Baseball took a home series from rival Minnesota, while the softball team was no match for No. 18 Oregon.
While some of you were celebrating Easter with family, it was all-business for Iowa baseball and softball.
Both Hawkeye squads are working through the final month of their regular seasons, which means every win is important for postseason seeding. But as is often the case when you are comparing two different teams, one team may fare better than the other.
That's exactly the case with Iowa's clubs. The Hawkeye baseball team recovered from a bad opener to take the series against rival Minnesota, while the softball team ran into the buzzsaw that is No. 18 Oregon, falling in a three-game sweep.
Missed the games? Keep reading to see how the weekend unfolded.
Baseball
Rick Heller's team was in disarray after Friday's loss to Minnesota. The Hawkeyes were desperate to respond after being decimated by UCLA the previous week, but showed little signs of a turnaround in the 9-4 defeat. Poor pitching undid Iowa, as starter Jaron Bleeker allowed four runs in two innings of work.
Heller criticized his pitching staff after the loss, and though his team wasn't present during his postgame media scrum, they must've heard what he said. Maddux Frese allowed just two runs in 6.1 innings of work, and redshirt freshman Carter Geffre sent everyone home with a no-doubt walk off home run to left field to tie the series at a game apiece.
The Easter rubber match didn't disappoint, either. Logan Runde yielded one run over seven innings, and watched his team coast to a 5-1 lead in the later innings. A stress-free outcome seemed to be guaranteed, but a three-run shot by Minnesota's Charlie Sutherland gave the Gophers life in the ninth.
But Michael Lippe - who suffered an injury on the play - was caught stealing to end the game, and the Hawkeyes celebrated a series victory, improving to 18-12 overall and 5-7 in Big Ten play.
Softball
As Heller's team toasted their series win, Stacy May-Johnson's softball team was wrapping up a frustrating series sweep at the hands of No. 18 Oregon. Iowa opened the weekend slate in Eugene with a 10-1 loss, but the game the Hawkeyes will be kicking themselves over was Game 2.
Iowa was hitting long balls left and right (five homers total) and back-to-back jacks from Devin Simon (who hit two in the contest) and Avery Jackson in the fifth inning helped the Hawkeyes hold a surprising 13-9 edge with one inning to play.
But everything fell apart in the seventh. The Ducks tied the game with four runs and walked it off in the extra eighth frame to steal the game and the series. The loss killed whatever momentum Iowa had, as it fell 6-2 in Sunday's series finale.
The sweep leaves Iowa at 21-16 overall and 5-10 in Big Ten play.
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