With each game in the last month of the season under the microscope of the tournament selection committee, Iowa knew they could not afford to let yesterday’s performance carry over in the Sunday rubber match against Purdue.

The Hawkeyes got a terrific start from Ty Langenberg and the offense produced plenty of runs in the 9-1 victory to clinch the series. Iowa has now won four straight Big Ten series and are tied for third place in the standings.

“I thought we gave a really professional effort today,” said Coach Rick Heller. “After a tough day yesterday, I feel like we came out with a lot of energy.”

Langenberg was solid from the jump and gave a great effort, going a career-high 7.0 innings, while allowing just one run. He scattered five hits and picked up seven strikeouts to just one walk. The lone run allowed came on a Mike Bolton Jr solo home run in the seventh inning. It is the sophomore’s second straight week with a good start, after hitting a rough stretch mid-season.

“I definitely feel like I’m starting to get back in a groove. Those couple of weeks, I fell out of routine, didn’t feel very comfortable on the mound and overall, I just didn’t have as much confidence as I need to have,” said Langenberg. “Feels good to start to find my way back to that groove again. Hopefully, I can keep it up for these last few weekends.

At the plate, Iowa jumped on the board right away in the first inning courtesy of Keaton Anthony. The redshirt freshman smashed a two-run home run over the scoreboard in left field to put the Hawkeyes up 2-0. He finished the day with two hits, two walks and three runs scored.

Brendan Sher added a two-run double in the third inning to extend the Iowa lead to 4-0, but a big inning was still to come from the Hawkeye offense. The fifth inning started with some help from Purdue, as a bases loaded walk and a wild pitch made it 6-0. Ben Wilmes followed with a two-run single, and Cade Moss brought in another with an RBI single to make it 9-0.

From there, the Hawkeyes were sailing to a victory. Duncan Davitt came on to pitch in the eighth inning and was fantastic, going 2.0 innings and striking out five Boilermakers.

“I thought he was outstanding. He was really dialed in as well,” said Coach Heller. “He had good stuff and he’s been in a really good place for about five-six weeks. It’s really nice knowing you have him in your back pocket on Sunday.”

With 12 strikeouts from Iowa pitchers today, the pitching staff cleared 500 strikeouts on the season, which breaks a school record. The previous record was set by the 2018 team that recorded 499 strikeouts.

The other standout performance of the day was the defense from Iowa, as the fielders flashed the leather on multiple occasions. Brendan Sher and Kyle Huckstorf each had plays that kept Purdue off of the scoreboard.

“I don’t really know what to say,” said Ty Langenberg with a laugh. “It gives me the most confidence on the mound knowing that I’ve got guys behind me that are making plays like that.”

Seven Hawkeye batters recorded a hit, while five reached base at least twice. Cade Moss has provided a spark off the bench at catcher with three hits in the past two games.

With the win, Iowa moves to 28-16 on the season and 12-6 in Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes sit at #70 in the RPI rankings, which is still well within striking distance of a finish in the mid to upper 50s. It is finals week in Iowa City this week, so there is no midweek game, which means the Hawkeyes will travel to East Lansing at the end of the week for their next games. The Friday series opener is set for 5:35pm first pitch and it will be streamed on BTN+.