23-05-2025
Iowa baseball shutout by Indiana to close Big Ten Tournament Pool Play
Iowa baseball shutout by Indiana to close Big Ten Tournament Pool Play
After a 4-3 victory over No. 10-seed Rutgers on Wednesday, No. 2-seed Iowa baseball (33-21-1, 21-9 Big Ten) dropped a 5-0 loss vs. No. 6-seed Indiana (32-25, 16-14) to close out its two-game pool play action in the 2025 Big Ten Tournament from Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb.
With the Hawkeyes' Wednesday victory clinching them a spot in Saturday's semifinal, Thursday night's game was essentially meaningless regarding the Big Ten Tournament.
With that being said, Iowa sent Benjamin DeTaeye to start on the mound, where he gave up three runs on one hit, walked three, and struck out four over 2 1/3 innings of work.
"DeTaeye gave us a good start," said head coach Rick Heller. "He was really good the first two innings, and his pitch count was down, so we decided to go a third inning. He strikes out the first guy, then he walks two to get to Taylor, and on the first pitch, he hits a home run, and we are down three runs on one hit."
Five other Hawkeye pitchers made appearances on the mound. The pitching staff combined for nine strikeouts while allowing seven hits and 12 free bases.
Due to Thursday's game being void of any significance, the Hawkeyes were able to use it as a "bullpen game" and rest their starters ahead of the semifinal.
"For the most part, the rest of the guys did a pretty decent job," said Heller. "We worked out of a couple jams."
In terms of the offense, Iowa's biggest threat to score came in the first inning, but the Hawkeyes left the bases loaded. Iowa would total five hits throughout the game and batted .152 overall, stranding nine base runners.
"Offensively, we knew it was going to be a challenging night with Gilley and Grable both able to throw," said Heller. "Gilley gave us a chance in the first to jump out on top with the bases loaded. We had an opportunity with a runner on third and less than two outs, and we didn't get him home. We hit a lot of fly balls, which is pretty uncharacteristic for this team, and it led to a lot of 1-2-3 innings."
The Hoosiers took the lead in the third inning with a three-run shot to right field and added two more in the fourth to make it 5-0.
Iowa had its first extra-base hit of the tournament when Gable Mitchell doubled in the eighth inning. Caleb Wulf was the lone Hawkeye to have a multi-hit game, with two of Iowa's five total hits on the night.
The Hawkeyes' next game will be the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals on Saturday, when they will play the No. 2-seed and No. 13-ranked UCLA (43-15, 22-8) from Charles Schwab Field.
The game will be on the Big Ten Network and start at approximately 6 p.m. CT. In addition to the telecast, fans can listen to the action through the Hawkeyes Radio Network alongside play-by-play voice John Leo and color analyst John Evans.
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