Strong pitching, timely hitting powers Iowa baseball past Minnesota

IOWA CITY — Strong pitching. Timely hitting.

They are invariable keys to baseball success and they are a reason Iowa is in position for a weekend sweep of Minnesota.

Three Hawkeye pitchers stymied Gophers batters and Izaya Fullard and Ben Tallman hit back-to-back RBI singles in a 2-1 victory Saturday at Duane Banks Field. Iowa has taken the first two games of the series and could record its first Big Ten Conference series sweep of the season Sunday, beginning at 1:05 p.m.

“Getting two-out hits from Tallman and Izaya was big, but the story of the day was how well we pitched,” Iowa Coach Rick Heller said. “A day like today is cold. The wind is blowing in. Limit your mistakes, limit your free bases and pitch. Connor Schultz gave us a great start. (Ben) Beutel was really good out of the pen. It was great to see Duncan Davitt come in and close it out and not have to use anybody else.

“It was a great game. Great win.”

Schultz produced a quality start, going 4 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on four hits with one being a home run to Chase Stanke to lead off the second. It was the rare mistake during his five-strikeout performance and the outing Heller said he hoped to see from Schultz.

Beutel, who earned the win and improved to 2-0 this season, and Davitt combined to allow one hit and just two baserunners over 4 1/3 innings of relief. A much needed showing from a bullpen that has had its ups and downs during the season. All three pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts with only three walks.

“The biggest thing with all three of those guys is they were pounding the zone all game,” said Tallman, the starting catcher. “They did a good job of mixing all their pitches. They were all around the zone. Good work out of our staff. We saved our bullpen, for the most part, for tomorrow.”

The Hawkeyes (19-12, 5-3) took their first lead in the fifth after stranding five runners through the first four innings. Michael Seegers sparked the rally with a single — one of his two base hits of the game. He stole second with two outs, bringing up Fullard, whose base hit up the middle bounced off the glove of a diving Brady Counsell at second and was retrieved in shallow left center, allowing Seegers to score.

Fullard moved to second on the throw home and scored on Tallman’s single to center, putting Iowa ahead, 2-1.

Fullard finished 2-for-3 with a walk, a run and drove in one, giving him six multi-hit games in just his ninth start since April 2. Tallman had two hits for his third straight multi-hit game. He has reached base safely in four consecutive games, batting at a .571 clip during that time. Tallman said Iowa assistant Marty Sutherland and staff have helped him develop.

“I feel the best I’ve felt at the plate in quite some time,” Tallman said. “I guess it’s at the right time and hopefully keep it rolling.”

Iowa has battled injuries and illness. One of the top hitting Hawkeyes, Keaton Anthony, came down with a fever and was a gameday scratch after hitting his third home run in his last four games on Friday night. The Hawkeyes are already short starters Brendan Sher, who played the final inning on defense, Sam Hojnar, Andy Nelson and Ty Snep. They have still found a way to scratch out victories.

“A lot of guys are stepping up,” Heller said. “Real happy to see that.”

Iowa has rebounded from letting last weekend’s series against Illinois slip away. The Hawkeyes have won three straight and seven of their last 10. A sweep would propel them into a non-conference game Tuesday at home against Bradley and next weekend’s series at Rutgers.

“It’s huge,” Tallman said. “Coming down the stretch here, I think we’re really rolling and just putting things together will be huge for us. The game tomorrow is a big one, for sure.”

Minnesota (10-22, 1-7) managed just five hits.