Iowa City, Iowa – Redshirt sophomore Kyle Huckstorf had a Big Ten record 12 RBIs and tied a league record with six hits to lead the University of Iowa baseball team to a 30-16 rout of Indiana on Thursday night in the series-opener at Duane Banks Field.
“This is going to be the day that I take with me until I die,” said Huckstorf. “It will be stories that live on forever and I’ll have fun with it.
“I came out here with the same goal in mind, trying to barrel up the ball, hit it hard and as you see today, good things happen. The wind was in my favor, which was a good thing.”
The win was the Hawkeyes’ 31st of the season, improving the team’s record to 31-17 overall, 15-7 in league play.
The game was about as bizarre as they come as Indiana led 13-2 through three innings after chasing Iowa ace Adam Mazur from the start after just two innings. The Hoosiers belted three home runs in the first two innings before a third-inning grand slam gave Indiana the 11-run lead.
“It was our time to pick Maz up because he has picked us up a lot,” said Huckstorf. “We needed him for that and we had his back today.”
Iowa began its comeback in the fourth, an inning where it sent 15 batters to the plate. Ironically enough, it was a Sam Petersen bunt single to leadoff the frame that gave the Hawkeyes a jolt.
Iowa hit three home runs in the inning — a three-run shot from Huckstorf that made it 13-5, a two-run blast from Keaton Anthony that cut the deficit to 13-7 and another three-run bomb from Huckstorf (over the batter’s eye in centerfield) that cut the deficit to 13-12. Sam Hojnar and Petersen also had RBIs in the inning.
After Indiana got one run back in the top of the fifth, Huckstorf was at it again, connecting on a grand slam, giving him three homers and 10 RBIs in a two-inning span. More importantly, it gave the Hawkeyes the 16-12 lead.
Iowa piled it on, battering the Hoosier pitching staff for three more runs in the sixth, six in the seventh (with three coming on Petersen’s towering three-run shot to left) and five more in the eighth.
With the bases loaded in the eighth, Huckstorf lined a two-run single to right center for his record-breaking hit. It gave him the Big Ten single game RBI record and it was his sixth hit, tying him for the league record for hits in a game.
Iowa’s offense was exceptional, scoring 30 runs – the program’s most in a Big Ten game all-time – on 23 hits. Ten different Hawkeyes had at least one hit and eight had at least one RBI.
“Right when we got here in BP, we said it was going to be a good day to hit,” said Huckstorf. “We said let’s go put up a bunch of runs… we put up 30.”
Redshirt junior Duncan Davitt stepped up for the Iowa pitching staff. The right-hander pitched the final 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits and fanning four to earn his fourth victory.
QUOTING COACH HELLER
“You don’t see many like that, but that’s why you keep playing. Indiana came out swinging and jumped on us fast. We were down early, and we talked as a group after the first inning that Mazur picked us up a lot this season, today the offense needs to pick him up.
“We had guys that had phenomenal nights offensively. Huckstorf was incredible. You don’t see that, that’s a once or twice a career-type game. It came in a game that was meaningful against a quality opponent.”
OF NOTE…
– The 30 runs are the second-most scored in a single game in program history (32 vs. Quincy, 1989).
– The 30 runs are the most in a Big Ten game in school history, besting the 22 runs against Wisconsin in 1989.
– The 46 combined runs are the most in a game in program history (43, L, 28-15 vs. Murray State, 1986).
– Iowa’s 23 hits are the most for the program since 2009 (25 hits vs. Tennessee-Martin, W, 25-6)
– Kyle Huckstorf set an Iowa single-game hits record, finishing 6-for-7 with three home runs and 12 RBIs.
– He is the first Big Ten player since 2010 to have six hits in a game (all games) and is the seventh player all-time (first since 2010) to have six hits in a Big Ten game.
– Huckstorf’s 12 RBIs set a Big Ten record and Iowa program record. (The NCAA record is 16.)
– Huckstorf is the third Hawkeye since 2007 to hit three home runs in a game (Jake Adams at Kansas State, 2017; Jason White vs. Illinois, 2007).
– Iowa’s five home runs are the most since 2018 when it hit seven against Missouri.
– Sophomore Michael Seegers had five walks, breaking the single-game record.
UP NEXT
Game two of the series will begin at 6:05 p.m. Friday night at Duane Banks Field.
