SAN DIEGO – A six-run first inning propelled the University of Iowa baseball team to a 6-4 victory over San Diego State on Tuesday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium.  The win was the Hawkeyes’ second straight and moved the team’s record to 8-7 heading into an eight-game homestand.

Iowa started fast against Aztec starter Cole Carrigg as Michael Seegers drew a leadoff walk and Anthony Mangano doubled to start the game.  Redshirt sophomore Peyton Williams made the score 3-0 with one swing of the bat, as he belted a 1-2 pitch to center for a three-run homer – his team-leading fourth of the season.

The Hawkeyes put two more base runners on via walks before Kyle Huckstorf singled home a run and senior Brett McCleary’s two-run double to left center pushed the lead to 6-0.

Iowa’s pitching staff struck out the side in three of the first four innings before San Diego State plated two runs in the fifth.   The Aztecs added a single run in the eighth and brought the game-tying run to the plate, but redshirt sophomore Luke Llewellyn fanned Trevor Hazelhurst to end the threat.

San Diego State plated one run in the ninth, before redshirt sophomore Casey Day got a strikeout and ground out to end the game and notch his second save.

Redshirt junior Duncan Davitt (2-1) got the win, allowing one hit and fanning five over two shutout innings.  Ten different Hawkeye pitchers limited the Aztecs to three runs on eight hits in the game, while striking out 20, tying a season high.

Williams led Iowa at the plate, finishing 4-for-4 with three RBIs, tying a career-high for hits.  The Johnston, Iowa, native reached safely in all five plate appearances.  McCleary also had a multi-hit game, finishing 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

UP NEXT

The Hawkeyes will host No. 12/17 Texas Tech for a three-game series this weekend at Duane Banks Field.  Friday’s opener will begin at 4:05 p.m. (CT).

(Radio Iowa) – Basketball fans love tournament time in March and there’s no doubt sports gambling companies in Iowa do too. Racing and Gaming Administrator, Brian Ohorilko, says March is the top seed when it comes to money wagered on sports. “Last year, March was our highest month of handle. Of course the year before that it was disrupted by the pandemic — but 2021 was the largest month for the fiscal year,” Ohorilko says.

Sports betters wagered more than 161-million dollars last March. Ohorilko says that could be eclipsed this year as there are more sports gambling companies licensed — and lots of Iowa representation in the post-season tournaments. “Generally with more operators it’s reasonable to assume that we’ll have increased revenue from last year at this time,” he says. “The other factor is we have success from the Iowa teams. When there are Iowa teams participating it will draw the more casual fan and increased traffic.”  He says that school spirit may make some people place a bet on their favorite team. “March Madness is a time when we’ll see people fill out their brackets and maybe make an occasional bet — even though they may not have done that in some time,” Ohorilko says.

The sports gambling companies offer what are know as prop bets — betting on things like how many points a player can score — along with bets on which team will win. Ohorilko says prop bets are one area where your favorite Iowa team is out of play. “The one exception will be if the game involves an Iowa college team. In those instances, prop betting on individual athletes is not permitted. But those would be limited to the games that Iowa teams are participating in,” according to Ohorilko.

Ohorilko reminds everyone to not get carried away with March Madness. “Sports wagering — no different than casino gambling or probably any form of wagering — it really is something that should be fun, should be discretional income, and certainly not something that should be done if someone is susceptible to tendencies to wager too much,” he says. Ohorilko says sports gambling companies offer controls on their apps where you can set betting limits. If you think you may have a gambling problem — you can get free help at 1-800-Bets-Off.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are 16th in the final AP basketball poll. The Hawks won their first Big Ten Tournament title since 2006 on Sunday with a 75-66 win over Purdue. Iowa caught fire late after starting Big Ten play 1-3.

That’s Iowa coach Fran McCaffery who says the Hawkeyes have become very good at absorbing and executing game plans.

Iowa is 26-9, the second most wins in program history. All from a team that was picked to finish ninth in the Big Ten in the preseason.

That’s sophomore forward Keegan Murray. The Hawkeyes will have a quick turnaround as they open the NCAA Tournament Thursday afternoon in Buffalo against Richmond.

That’s senior guard Jordan Bohannon.

The UNI women’s basketball team will play in the 2022 WNIT.

The Panthers will begin post-season play this week on Thursday, March 17 against the Kansas City Roos’ at home in the McLeod Center. This will be the second time that UNI has hosted the opening round of the WNIT tournament in five years and the first since 2018 against Milwaukee. Tip-off on Thursday is set for 6 p.m. from Cedar Falls.

UNI made their longest run in the WNIT Tournament last season, getting all the way to the semifinals against Ole Miss. The Panthers were the Rockford Regional Champions with wins against Dayton, Creighton, and Saint Louis with junior guard Kam Finley named as the regional MVP along with making the All-Tournament team.

