The Hawkeyes used a frantic middle inning rally to complete a much-needed comeback victory.
Iowa baseball kicked off its final conference series of the regular season on a high note, defeating Purdue 10-7 at Principal Park in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday.
The Hawkeyes snapped a three-game losing streak with the victory and improve to 30-21 overall and 13-15 in Big Ten play.
"We had some guys step up and have big nights offensively as well, with Joey [Nerat] breaking out for a couple of home runs. It was good to see the guys respond and fight back," head coach Rick Heller told HawkeyeSports after the win.
Here are three observations from the victory:
All it takes is one error
Purdue struck first in the first inning on a Sam Flores RBI single, but the inning that really undid Iowa early on was the second. Maddux Frese appeared poised to get out of the frame unscathed, but it wasn't meant to be.
With two outs and a runner on first, Zach Zychowksi ripped a ground ball to Hawkeye shortstop Kooper Schulte. Schulte made a nice play to snare the ball, but his ensuing throw was too low for first baseman Caleb Wulf to pick. The ball skipped into the dugout, allowing Trey Swiderski to score all the way from first base and give Purdue a 2-0 lead.
The Boilermakers would tack on three more runs in the second to increase their lead to 5-0 and knock Frese out of the ballgame.
Resilience Returns
If there's one characteristic from a Rick Heller-coached team, it's that it will never quit even in the most difficult circumstances. The Hawkeyes have dug themselves into big holes all season long, but they've always find a way to make the game interesting.
That was on display in last weekend's three-game sweep at the hands of Nebraska, and it happened again on Thursday. Back-to-back doubles from Jaixen Frost and Kellen Strohmeyer sliced Purdue's lead to 6-2, but the fireworks were just beginning.
Joey Nerat cranked a two-run shot two batters later to bring the Hawks within two, and Schulte made up for his second inning error with a homer of his own on the next pitch to even the scoring, 6-6.
Miles Risley gave Iowa the lead with a sacrifice fly to complete the comeback and send the fans inside Principal Park into a frenzy. The Hawkeyes added three more runs in the fifth to take a 10-6 lead, and the middle-inning onslaught proved to be the turning point in Iowa's victory.
Major morale boost
Iowa has already clinched its spot in next week's Big Ten tournament in Omaha, but the Hawkeyes needed a win to uplift their spirits after a demoralizing weekend against Nebraska. Beating a Purdue team that came into the night tied for third place in the league standings is definitely a good way to gain some morale, and any wins Iowa could gather in this series will only help as it eyes a magical run in Omaha.
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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at bradschultz@roundtable.io