Iowa baseball team could be special again in 2023-24

CEDAR RAPIDS - Rick Heller summed it up perfectly.

“We have a ton of guys back off of this team,” the Iowa baseball coach said Sunday night, after his Hawkeyes had their season end via an 11-8 loss to Indiana State in a NCAA tournament regional at Terre Haute, Ind. “We have a chance to be pretty special next year."

They were pretty special this year.

This team tied the school record for victories (set in 1981), finishing 44-15. It finished third in the regular season in the Big Ten Conference and was runner-up at the Big Ten Tournament.

That secured an at-large NCAA tournament berth. Iowa beat North Carolina in its first regional game, lost late to Indiana State in its second, survived in extra innings Sunday afternoon to beat North Carolina but couldn’t outscore Indiana State.

"We fought until the end,” Heller said. “That really shows the character of this team. We all really believed that we were going to find a way to score more runs tonight regardless of what happened."

Iowa’s postseason run came without top hitter Keaton Anthony, who was among a handful of players not allowed to play the final month or so while a criminal investigation was conducted into gambling by student-athletes in multiple sports at Iowa and Iowa State.

That investigation still is ongoing.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the redshirt sophomore from a baseball perspective. He’s eligible for the Major League Baseball Draft and very well might end up turning pro.

First baseman Brennen Dorighi was brilliant as a graduate transfer from Wofford, hitting .348 with 15 home runs and 67 RBIs. You’d think he’ll get a shot at pro ball.

The only senior on the roster is relief pitcher Jared Simpson. Starting pitcher Ty Langenberg (6-3 record, 4.15 earned run average) is the most likely of the non-seniors to get picked in the MLB Draft, if he decides he wants to go that route.

Iowa will have two of the Big Ten’s best starting pitchers back in sophomores Marcus Morgan (5-2, 3.72) and Brody Brecht (5-2, 3.74). Key bullpen arms are eligible to return as well.

Iowa pitchers set the school single-season record for strikeouts this season. Its hitters had the most walks in school history and were hit by pitches the most times in a season.

Regulars like outfielders Kyle Huckstorf, Sam Petersen and Brayden Frazier, and infielders like Michael Seegers, Sam Hojnar and Raider Tello all can return, as can catcher Cade Moss.

Iowa led Indiana State after four innings Sunday night, 6-4, and it was tied going to the sixth. But the Sycamores scored twice in the top of the seventh and never trailed thereafter. A huge three-run home run from Keegan Watson gave Indiana State an 11-7 lead.

Iowa pitchers hit Indiana State batters 10 times, which tied a single-game NCAA record. Freshman Cade Obermueller from Iowa City High took the loss, pitching in a game for the first time since May 18.

Starter Zach Voelker’s previous appearance was a one-inning job at the Big Ten Conference Tournament last week. He hadn’t pitched for two weeks before that. Reliever Jack Young threw for the first time since May 18.

“We just had to keep playing and trying to find a way,” said Heller. “With our pitchers that were going into the game that hadn't been there in awhile, we told them to take a deep breath, take it one pitch at a time, and try to pound the strike zone. If we were going down, we wanted them to hit it, and, unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

“We saw flashes of it throughout, but it wasn't enough. We gave them too many free bases that created jams that we weren't able to work out of all of the time."

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