OMAHA, Neb. — There wasn't anything easy for the Iowa baseball team about a 13-3, 8-inning victory over Michigan in Tuesday's opening round of the Big Ten Tournament.
The game was decided when Hawkeye reliever Jack Whitlock worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the top of the fifth inning and a Brayden Frazier grand slam highlighted a six-run bottom half of the inning that broke open a 1-1 game.
Iowa pitcher Marcus Morgan toiled through much of a start that ended with runners on second and third in the top of the fifth.
Whitlock walked the first batter he faced, but struck out the next three Wolverines he faced to leave the game tied. Whitlock worked two innings, allowing one run while moving to 7-0 on the season.
"Jack had an extremely gutsy performance coming in and striking out the side with the bases loaded. That really shifted the momentum," Iowa coach Rick Heller said. "Then the offense responded."
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Sam Hojnar moved Iowa ahead to stay, hitting a two-out, two-run single in the bottom half of the fifth before Frazier belted the Hawkeyes' ninth grand slam of the season as part of a 3-for-5 day at the plate.
Iowa extended its lead to 11-2 in the seventh when Sam Petersen hit a three-run homer as part of a four-run inning.
The Hawkeyes move to 40-13 on the season, reaching the 40-win plateau for the fifth time in the program's history. They will face second-seeded Indiana on Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m.
Behind two needed insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, the Hoosiers prevailed after the Illini 4-3. Illinois plated two runs in the top of the ninth on an error, but a fly out to left field ended the rally.
Iowa lost the conference series versus Indiana in early April. Both losses were by two runs, with one coming in extra innings.
