[Herky] IF YOU WIN, THEY WILL COME

Tue Apr 28 06:48:40 PDT 2015

The subject matter is so true.  LSU is ranked #1 and sells out their 10,000 seat stadium every game.

Keith L. Voigts

Wiseman Technologies, Inc.

From: Herky [mailto:herky-bounces at lists.herky.net] On Behalf Of Sue Bailey
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2015 9:55 AM
To: herky at lists.herky.net
Subject: [Herky] IF YOU WIN, THEY WILL COME

More than 7,200 fans have packed Duane Banks Field the past two weekends to watch the 17th-ranked UI baseball team. (Photo by Brian Ray) 

IF YOU WIN, THEY WILL COME

Sellout crowd sees Iowa baseball sweep No. 25 Nebraska on April 26 

By JAMES ALLAN

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- When University of Iowa head coach Rick Heller was chosen as the man to rejuvenate Iowa baseball he believed the Hawkeye fan base was longing for and would support a winner. 

He was right.  

Over the past two weekends, Iowa drew more than 1,200 fans in four home dates and a total of 7,271 fans in consecutive Big Ten weekends, including a sellout crowd of 2,506 during Sunday's doubleheader sweep over No. 25 Nebraska.

"It means the world to us," said junior Tyler Peyton, who pitched 8 1/3 innings of one-run ball in Iowa's 5-1 victory in the series finale. "We love playing in front of (the fans). We want them to keep comping. They help us out a lot just being there."

Fans have come in droves to see a team that is among the Big Ten's best. Iowa completed its three-game weekend sweep of the Cornhuskers -- its third Big Ten sweep and fifth series win of the season -- to run its record to 30-11 overall and 13-2 in league play, 1/2 game behind Illinois (13-1) in the conference standings.

The Hawkeyes scored early in the April 25 series opener against Nebraska, plating three runs in the first inning before holding on for a 4-3 victory. In game two, Iowa rallied from a 2-0 deficit to eventually tie the game in the eighth before winning, 3-2, in the bottom of the 10th in walk-off fashion. In the finale, Iowa rode Peyton and the bats came alive in a 5-1 win.

"This series win was huge, especially because it is Nebraska," said senior captain Jake Mangler. "They've always been known as kind of our big brother. We not only hung in there and competed with them, but we swept them, and took the series.

"It's big a big confidence boost moving forward. We knew we could do it, but now we're through it."

Iowa's pitching held the Huskers to six runs on 21 hits and posted a 1.61 ERA over 28 innings. The defense was flashy and nearly flawless, committing two errors on the weekend, and the offense came to life. The Hawkeyes scored 12 runs in three games, hitting .320 as a team with six starters hitting better than .333.

"That's who we have to be as a team," said Mangler. "We have to throw well, play good defense, and hit. If we can keep doing all three of those things we'll be in good shape."

Iowa heads to a three-game weekend series at Michigan from May 1-3 with 30 victories, giving the program back-to-back 30-win campaigns for the first time since the 1989 and 1990 seasons. The Hawkeyes have 13 Big Ten wins, the most for the program since 2010.

With 11 games left in the regular season, Heller doesn't know where the Hawkeyes will be heading into the 2015 Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis, but he knows the team's drive won't change.

"We're going to continue playing them the same way and go out and find a way to win," said Heller.

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