There was another Hawkeye hero before Iowa went crazy on Michigan with a six-run fifth inning that featured a Brayden Frazier grand slam.
Jack Whitlock entered into a high-stress situation in Iowa’s Big Ten Baseball Tournament opener in the fifth inning with the score all even at one apiece, nobody out and two Wolverines aboard.
After Hawkeye starter Marcus Morgan issued back-to-back walks to Mitch Voit and Gabe Sotres, Whitlock stepped in to relieve Morgan and issued a free pass of his own to Cody Jefferis.
Fear not, Whitlock calmly and promptly struck out Ted Burton, Jonathan Kim and Jimmy Obertop swinging in succession to keep the score deadlocked at 1-1. Then, of course, Iowa erupted for six in the fifth and the Hawkeyes were off and running into the winner’s bracket.
It did feel like Whitlock’s ability to wiggle Iowa out of the top of the fifth jam set the stage for the Hawkeye landslide that ensued. It led to a 13-3 run-rule victory over Michigan that had Iowa fans jumping for joy.
Whitlock joined the HawkFanatic Podcast on KCJJ Radio with hosts Pat Harty and Tom Suter.
Whitlock said he had a strong inkling that he would get the middle relief call if the situation presented itself.
“Well, coach Heller talked to me before the game and he told me that whatever situation it was, they were likely going to go to me. And they told Jared that, they were 90 percent going to go to me and that Jared there was a slight chance that maybe there was a matchup or something Jared would go in. So, I kind of knew and so I was prepared. Going into the fourth I threw a little bit and Marcus got out of the jam. And then, the fifth came around, I was prepared mentally like, be ready to go if something went down. So, yeah, they had me prepared and ready to go in there,” Whitlock said.
Sure enough, the situation presented itself and it was go time for Whitlock. A dicey situation immediately got just a little more complicated when he walked the first batter that he faced. What was Whitlock saying to himself after issuing said walk?
“Well, I was trying to tell myself to slow it down a little bit. Slow the heart rate down. I mean, when you go in there in a situation like that, you know, big crowd, it’s just a lot of tense (energy). In a big game, you know, it’s like your heart rate gets up. And I went in there and I thought the first batter, I didn’t pitch bad. He worked the count, went late in count 3-2. Walked him and I was okay with that. Like, I felt more comfortable out of the windup than the stretch in that moment, so it worked out and I just had to tell myself to just take slow breaths and just go one pitch at a time and not worry about what just happened,” Whitlock said.
Of course, the rest is history. Whitlock delivered and the Hawkeye bats came alive. Now, Iowa gears up for its winner’s bracket contest against second-seeded Indiana on Thursday at 2 p.m. CT from Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb.
The full interview with Whitlock is terrific and is cued up below. Here’s some other highlights from his conversation with the HawkFanatic crew below on Whitlock’s path to Iowa and more.
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