Marcus Morgan tosses six shutout innings to propel Iowa Hawkeye baseball to 8-0 victory over Nebraska

IOWA CITY — University of Iowa’s Marcus Morgan has been impressive in recent weeks.

In the Hawkeyes’ last three Big Ten Conference baseball series, Morgan has allowed two runs on seven hits in 16 innings pitched. A big reason for the successful stretch is more faith in himself and relying on his defense.

“Just confidence and trusting my mental skill, practicing them and putting them when I go out on the mound,” Morgan said. “I have full trust in my team, being able to make plays behind me, like they do every week.”

The sophomore right-hander took control from the opening inning against Nebraska, pitching six scoreless innings and propelling the Hawkeyes to an 8-0 victory Saturday at Duane Banks Field. Iowa battered the Cornhuskers for 10 hits to clinch the series with a chance to sweep Sunday.

“I thought we came out and played really well,” Iowa Coach Rick Heller said. “It started with a great start from Marcus Morgan. Marcus was outstanding today. He was in total control of himself and the game. Really limited the free bases.”

Morgan (2-1) stymied the Cornhuskers, giving up three hits and tallying five strikeouts with just one base on balls. It was very similar to his win over Minnesota when he allowed two runs on three hits with five strikeouts and his one-hit, seven-strikeout showing in five shutout innings for a no-decision against Indiana.

“A lot of pitches were going today for me,” Morgan said. “A little different game plan but I was able to execute and these guys made plays behind me all day.”

“I threw a lot of cutters. They’ve had a hard time picking that up and do damage on it. I threw a lot more changeups, getting strikeouts that way and weak contact.”

Heller said he pitched a good all-around game, showing command of all his pitches and working ahead in the count most of the day.

“Just all super positive things with Marcus’ growth,” Heller said. “He’s in a good place. I couldn’t be prouder of his effort.”

Aaron Savary threw 2 2/3 innings of relief. Chas Wheatley closed for the final out.

Iowa’s offense continued to blister Nebraska pitchers, scoring 19 total runs in the first two games of the series. The Hawkeyes gave Morgan plenty of support early, getting a two-run home run from Ben Wilmes in the three-run third. Michael Seegers, who scored on the Wilmes homer, added an RBI single in the fourth for a 4-0 lead.

Iowa pulled away with a four-run sixth, including two-run doubles from Brennen Dorighi and Raider Tello. Dorighi, Tello and Seegers led Iowa with two hits apiece.

“Ben Wilmes gets us going with the home run,” said Heller. “We score some runs in the third. We had a lot of traffic in the fourth and fifth but only got one run. We bounced back with a four spot in the sixth to give us a good cushion for Savary. Really can’t complain about much, I thought we executed offensively.”