The Trojans faced off twice against the Saintes in Atlantic. It ended up being a series of two completely different played games. The Trojans came out swinging, winning their first game 7-3 with tight fielding and precise pitching.

Things changed in the second game for the Trojans as errors started to pile up and the fundamentals were slipping. They lost 5-3 and Coach Hinzmann noted the changes that are needed to be made.

A major contributor to the Trojans winning their first game was Riley Wood. She held the Saintes to 3 runs, 2 hits, and 6 strikeouts while pitching a full game.

Wood was summoned again in game two and retired the side in her first inning of relief pitching. The effort she made was not lost on Coach Hinzmann.

The competitiveness of the two games showed Coach Hinzmann that going forward they still have a few things to work on.

St. Albert’s record changes to 12-7 and the Trojans are now 11-10 as they head to Denison-Schleswig on Thursday.

Former Iowa All-American Tyler Linderbaum says a successful rookie season has helped him get ready for the upcoming campaign. Linderbaum started every game at center last season for the Baltimore Ravens in being named to the NFL All-Rookie team.

Linderbaum is looking to improve in every area.

Linderbaum says the transition to the NFL was a huge challenge.

Linderbaum says he has been trying to improve his pass blocking.

The Ravens finished 10-7 last season before falling to the Bengals in the AFC Wild Card round.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Four University of Iowa baseball student-athletes – Brody Brecht, Brennen Dorighi, Sam Petersen and Keaton Anthony – earned American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings All-Midwest Region honors, it was announced Tuesday by the organization.

Brecht earned first team recognition, moving him into consideration for ABCA/Rawlings All-America honors that will be announced Friday. Dorighi, Petersen and Anthony were all second-team all-region selections.

It is the third straight year the Hawkeyes have had multiple all-region honorees and the fifth time under head coach Rick Heller that Iowa has had two or more players recognized.

Brecht earned first-team honors after going 5-2 with a 3.74 ERA in 16 starts. The right-hander posted four quality starts and fanned 109 batters over 77 innings. The Ankeny, Iowa native leads the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (4.32).

Petersen earned second-team honors hitting .319 with 47 RBIs, 45 runs scored and having 21 extra base hits (9 doubles, 11 home runs and one triple) during the regular season. The Huxley, Iowa, native swiped 20 bases on 22 attempts.

Dorighi earned second-team honors after hitting .348 (78-of-224) with 67 RBIs, 19 doubles, and 15 home runs. The Cherry Hills, Colorado native lead the Hawkeyes in hits, RBIs, games started (60), runs scored (66), and total bases (142).

Anthony earned third-team honors after hitting .389 (61-of-157) with 22 doubles, 9 home runs, 38 RBIs and 51 runs scored during the regular season. His 22 doubles are second-most in program history. The Hoschton, Georgia, native was named a third-team All-American by the collegiate baseball newspaper.

The Hawkeyes finished the 2023 season with a 44-16 overall record with the 44 wins tied for most in program history. Iowa finished third in the Big Ten regular season standings, advanced to the Big Ten Tournament finals and the team won two games at the Terre Haute Regional in Iowa’s first appearance since 2017.

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State finished its 2023 campaign with a 25-30 overall record and a 6-12 mark in the Big 12 for the third consecutive season. The Cyclones placed fifth in the league standings, advancing to the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship before falling to top-seeded Oklahoma.

ISU completed its third straight season with at least 25 wins in 2023, making it just the third time in school history the team has posted three-straight 25+ win seasons. Since 2000, Iowa State has recorded 25+ win seasons just eight times, with four coming under head coach Jamie Pinkerton.

The Cyclones finished the season strong, winning 12 of their final 17 games, which included four top-25 victories (OSU, Baylor 3x). Iowa State’s win over No. 3 Oklahoma State tied the program record for the largest upset in school history and spearheaded the second-half surge for ISU.

Iowa State’s softball fanbase continued to grow this year, as four of the top ten most-attended home games in program history came this season. Of those four games was the Saturday doubleheader against top-ranked Oklahoma, which pulled in a record crowd of 1,715 spectators. Overall, seven of the top ten home attendances have come under Coach Pinkerton.

In six seasons under Pinkerton, Iowa State has recorded three winning seasons. Before his arrival, ISU hadn’t recorded a winning season since 1995. In his five full seasons, Pinkerton’s squads have belted 40+ home runs in each, marking the only five seasons to do so in school history. Pinkerton now owns the third most wins in school history with a 158-151 record, surpassing Ruthe Crowe.

