Joey Nerat

OMAHA, Neb. — The eighth-seeded University of Iowa baseball team rallied back from an early four-run deficit to defeat No. 9 seed Illinois, 10-6, on Tuesday in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament at Charles Schwab Field Omaha.

“We’ve talked from day one that we don’t play the scoreboard we play the game,” said Hawkeye head coach Rick Heller. “We try and play the game one pitch at a time, the right way, there’s only one way to go about your business. If you do that it always gives you a chance to come back.”

Illinois struck for four runs in the first inning to take an early 4-0 lead.

The Hawkeyes responded in the second inning, scoring three times to cut the deficit to one. Redshirt sophomore Max Burt drove in two runs with a double before redshirt junior Jaylen Ziegler added an RBI single to make it 4-3

Iowa evened the game in the third inning when senior Gable Mitchell took home as part of a double steal to tie the contest at 4-all.

After falling behind again, 6-4, the Hawkeyes answered again in the fifth as redshirt sophomore Jaixen Frost delivered an RBI single to pull Iowa within one.

The Hawkeyes broke the game open in the seventh, scoring five runs to take control. Frost tied the game with a sacrifice fly before Burt followed with another to give Iowa its first lead of the game. Senior Joey Nerat delivered the decisive blow with a three-run home run to right-center field, pushing the lead to 10-6.

Jaron Bleeker earned the win in relief, allowing one run on three hits over five innings while striking out five. Maddux Frese started and allowed five runs over four innings while striking out five.

Offensively, Caleb Wulf led the Hawkeyes (33-21) with three hits and three runs scored. Burt and Nerat each finished with three RBIs in the win.

The Hawkeyes face No. 12 seed Michigan State at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. The Spartans knocked off fifth-seeded Purdue, 8-4, in Tuesday’s opener.