By Hawk Fanatic

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa baseball team treated a record-breaking crowd of 2,654 at Duane Banks Field to a dramatic 11-6 come-from-behind victory over Nebraska on Saturday.

The surging Hawkeyes scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, turning a 6-5 deficit into an 11-6 lead that would hold up.

Ben Wilmes triggered the eighth-inning rally by belting a solo home run to even the score at 6.

Iowa added two more runs before Andy Nelson smacked a three-run homer, which built the five-run cushion.

With Saturday’s win, Iowa improved to 14-3 in Big Ten play and 23-10 overall and has now won six straight Big Ten series.

The Hawkeyes will look for a series sweep on Sunday when the teams meet at 1 p.m.at Duane Banks Field.

Saturday’s attendance was the highest at Duane Banks Field during Rick Heller’s time as the Iowa baseball coach, which dates back to the 2014 season.

“Hawk fans didn’t disappoint,” said Heller. “Had a great night last night, and an even better crowd today. They were into the game, and it really helps out when you have that kind of support.”

Iowa’s largest deficit was 5-2 in Saturday’s game.

But the Hawkeyes chipped away at the deficit, scoring two runs in the fifth and one in the seventh.

That set the stage for the eighth-inning rally.

“Down 5-2, to come back and find a way to win is especially after we had squandered some opportunities and didn’t execute very well all day long was impressive,” said Heller. “One of the big goals for us every game is to try to win the last three innings, we just kept telling them keep pushing.”

Prior to Saturday’s game, the Iowa Hawks Nest, which is the official student section of the Iowa Hawkeyes, hosted a special student tailgate at Duane Banks Field.

UI students had the opportunity to meet new Iowa men’s basketball coach Ben McCollum, who made a guest appearance on Saturday and threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

McCollum’s appearance helped to energize the fans, and then the Iowa baseball team did the rest on a beautiful April afternoon.

Iowa started the three-games series against Nebraska with a 1-0 victory on Friday.

Junior pitcher Cade Obermueller allowed just two hits over seven innings and had 12 strikeouts in Friday’s win.

And while the Cornhuskers scored six runs in Saturday’s game, they only had six hits, while Iowa had 12 hits, including four home runs.

Gable Mitchell and Miles Risley also hit home runs for Iowa in Saturday’s game.

Editors’ note: Hawkeyesports.com contributed to this report.