Player Notables  

• Milaysia Ochoa led the team in almost every offensive category, including batting average (.319), runs (44), hits (53), doubles (13), home runs (12), RBI (33), total bases (102), slugging percentage (.614), HBP (9), and at-bats (166).
  • Ochoa was the lone Cyclone to start in and play all 55 games.

Awards 

• Junior outfielder Milaysia Ochoa was named an All-Big 12 Second Team selection. It was the third straight season a Cyclone made the second team. 
• Ochoa was also named to the All-Midwest Region third team, marking the third straight season a Cyclone has made a regional team. 
• Ellie Spelhaug and junior Angelina Allen were each named to the All-Big 12 Tournament team following their performance in Oklahoma City. ISU placed the second-most players on the team and it was the first time in program history ISU had more than one player on the Big 12 Tournament team. 
• Seniors Lea Nelson, Carli Spelhaug and Ellie Spelhaug were each named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team. It was Carli’s second time earning the recognition. 

Rankings 

• Iowa State ranked No. 70 in the RPI at the end of the regular season. 
• ISU ranked 18th nationally in double plays turned per game (.45). 
• The Cyclone pitching staff plunked just 23 batters this season, the second lowest in the conference. 
• Milaysia Ochoa ranked second in the Big 12 in HBP per game (.17) and 131st nationally.
  • Ochoa also had the eighth most home runs in the Big 12 (12), which put her tied for 91 in the country.
• Saya Swain recorded the 11th most saves in the country (6), which led the Big 12. Her six saves were the most in a single season in program history.
  • Swain averaged 8.6 Ks per seven innings pitched, ranking 32nd in the country and giving her the fourth-best mark in the Big 12.
• Karlie Charles walked just 1.15 batters per seven innings, good enough for best in the Big 12. That put Charles 31st in the country.

(Radio Iowa) – The Des Moines Register has announced it’s dropping plans to shoot for a world record number of cyclists during the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa next month. The event is known as RAGBRAI and this is the 50th year bicyclists will make the week long, statewide trek from the Missouri River to the Mississippi. RAGBRAI organizers had hoped to set a Guinness World Record mark for largest parade of bicycles on the day riders bike from Ames to Des Moines. However, the newspaper says new criteria from the publisher of Guinness World Records make it impossible. Planners do expect as many as 100-thousand riders to be on RAGBRAI’s Wednesday, July 26th route from Ames to Des Moines. RAGBRAI will start in Sioux City on Sunday, July 23rd and end 500 miles later in Davenport on Saturday, July 29th.

Axios Des Moines is reporting Gannett, which owns The Register, has sent a cease and desist letter to a former RAGBRAI director and a long-time RAGBRAI rider who’ve posted an alternative route online for riders to make their way from Ames to Des Moines. The man told Axios he’s concerned about having so many riders on the same path on July 26th. The letter from Gannett suggests the alternate route will not be as safe since it will not be staffed by law enforcement.

AMES, Iowa – Fueled by the momentum generated from three-consecutive NCAA Women’s Tennis Tournament appearances, including a run to the 2023 Elite Eight, Iowa State Athletics has unveiled plans for an indoor and outdoor tennis complex for the program, Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard announced today.

“It is truly amazing what our women’s tennis program has achieved over the last three seasons, especially in light of the fact that we do not have facilities that are comparable to other peer institutions, but we believe that this plan will allow us to build off our recent successes in a financially responsible manner while quickly addressing the program’s facility shortcomings,” Pollard said.

“We are grateful for Ames Racquet and Fitness Center and the ISU Research Park for agreeing to come alongside us to create a unique partnership that will help the department get this project to the finish line,” he added.

The Iowa State Research Park will purchase an existing four-court indoor tennis bubble, and expand it to six courts, construct six new outdoor courts on the property, and a team building to include amenities including a team room, locker room and training room. Pending Iowa Board of Regents approval in September, the completed facility will be leased to ISU Athletics. The six outdoor courts are scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2023 with the indoor court expansion and team facility slated for a fall 2024 completion.

