By Hawkeyesports.com

DES MOINES, Iowa – The University of Iowa baseball team tied No. 10 Oregon State, 6-6, in 10 innings in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Principal Park.

It is the first tie in Rick Heller‘s Iowa tenure. The last time the Hawkeyes tied a game was in 2002, a 1-1 tie against Northern Iowa, whose head coach at the time was Heller.

Due to travel arrangements, Oregon State was unable to continue the game.

“We ran out of time. I haven’t been in one of those in a long, long time,” said Heller. “Frustrating that we didn’t get a chance to play it out. In baseball there shouldn’t be a tie, but with travel sometimes it happens.”

Iowa (32-17-1, 21-6) batted .237 and totaled nine hits to Oregon State’s four. Both squads left 10 runners on base and struck out 12 times.

“We swung the bat better today than we did yesterday. We still outhit them again today,” said Heller.

The Hawkeyes took their first lead of the series by scoring two runs in the first inning. Ben Wilmes led things off with a triple off the right field wall, and Gable Mitchell brought him home with a single. Caleb Wulf then hit an RBI groundout. Iowa extended its lead in the second as Wilmes lined an RBI single into left.

Oregon State (37-12-1) took the lead in the sixth inning, scoring five runs on a bases loaded walk and a grand slam. The Hawkeyes got a run back in the bottom of the frame. Kellen Strohmeyer earned a leadoff walk, Mitch Wood ripped a pinch-hit double and then Mitchell hit an RBI groundout.

Iowa knotted the game at five in the eighth when Wilmes poked a sacrifice bunt down the first base line to score Strohmeyer, who reached on a leadoff double.

Both teams were scorless in the ninth, taking the game to extra innings. Oregon State took a 6-5 lead in the 10th, scoring on a two-out, bases loaded HBP. Jaixen Frost tied the game back up with a solo shot to left field. Strohmeyer followed with a single, but the offense couldn’t bring him around to score the winning run.

LHP Ben DeTaeye got the nod on the mound for Iowa and showed out in the first weekend start of his career. He threw a career-high five innings, struck out a career-high seven batters and gave up two runs (one unearned) on zero hits. He walked four batters.

“Ben DeTaeye was fantastic today,” said Heller. “Optimistically, I was hoping to get three. He just pitched great, and we scored some runs early to give him a lead to work with.”

Three other pitchers saw the mound for Iowa, including RHP Brant Hogue, who struck out five. The pitching staff combined for 12 punchouts and 13 free bases.

“It was a weird weekend,” said Heller. “We hadn’t been that team where we were walking guys and giving up free bases like that. It’s just uncharacteristic, and it cost us three ballgames, and it cost us the chance to win this one today, as well.”

Over 15,000 fans were in attedance across the three games at Prinicpal Park this weekend.

“We appreciate the fans and appreciate all the people that came out and supported us,” said Heller. “It was pretty good baseball most of the time for them to watch. We all really appreciate how many Hawk fans came out and watched us in Des Moines.”

Up Next

Iowa will close out the regular season with a three-game series against No. 5 Oregon on May 15-17 at Duane Banks Field. The first game will be televised on FS1, while the final two games will be on Big Ten Network. All three games will be broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network.