The Drake University women’s basketball team has accepted an at large bid into the Women’s National Invite Tournament and will face Missouri in the opening round on Thursday March 17 at 7pm.

Drake is one of 64 teams in the tournament and one of three Missouri Valley Teams to accept a bid. This will mark the Bulldogs 13^th appearance at the WNIT in program history and their first since 2016.

The Bulldogs 18-13 are coming off a Missouri Valley Tournament run that ended in the quarterfinals when they fell to No. 2 Missouri State, 63-49.

The last time Drake faced Missouri was in the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament in Iowa City, where the Bulldogs fell 77-76 in overtime.

The 18-12 Tigers are coming off its SEC tournament run, where they fell to No. 8 Arkansas, 61-52.

Missouri was one of only two teams to defeat nationally ranked South Carolina, who remained in the number one spot all season.

Tickets are available for purchase at www.draketix.com/wbb .

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa head wrestling coach Tom Brands has signed a contract extension through the 2029 season. The announcement was made Monday by Director of Athletics Chair Gary Barta.

Brands is in his 16th season as Iowa’s head wrestling coach. His teams have won four NCAA and six Big Ten titles, and enter this week’s NCAA tournament as defending national champions.

“There is no better person to lead the Iowa Wrestling program than Tom Brands. His sustained success at the University of Iowa is unmatched,” said Barta. “Tom epitomizes the Win. Graduate. Do it Right. philosophy.  I could not be happier for Tom, his staff, student-athletes, and our fans.”

Brands became the eighth head coach in program history in 2006. He is a five-time Big Ten Coach of the Year and three-time National Coach of the Year. He has coached 13 NCAA individual champions, 89 All-Americans, 24 Big Ten champions and 142 academic All-Big Ten honorees

Brands has a 250-24-1 (.911) overall and 120-11 (.916) Big Ten coaching record at Iowa. He has a 267-44-1 (.857) career mark and a 119-13 (.902) record at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa has led the nation in attendance every year since Brands’ first season in 2006-07. The Hawkeyes set a national dual average attendance record in 2021-22, averaging 14,905 fans at each of their six home dates and selling out season tickets for the first time in program history.

ST. LOUIS, MO., March 13, 2022 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have agreed to terms with free-agent right-handed pitcher Nick Wittgren.

Wittgren, 30, was originally drafted by the Miami Marlins out of Purdue University in the ninth round of the 2012 draft and made his Major League debut in 2016.

Over 258 career appearances, Wittgren has compiled an 18-15 record with a 3.75 ERA and 265 strikeouts covering 271.1 innings.  He locked down five saves, all coming as a member of the Cleveland franchise the last three seasons.

With a penchant to strand runners, Wittgren has an inherited runners scored mark of 19.8%, ranking 6th among Major League pitchers since 2016.

In 2021, Wittgren posted a 2-9 record while establishing career-high marks with 60 appearances, 62.1 innings pitched and 61 strikeouts, including his first ever Major League start.

Since his debut in 2016, Wittgren ranked 20th in Major League Baseball in strikeout/walk ratio (3.49) among pitchers with 250 or more appearances.

Wittgren will report to Cardinals camp today and wear uniform number 30.

The Iowa Hawkeyes and Iowa State Cyclones women’s basketball teams will both be in the Greensboro Region of the 2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Iowa is coming off a Big Ten Tournament Championship last week after also winning the conference regular season title. The Hawkeyes earned the 2nd-seed in the region and will take on the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Champion Illinois State in the first round. The Hawkeyes will host that game along with 7-seed Colorado meeting 10-seed Creighton.

Iowa State is the 3-seed in the region and will host 14th-seeded UT Arlington in the first round. the other game in Ames will have the 6-seed Georgia facing the winner of a play-in game between Dayton and DePaul.

Iowa, Iowa State, and Creighton will all play in the Midwest Region of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

Iowa won their first Big Ten Tournament Championship since 2006 on Sunday with a win over Purdue. The Hawkeyes (26-9) were then tabbed as a 5-seed in the Midwest Region and will open up against 12-seeded Richmond (23-12). Iowa will play in Buffalo, NY.

Creighton came up short in the Big East Tournament Championship game to Villanova on Saturday but the Bluejays had a good run in the tourney. The Jays (22-11) were put in the Midwest Region as a 9 seed and will open up against 8th-seeded San Diego State (23-8). Creighton will play in Fort Worth, Texas.

Iowa State stumbled down the stretch of the regular season and were blown out by Texas Tech in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. The Cyclones (20-12) rode their strong non-conference performance to the tournament and are an 11-seed. They will open up against 6th-seeded LSU (22-11). Iowa State will play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.