The Iowa baseball team got a chance to show its stuff over the weekend, winning its scrimmage on Saturday 17-2 against the Toronto Blue Jays, a U-18 travel team.
It was also a chance for the 2017 squad to get its Big Ten Tournament Championship rings. This was Iowa’s first-ever win in the tournament and it’s cool the team got a chance to be celebrated in a ceremony it more than deserved.
What a great way to bring in the new season. Man, Big Ten champs really has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Those aren’t some bland bands.
Okay I’m done.
Press Citizen/Register/HawkCentral reporter Dargan Southard has a nice piece detailing some of what we learned from offseason. He lead note is that Iowa has to replace Mason McCoy, which will be perhaps the biggest task for this squad. Southard also talks about Iowa’s versatility at the corners.
It’s a nice read by someone who has perhaps the most consistent beat coverage of the Iowa baseball team.
The Hawkeyes ends their fall with the three-game Black and Gold on Oct. 11-13. All those games start at 3:30 p.m.
Volleyball blanks Rutgers, takes No. 2 Penn State to four sets
Iowa took a two-game road trip out east this weekend, going 1-1 in the process.
The Hawkeyes had little trouble with Rutgers, winning 25-17, 25-16, 25-14. Taylor Louis continued her excellent season with 11 kills, four digs and two blocks. She’s had double-digit kills in 11 of 15 games this season and has cemented herself as one of the best outside hitters in the Big Ten.
Iowa then headed to State College and fell to the No. 2 ranked Nittany Lions 13-25, 19-25, 25-23, 17-25. The Hawkeyes third-set win was hard fought and featured 15 ties and five lead changes.
A tough loss and none of us are here for moral victories, especially for Bond Shymansky.
“This is the time of the year for us when we can’t keep hanging our hat on moral victories when we are playing against great teams. We need to get out and get W’s. We need to get victories, so we are going to keep challenging our whole program. That’s our staff, me included, and our team,” Shymansky said to HawkeyeSports. “This is something that we need to choose to believe every time we step on the court, that Hawkeyes can go out and win and do it the right way. We definitely have things to build on and things to work on, but we are excited to be back home in Carver this next weekend.”
Speaking of being back in Carver you can apparently sign up to win a moped at four of Iowa’s home games this year.
The winners of the moped sweepstakes will be announced at the matches listed below.
Sign up today!
: https://t.co/YkAK404qXX pic.twitter.com/4LL8zknb2g
— Iowa Volleyball (@IowaVolleyball) September 25, 2017
The Hawkeyes host Wisconsin at 7 p.m. on Friday and Minnesota at 7 p.m. on Saturday. This might just be the best non-rev team at Iowa this fall. Head out and support them, if you get the chance.
Field Hockey drops to 0-3 in B1G with with losses to PSU, OSU
Oof.
The Hawkeyes are now an ugly 4-7 and have just scored one goal in conference play. Not great.
That lone goal came in the first game of the weekend, a 2-1 loss to Maryland. Iowa held the Terps scoreless for the first 60 minutes before allowing 61st and 63rd minute goals.
Madeleine Murphy was able to get one to go in during the 69th minute for the Hawkeyes to make it 2-1, which was all the closer Iowa would get.
Maryland had the upper hand in shots, shots on goal, and corners in the contest which is not great.
The Hawkeyes then ended their road trip with a 1-0 loss to Rutgers. To be fair, Iowa’s played some great teams this year but… the field hockey program continues to trend down, which really is sad for something that’s been an established and proud tradition for many years.
But hey, they’re still ranked!!!!
Soccer continues woes, starts winless in conference play
Iowa hasn’t scored a goal since Sept. 8 and continues to struggle as it moves into Big Ten play.
The Hawkeyes fell to 5-4 on the season and 0-2 in the Big Ten with losses to Penn State and Ohio State. The Nittany Lions came into the game ranked No. 7 and Iowa gave them quite a bit of fight, but a late 71st minute goal ended any chance for an upset.
Iowa lost to three different top-10 ranked Penn State teams last weekend. No. 2 (Volleyball) No. 4 (football) and No. 7 (soccer). Woof.
— Jordan Hansen (@jordyhansen) September 27, 2017
Iowa then fell two days later to Ohio State, 2-0. The Hawkeyes have a chance to get back on the winning track with a two-game Michigan trip this weekend, hitting both the Maize and Blue as well as Sparty.
Good luck, ladies.
Other stuff that happened over the last week
Iowa men’s and women’s golf competed last week and softball is about to head to the UNI Dome for a bit of fall scrimmaging.
The men’s golf team finished ninth at the Trinity Forest Invitational while the women grabbed 12th in the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship. Scorecards:
Meanwhile, the softball team beat Kirkwood Community College 5-3. They’ll head to the Big 4 this week, taking on UNI, Iowa State, and Drake.
