Iowa falls to Indiana in Big Ten Tourney, may cost Hawkeyes shot at hosting NCAA Regional

MINNEAPOLIS - Calvin Mathews took off his cap, rubbed his eyes, and walked around the mound. Indiana's Logan Sowers had just circled the bases with a third-inning grand slam, and Mathews, the Iowa pitcher, knew exactly what it meant: The Hawkeyes were finished in the Big Ten Tournament.

The 10-2 rout by Indiana sent second-seeded Iowa home with its first back-to-back losses since April 8 and 10, to Milwaukee and Maryland, respectively. That, plus two losses in three games last weekend at unranked Rutgers, may have cost Iowa a shot at hosting an NCAA Regional.

Iowa (39-16) is still expected to qualify for its first NCAA Tournament since 1990 when bids are announced Monday.

'Ideally we'd still like to be playing, and would like to be playing until Sunday (for the conference championship),” Iowa Coach Rick Heller said. 'But it didn't happen. We'll make the best of the time off that we have, try to be prepared as we possibly can and get the energy back for next week.”

Iowa swept a three-game series from Indiana (34-21), the two-time defending conference champions, in late March in Iowa City. Since then Indiana has taken off, going 11-2 in May, with the second loss to Michigan in the conference tournament opener.

Friday, Indiana rolled to a 9-0 lead before Iowa scored its only runs on Tyler Peyton's sixth-inning double.

Austin Cangelosi, son of former major leaguer John Cangelosi, slashed an opposite field two-run triple over right fielder Joel Booker's glove in the second, then scored when the relay throw skipped into the dugout. Sowers' grand slam into the second deck in left at Target Field finished Mathews, who allowed seven runs (two unearned) on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings.

'I felt like my command was there today,” said Mathews, a junior in his first career postseason start. 'I was hitting both sides of the plate. I fell behind the kid who hit the grand slam, 3-1, and I had to give him something to hit, either in or out.

'He guessed right there.”

Said Heller: 'They had a couple of guys who were big-time chartbreakers today. Cangelosi had hit two balls to right field the whole season, and he burned us with an 0-2 pitch off the plate and drives it over the right fielder's head. That's kind of how the day went for us.”

Catcher Jimmy Frankos (concussion) did not play the day after a collision with Michigan's Cody Bruder. His status for the regional remains uncertain, Heller said.

With or without Frankos, Iowa must regroup.

'From where we started when I came to campus five years ago to now, it's been a complete culture change,” senior second baseman Jake Mangler said. 'But this does hurt. These last couple of weeks felt a little bit different than it has all year. We have to find our way back to where we were.”