04-05-2025
Wilson's walk-off bunt pushes Washington Baseball past Big Ten-leading Iowa 4-3
Wilson's walk-off bunt pushes Washington Baseball past Big Ten-leading Iowa 4-3
Coach Eddie Smith's Washington Huskies have been one of the biggest revelations in the Big Ten this season, and on Friday, they proved that they could hang with the best team in the conference, the Iowa Hawkeyes. Thanks to a walk-off bunt from third baseman Blake Wilson, the Huskies secured a 4-3 victory over the conference leaders, who came into the game with a 20-4 record in Big Ten play.
With two outs and runners at the corners, Wilson stepped to the plate and laid a perfect bunt down the third base line that died along the line before it reached third baseman Kooper Schulte, scoring center fielder Malakhi Nelson. Wilson also drove in the run that tied the game in the seventh inning with a sacrifice fly as the Huskies moved to 8-0 in series openers in conference play.
A big reason the Huskies have been able to stay undefeated in conference play has been the strong efforts from starter Max Banks. The Chapman University transfer let up 6 hits, 3 runs, and 3 walks, including a solo home run to Andy Nelson, adding 3 strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings pitched before he handed the ball over to Josh Emmanuels.
Over the final 3 2/3, Emmanuels was nearly perfect. He allowed just one man to reach, on a base hit in the eighth inning, but he was immediately erased by a double play. The Husky reliever tallied 6 strikeouts as he earned his second win of the season.
Although the Hawkeyes' pitching staff struck out 15 batters, it struggled in the clutch. Starter Cade Obermuller, who recorded 9 of the 15 strikeouts, let up just 2 hits, 2 runs, and 9 walks over 4 2/3 innings, but he hit three batters, including Cooper Whitton and Casen Taggart with the bases loaded in the fifth, which tied the game at 2-2.
With the win, the Huskies improved to 26-21 on the year and 14-8 in conference play, and will return to the diamond looking to take the series from the Hawkeyes on Saturday night at 7:02 p.m. PST.
