By Hawkeyesports.com

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa baseball team was defeated by Maryland 10-9 on Friday afternoon at Duane Banks Field.

The Hawkeyes jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning before Maryland rallied back taking a 7-6 lead in the sixth. Iowa tied the game in the seventh before Maryland scored three in the eighth and the Hawkeyes scored two in the bottom half. The rally would fall short as the Hawkeyes were unable to plate a run in the ninth.

“Obviously a tough one”, said head coach Rick Heller. “Especially when you blow a lead like that. I felt our guys really came out ready to play. We executed our plan against Savacool perfectly, the thing he was able to do was regroup and tough out some innings for them, so they didn’t have to go to the bullpen sooner.”

Brody Brecht got the start and threw five innings striking out a career high 13 batters while allowing three runs on five hits.

Three Hawkeyes had multi-hit days. Keaton Anthony hit a grand slam and was 3-for-5 with five RBIs. Raider Tello was 2-for-4 with a home run and Brennen Dorighi was 2-for-4.

“I don’t fault our guy’s effort,” said Heller. “We played good baseball defensively. We just had a second half of the game where we just couldn’t execute our pitches. We just didn’t. When we missed, they made us play, and we missed badly in key situations. We had way too many free bases on the mound on a day when you know that balls can get out of the ballpark easily.”

Of Note:

• The grand slam by Keaton Anthony was the fifth by the Hawkeyes this season.
• Keaton Anthony (6), Sam Petersen (5) and Raider Tello (2) all hit home runs.
• Iowa moves to 19-5 on the season and 0-1 in Big Ten play.

Up Next

The Hawkeyes continue their three-game series with Maryland tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. (CT) in Iowa City, Iowa.

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥@brody_brecht x #Hawkeyes

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— Iowa Baseball (@UIBaseball) March 31, 2023