HAWK TALK

May 2020

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27 LEADING OFF • Winning seven of their last eight games, including a two-game, midweek sweep over Kansas, the University of Iowa baseball team's 2020 season came to an end because of the coronavirus pandemic. With the NCAA and Big Ten canceling all spring competition March 12, the Hawkeyes finished the 2020 season at 10-5. e 15-game start was Iowa's best since 2015. • Iowa's 10-5 record was tied atop the Big Ten standings with Maryland and Penn State. e Hawkeyes led the conference in batting average (.295) and fielding percentage (.980), ranked second in batting average against (.217), and fourth in ERA (3.39). Iowa's .980 fielding percentage ranked 25th in the NCAA. • e Hawkeyes went 3-1 against top-25 opponents. Iowa owned the best RPI (38) in the Big Ten. • Iowa went 3-0 at Duane Banks Field this season, outscoring opponents, 26-3, improving its home record to 95-27 since the start of the 2015 season. is year marks the fewest games played at home since the opening of Duane Banks Field in 1974. • Head coach Rick Heller won his 900th career game in Iowa's 15-2 victory over Grand View on March 3. Heller has posted 611 wins at the Division I level, including 214 at Iowa, with another 289 coming at Division III Upper Iowa. Heller is one of four coaches at the University of Iowa with at least 200 wins WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN • In Iowa's last eight games, the Hawkeyes were starting to soar, going 7-1 and out-scoring the opposition, 74-20, with their only hiccup coming in a 6-4 loss to Army. • In the eight-game stretch, Iowa's offense posted a .327 batting average with a .429 on-base percentage, scoring 9.3 runs per game. e Hawkeyes recorded 10-plus hits in six of their final eight games. • Iowa's pitching staff allowed 16 earned runs in 71 innings for a 2.08 ERA. e Hawkeyes struck out 81 batters to only 24 walks over the last eight games, limiting hitters to a .213 average. • Defensively, Iowa registered a .993 fielding percentage, recording only two errors (both against Army) in 295 chances over the last eight games. Iowa tallied a five-game streak without an error JUNIOR IZAYA FULLARD... …led Iowa and the Big Ten in RBIs (21), ranking 25th in the nation and 18th in the country in RBIs per game (1.40). He was on track to shatter his RBI total (31) in 52 games as a sophomore. Fullard owned a five-game streak of multi-RBI games, driving in 16 runs in Iowa's last seven games. …hit a team-best .400 (24-of-60) in 15 games with a team-leading seven multi-hit games, including a streak of six straight games. He hit safely in 11 of 15 games and his .400 batting average tied for fih in the Big Ten. …led Iowa and ranked second in the conference with 19 runs scored. His 1.27 runs per game ranked 29th in the country. WHERE DO THEY RANK IN THE BIG TEN? • e Hawkeyes led the conference in RBIs (98), ranked second in runs scored (108), third in on- base percentage (.391) and hits (148) and fih in slugging percentage (.408). • Fullard tied for fourth in hits (24), tied for sixth in total bases (35), and ranked ninth in slugging percentage (.583). • Senior Zeb Adreon led the team in on-base percentage (.462), which tied for the ninth best. • Senior Ben Norman's 18 runs tied for the third most, and his five steals tied for the eighth most. Iowa's 15 steals tied for the fih most. Norman also drew a team-best 11 walks — the 11th-most in the Big Ten. • Freshman Peyton Williams tallied 16 RBIs, the most by a Big Ten freshman and tied for fih most. • Redshirt sophomore Jack Dreyer's .171 batting average against ranked fih best. • Dreyer (11th, 21.2) and senior Grant Judkins (tie for15th, 21.0) ranked top-15 in innings pitched. • Closer and redshirt senior Grant Leonard ranked second in saves (four) and tied for third in appearances (seven).

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