The Iowa Hawkeyes opened their 2024 season with a pair of wins on Friday & Sunday at Shipyard Park in Charleston, South Carolina. Pitching was the storyline this weekend with Brody Brecht, Marcus Morgan and Cade Obermueller all delivering solid starts. Anthony Watts, Jack Whitlock and Zach Voelker were all effective out of a bullpen that lost its top two arms from last season.
Now, let's recap the Hawkeyes opening series.
Game 1: Iowa 5, Seton Hall 2
Opening Day saw junior RHP Brody Brecht have a very up and down start, but in the end he proved to be his effectively wild self from a season ago. In the first two innings he walked five Seton Hall batters, but managed to escape with only one run allowed thanks to four strikeouts.
The next two innings, he filled up the zone and flashed the true potential that could slot him in the first round of this year's MLB Draft. He struck out all six Pirates hitters, which gave him seven in a row.
In the fifth he ran into some more trouble with his command and was eventually pulled with bases loaded and just one out.
Brecht's Line: 4.1 IP / 1 H / 1 ER / 6 BB / 11 K / 100 P.
Junior Jack Whitlock was then called up to escape the trouble, like he often did in 2023. New season, same result. He induced two swinging strikeouts to escape trouble. Whitlock then took it all the way until inning number nine allowing just one run and earning the win. Indian Hills transfer Sam Hart was called upon to close out this one, but he was pulled with bases loaded and one out. Zach Voelker came in and recorded pair of strikeouts to earn the save.
Whitlock's Line: (W) 3.2 IP / 3 H / 1 ER / 1 BB / 2 K / 49 P.
The offense combined for just eight hits, six of which came from Sam Petersen and Raider Tello. They both tallies three each. Petersen went 3-5 with three runs scored and a solo homer in the first. Raider Tello went 3-5 with three RBI.
Game 2: Iowa 5, Ball State 0
The Saturday matchup was all about pitching. Marcus Morgan was very effective in his first start of the season. He sat down the first 12 Cardinals hitters in order. He was very aggresive in attacking the strike zone and mixing speed, which kept the Cardinals hitters off balanced.
Morgan's Line: (W) 5.2 IP / 2 H / 0 ER / 2 BB / 9 K / 87 P.
As impressive as Morgan was starting the game, Creighton transfer Anthony Watts may have been even more dominant out of the bullpen. He took things the rest of the way for his first career save.
Watts's Line: (S) 3.1 IP / 0 H / 0 ER / 1 BB / 6 K / 34 P.
Offensively the Hawkeyes were very opportunistic. All five of their runs came with two outs. Sam Petersen and Raider Tello led the way for a second consecutive day. Both recorded a pair of hits and drove in a run.
Game 3: Lehigh 8, Iowa 4
On the mound for Iowa was Cade Obermueller. The sophomore lefty had a solid first start in black and gold,
sailing through the first two innings with four strikeouts. He ran into some trouble over the next two innings, but was able to escape with no damage done.
Rick Heller went with Dallas Baptist transfer Reece Beuter out of the bullpen in the fifth inning and that’s when things went sideways. The Mountain Hawks loaded the bases and just as Beuter thought he was going to come out of it clean, the damage was done. A bases clearing double followed by a two run homer made it 6-1 Mountain Hawks.
Senior third baseman Raider Tello had another impressive day at the plate, recording two more hits and his first homer of the season. Iowa put the ball in play on 90% of their at-bats, but 10 hits were scattered throughout the game.
Up next, Iowa returns to Duane Banks Field for their earliest home game in program history. The Hawkeyes will host Loras College on Tuesday at 3:30pm CT
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