“The success of our entire Athletics Department, embodied most-recently by the 2023 women’s tennis campaign, is important to all of us who wear Cardinal and Gold.,” said Iowa State Research Park President Rick Sanders. “The ISURP is excited to be the future home of Cyclone Tennis for many years to come.”

Iowa State’s women’s tennis team currently utilizes the Bruce McKee Indoor Tennis Complex, which opened in 2017 adjacent to the Sukup Basketball Complex, features two practice courts for the Cyclones to use as well as a team room and locker room. Once the tennis program vacates the McKee Complex, the facility will be converted into a practice facility for the Cyclone volleyball team.

In the event of inclement weather, the Cyclones currently travel to Urbandale to utilize the indoor facility at Life Time Fitness. ISU has played outdoors at the Ames High School facility for the past several years and hosted the first three rounds of the 2023 NCAA Tournament there.

The Cyclones finished the 2023 season 21-6 overall while going 7-2 in Big 12 action to finish in a tie for third place in the league standings. ISU advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championships and later reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships, both feats that have never been accomplished in program history.

The seven league victories were the most in school history and included the program’s first-ever win against Oklahoma State and the first against Baylor in Waco in the series. Iowa State posted 12 wins against Top 50 opponents with wins against No. 18 UCLA, No. 10 Miami, No. 9 Vanderbilt and No. 1 Texas to reach the semifinals at the ITA National Indoor Championships. The win against the top-ranked Longhorns was the first against UT and the first against a No. 1 team in school history.

In its third-straight NCAA Tournament, Iowa State rolled past Drake (4-0), No. 22 Wisconsin (4-1) and No. 20 UCLA (4-1) to reach the final site. The Cyclones fell in the quarterfinals to eventual runner-up, No. 4 NC State, 4-3.

Grinnell College has named Holly Roepke as the school’s new Director of Athletics. Roepke has been the AD at her alma mater Cal-Luthern since January of 2022 and prior to that was an assistant AD at Grinnell.

She takes over a program that is experiencing success. The Grinnell women won the Midwest Conference All-Sports title this past school year. The men finished second.

Roepke says Grinnell’s academic profile is an advantage when it comes to athletics.

The one trouble spot remains football. The Pioneers canceled most of their 2019 season due to lack of numbers and have won a total of four games the past two seasons. Roepke says the program has made strides with roster size and that needs to continue.

Former Iowa star Luka Garza will be back in the state beginning next weekend as he offers a series of camps this summer in Urbandale. It is all part of the second year of the Luka Garza Academy.

It begins Friday with a skills camp for players in third through eighth grade. Saturday and Sunday there is a father and son camp as well as an elite big man camp in July and September. While players are always looking for an AAU team to play on out of season Garza says skill development is also important.

Garza says games are where skill development is polished.

For more information about any of the camps visit LukaGarzaAcademy.com.

Class 1A:

1. Newman Catholic
2. Kingsley-Pierson
3. Remsen St. Mary’s
4. Lynnville-Sully
5. North Linn
6. West Harrison
7. Coon Rapids-Bayard
8. Burlington Notre Dame
9. Lisbon
10. Gehlen Catholic

Others Receiving Votes: Akron-Westfield, Don Bosco, Newell-Fonda, South Winneshiek, Woodbury Central

Class 2A:

1. Van Meter
2. Mid-Prairie
3. Estherville-Lincoln Central
4. Beckman Catholic
5. Underwood
6. Kuemper Catholic
7. Williamsburg
8. Cascade
9. West Marshall
10. New Hampton

Others Receiving Votes: Anamosa, Dike-New Hartford, Pella Christian, Pleasantville, West Lyon

Class 3A:

1. Western Dubuque
2. Lewis Central
3. North Polk
4. Knoxville
5. Marion
6. Bishop Heelan
7. ADM
8. Ballard
9. Wahlert Catholic
10. Davenport Assumption

Others Receiving Votes: Bondurant-Farrar, MOC-Floyd Valley, Sergeant Bluff-Luton, West Delaware, Cedar Rapids Xavier

Class 4A:

1. Ankeny Centennial
2. Cedar Rapids Prairie
3. Johnston
4. Southeast Polk
5. Pleasant Valley
6. Iowa City High
7. Dowling Catholic
8. Cedar Rapids Kennedy
9. Dallas Center-Grimes
10. Indianola

Others Receiving Votes: Ankeny, Bettendorf, Cedar Falls, Urbandale, Waukee Northwest