Iowa baseball team drops one to Ohio State, but still has lots of positive possibilities

IOWA CITY — Sunday stunk, but the big picture still looks pretty good for the Iowa Hawkeyes baseball team.

Ohio State scored three runs in the seventh inning and beat Iowa, 5-2, at Banks Field. The Buckeyes’ late rally came with four walks, a hit by pitch and run-scoring single.

Tough.

“Seventh inning, they had five free bases,” said Iowa Coach Rick Heller. “We didn’t make them earn it. They played better today, and they pitched better today. That’s what happened.”

Yet Iowa still won the series, two games to one, and sits in fourth place in the Big Ten Conference. The Hawkeyes are 34-12 overall, 10-7 in the league.

Maryland is on top with a 13-5 conference mark, followed by Indiana at 11-6 and Rutgers at 10-7. Iowa has two more series remaining, including a big one this coming weekend at home against Michigan State, which is in a fifth-place tie at 10-8 with Michigan, Nebraska and Purdue.

Iowa’s RPI is somewhere in the upper-30s or low-40s, depending on whose RPI you use. The Hawkeyes end the Big Ten schedule the following weekend at Northwestern, which has the worst record in the Big Ten.

In other words, this team is looking pretty good for a potential NCAA tournament berth as we hit the stretch and the Big Ten tournament looms.

“We are trying to focus on it one game at a time,” said Iowa third baseman Raider Tello. “I know it’s a cliche, but you do want to focus on it one game at a time. I wouldn’t say any game is bigger than the rest. We go about our business the same day in and day out ... I think our team is doing what we need to do to secure where we want to be.”

A huge question still remains with the status of top hitter Keaton Anthony. He missed his third-straight game Sunday.

Iowa released a statement Friday that said student-athletes were being withheld from competition because of potential NCAA violations. The release said Iowa would not have any further comment as it investigates and was not specific as far as who was being withheld.

On a positive front, Iowa exploded offensively for 16 and 15 runs, respectively, in the first two games of this series, having opportunities Sunday that just never came to fruition.

“There’s a lot of talent for us throughout the lineup this year, one through nine,” said second baseman Sam Hojnar, who homered Sunday, a day after after hitting two.

“Guys have been committed to the plan, doing the 1-9,” Heller said. “Not just trying to do it all themselves. The last six weeks, I really feel like the offense has really jelled and committed to that approach. There is a difference between saying you are going to do that and committing to it.”

Starting pitcher Ty Langenberg took the loss Sunday despite throwing very well. He allowed just four hits in 6 1/3 innings and struck out seven, charged with three runs.

Langenberg began the season as Iowa’s No. 1 starter, but has been pushed back to a second or third starting role.

“A great start, he had good stuff today. Maybe the best stuff he’s had all season,” Heller said. “I thought he pitched really well. Had good command for the most part. Gave us exactly what we needed from a start.”

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