rick Heller went into the bullpen.

It worked to perfection. Redshirt senior Ben Beutel got Garrett Anglim to srike out swinging and then induced a game-ending double play off the bat of the Huskers’ Griffin Everitt.

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.