Via Iowa Baseball
The University of Iowa baseball team travels to the West Coast for a three-game road series at UC Irvine from March 11-13. Friday and Saturday’s games will begin at 8 p.m. (CT) followed by a 3 p.m. start Sunday. All three games will be played at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark.
• Iowa will round out the road trip with a game at San Diego State on March 15 at 8 p.m. at Tony Gywnn Stadium before returning home to host Texas Tech from March 18-20.
WATCH/LISTEN LIVE
• All three games at UC Irvine will be streamed via ESPN+ — a paid subscription service.
• All three games will be broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network with John Evans on the call. Fans can access the stream free by downloading The Varsity Network app.
• A majority of Iowa games can be heard on the radio on 800 AM KXIC (Iowa City), 1360 AM KMJM (Cedar Rapids), 95.9 FM KKFD (Fairfield) and 101.1 FM & 1220 AM KJAN (Atlantic).
• Live stats will be available on hawkeyesports.com and live updates will be available on Twitter (@UIBaseball).
LEADING OFF
• The Hawkeyes are 6-5 overall heading into their first three-game series of the season. This is Iowa’s first trip to California since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The Hawkeyes played three games at the Tony Gwynn Legacy Tournament, going 1-2 against San Diego State (L, 1-4), Arizona (W, 4-1) and San Diego (L, 5-10).
• Iowa’s pitching staff ranks in the top 20 in the NCAA in five different categories. The Hawkeyes are second in hits allowed per nine innings (5.22), fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (12.9), 17th in shutouts (2), 19th in WHIP (1.08) and 20th in ERA (2.56).
• The Hawkeyes are leading the Big Ten in ERA, strikeouts (141), batting average against (.167), fewest hits allowed (57) and fewest earned runs allowed (28).
• Three Hawkeyes — Dylan Nedved, Keaton Anthony and Peyton Williams — were named to the Frisco Baseball Classic All-Tournament Team in a vote of the media members in attendance.
• Redshirt sophomore Adam Mazur won back-to-back Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors during the first two weeks of the season. He is the first Hawkeye pitcher to earn consecutive Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors.
• Mazur is 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA with 21 strikeouts to three walks. He is leading the Big Ten in batting average against (.138), second in innings (19.1), tied for second in wins (2), sixth in strikeouts (21) and seventh in ERA (2.33).
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten in pitching (2.56 ERA), is fourth in fielding percentage (.974) and fifth in batting (.274 average).
• Redshirt freshman Keaton Anthony has hit safely in eight straight games and has reached safely in all 11 games this season. Anthony ranks in the top six in the Big Ten in five different offensive categories this season.
• Seven of Iowa’s 11 games have been decided by three runs or fewer. The Hawkeyes are 3-4 in such contests.
• The Hawkeyes are picked as an NCAA Regional team by D1Baseball.com and Baseball America in 2022 and are tabbed to finish in the top four of the Big Ten standings. Mazur is a preseason All-Big Ten selection by Perfect Game, while RHP Marcus Morgan was tabbed as D1Baseball’s Preseason Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
• Iowa has advanced to the postseason in six of Heller’s eight seasons (there was no Big Ten/NCAA Tournament in 2020 and no Big Ten Tournament in 2021 because of COVID). He has led the Hawkeyes to two NCAA Regional appearances (2015, 2017).