Iowa baseball swings in a winning direction

IOWA CITY - The pendulum that is Iowa baseball has started to swing in a winning direction under second-year coach Rick Heller.

The Hawkeyes (24-10) are tied atop the Big Ten standings at 8-1. They swept defending Big Ten champion Indiana in late March and took two of three from newcomer and league favorite Maryland last weekend. Home crowds are starting grow, and the team is ranked as high as No. 14 in one poll. In fact, one college baseball site predicted Iowa would host the NCAA tournament's opening round.

It's a dizzying ascension for a program without consecutive winning seasons since 1995-96 when stadium namesake Duane Banks managed the squad. But Iowa is just six wins shy of reaching 30 wins for the second straight season, a feat last achieved in 1989-90.

'We haven't been in a real good place offensively. That's kind of baseball,” said second-year Iowa Coach Rick Heller. 'It happens. The fortunate thing for us is when we're struggling offensively, our pitching and defense have picked us up.”

Last year hitting made the Hawkeyes competitive. This year pitching has made them relevant.

In 2014, Iowa finished 30-23 and led the Big Ten in batting average at .296, finished second in home runs and third in RBIs. The team's earned-run-average was eighth at 4.34.

This year, Iowa's bats have remained in a late-winter freeze, hitting just .265 to rank 10th among league teams. But the pitching has made up for the offensive slump. In six of its Big Ten victories, Iowa allowed one run or less. In none of those games did Iowa score more than five runs.

'Pitchers are pitching for the team, trying to find ways to keep us in the game in every aspect,” junior Tyler Peyton said. 'Hitters are coming along as the season progresses, so that's going to start helping. We're pitching to try to keep us in the game and do whatever we can to find a way to win.”

Front-line pitchers Peyton, Calvin Mathews and Blake Hickman are a combined 12-4 overall. Mathews, who is 3-0, boasts an ERA of 1.32. Peyton, who also plays first base and is the team's leading hitter, is 4-3 with a 2.82 ERA. Hickman, who moved from catcher to pitcher midseason last year, is 5-1 with a 2.91 ERA. All three are juniors.

Mathews and Peyton's ERA last year was about double this year's number. Hickman has cut his ERA by a one run per outing. The reason is as much attitude as it is execution.

The pitchers have established their presence on all areas of the plate. That especially was true at Maryland, a team that was one game from the College World Series last summer. The Terrapins blasted Iowa 10-1 in the opener, but the Hawkeyes fought back to win 3-1 in the second game and 2-1 in the finale. Heller credits the willingness of his pitchers to throw inside on Maryland hitters and kept them off balance.

But even more, the staff's growth is mental. Second-year pitching coach Scott Brickman has asked his pitchers to visualize situations beyond the mound. It started well before the season, and those exercises have translated into success.

'My freshman year, coming from a small-town school, I didn't have a lot of confidence coming in and facing some of the best hitters in the country,” said Mathews, a Davis County product. 'Now I just pitch to contact. I can fill up the zone, I can hit the inside corner, outside corner ...”

'Everybody has just gelled together and understands what it takes to be a championship-type caliber team,” Brickman said. 'I'm not saying in the past they didn't know that, but they do now. They understand what it takes. It doesn't mean success is going to be there, but it's going to give us a chance.”

That wasn't always the case with the program. Before Heller's arrival, the Hawkeyes posted losing seasons in 15 of the previous 17 years. Mathews said he and his teammates often felt defeated before even taking the field.

'We faced Maryland last weekend and everyone knew that we can win those games. It wouldn't have been that way freshman year,” Mathews said. 'We would have went in just thinking that we were going to lose three games, get swept and go home. The attitudes are completely different.”

Iowa still has five more Big Ten series, including this weekend's homestand against Northwestern (9-24, 3-6). The Hawkeyes' last NCAA tournament appearance was 25 years ago. But this year's success has given the players a dose of swagger, and people are taking notice.

'Coach Heller's confidence, the way he talks to us, the way he preaches ... anyone can win on any given day,” Mathews said. 'We're not the best team in the country by any means, but we can compete with some of the best teams in the country.”

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com