March 29, 2024

Hawkeyes get past Maryland in Big Ten baseball tournament

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Matt Hoeg hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning and Iowa beat Maryland 9-8 on Thursday in their Big Ten Tournament baseball opener.

Iowa (35-19) was ahead 6-1 before Maryland scored six in a row to take the lead. Solo home runs by Robert Neustrom and Chris Whelan put Iowa up 8-7 in the top of the sixth.

Maryland’s Marty Costes then tied it on a homer, but the Terrapins (34-20) left the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth.

Josh Martsching (4-0) got the win for Iowa, which will face top-seeded Nebraska in the winner’s bracket at 12:30 p.m. Friday.

The Hawkeyes and Terrapins were forced to play Thursday instead of Wednesday because of a rule stating that games can’t start after 9 p.m.