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Iowa baseball falls in Big Ten title quest with third-straight loss to Oregon

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Iowa baseball falls in Big Ten title quest with third-straight loss to Oregon


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IOWA CITY — The Iowa baseball team closed out its regular season against Oregon with the Big Ten Conference championship at stake, its first taste of a season championship since 1990.

The Hawkeyes had dropped two of their first three games to the fifth-ranked Ducks in a three-game series. In Game 1, the Hawkeyes dropped a 10-0 shutout to the Ducks in seven innings on May 15. In Game 2, they lost 9-6 after they held a 6-2 lead through five innings on May 16.

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Iowa had one final chance to be on the right side of history in Game 3. It was a three-way tie for first place in the Big Ten title race between Iowa, Oregon and UCLA entering the regular-season finale on May 17.

Ultimately, the Hawkeyes had its 35-year drought extended with a 13-4 home loss to the Ducks. Iowa fell to 21-9 in Big Ten play while Oregon improved to 22-8.

The Ducks clinched at least a share of the Big Ten crown with a win over the Hawkeyes. UCLA plays later in the afternoon against Northwestern and a Bruins win would give them a piece of the conference title.

“(Oregon) was locked in and had been playing their best baseball of the year the last 12-15 games,” said Iowa coach Rick Heller. “We knew the challenge and we knew exactly how we had to attack but we just gave them too much to have any chance of beating a team that good.”

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Leadoff hitter Reese Moore got on base after he was hit by a pitch. He beat the catcher to steal second before a wild pitch put him at third base. A groundout by Caleb Wulf plated the Iowa sophomore to give the Hawkeyes an early 1-0 lead in the opening frame.

With Iowa right-hander Reece Beuter on the mound, Oregon’s Carter Garate blasted a homer that traveled 453 feet and cleared the right-field wall. Beuter, who entered with a 6-0 record, allowed a walk on the ensuing at-bat before a lineout ended his afternoon.

Through 2 ⅔ innings, Beuter faced 11 batters and gave up just one hit and one home run over 42 pitches.

Reminiscent of their loss on May 16, Iowa’s pitching became an Achilles heel and put them in a bind. Senior lefty Ben DeTaeye, who replaced Beuter, allowed Oregon’s Drew Smith to walk to first base before a sacrifice bunt and ensuing groundout put the Ducks in scoring position. DeTaeye walked Chase Meggers before he yielded an RBI double to Ryan Cooney that gave Oregon a 2-1 advantage. An ensuing bunt by Garate drove in a run and increased Iowa’s deficit, 3-1.

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After Oregon’s Dominic Hellman walked to first, Jacob Walsh hit a double that sliced down the left field line with no outs in the fifth inning. Iowa righty Daniel Wright stepped in to pitch, but the Ducks managed to load the bases and put another run on the board. The senior Hawkeye faced a bases-loaded jam after he allowed a walk before a groundout drove in another score and made it a 4-1 game.

An ensuing walk reloaded the bases, but a double play by Iowa’s infield limited the damage.

“Pretty much the entire bullpen just gave it up today and I think we had eight or nine walks. You have no shot at beating that team if you’re going to walk nine guys,” Heller said. “We felt like we were going to have to score some runs, and we could today, but we didn’t early. We hit some balls and didn’t get rewarded and then we did some dumb stuff that cost us on the bases.”

The Hawkeyes (32-20-1) couldn’t string together runs, and the Ducks made them pay at the plate. Cooney cranked a solo homer in the sixth inning which prompted a change to junior righty Anthony Watts. But that didn’t matter. The Ducks plated two more runs with a Walsh homer that sailed past the right-field wall. The blast extended the gap, 8-1.

All the while, Oregon right-hander Jason Reitz limited Iowa’s offense. The junior righty, who boasted a 4-0 mark entering Game 3, earned four strikeouts and gave up just one run through 5 ⅔ innings of work.

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Iowa’s Andy Nelson managed to narrow the deficit, 8-2, in the seventh frame with his sixth home run of the season, but the Ducks countered with a Hellman homer in the eighth inning.

The Hawkeyes managed to plate a pair of runs after loading the bases in the eighth frame, but Oregon secured a four-run stretch in the ninth inning. Iowa went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine runners on base.

“It hurts that we weren’t able to get it done, especially at home for our fans who really came out and supported us and disappointed they didn’t get to see us celebrate a championship,” Heller said. “But for this team to be where they’re at is pretty impressive and the great thing is it’s not the end. It feels like it now but it’s not the end of the season.

“We have a chance to regroup and hopefully find ourselves and get back to who we are and go down to Omaha (Nebraska) and try to play good baseball again.”

Iowa’s attention will now shift to the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha, which will begin on May 20.

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Marc Ray is the high school sports reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. He can be reached at MARay@gannett.com , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.



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Vote: Who Should be Iowa’s High School Athlete of the Week? (4/19/2026)

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Vote: Who Should be Iowa’s High School Athlete of the Week? (4/19/2026)


Here are the candidates for High School on SI’s Iowa high school athlete of the week for April 13-18. Read through the nominees and cast your vote.

Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. PT on Sunday, April 26. The winner will be announced in the following week’s poll. Here are this week’s nominees:

Taylor Roose, Pella boys track and field

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Roose competed in three events at the Norwalk Invitational, winning all three in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and long jump.

Daxon Kiesau, Urbandale boys track and field

Kiesau swept the throwing events at the Norwalk Invitational, taking first place in the shot put and the discus.

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Alex Burger, Southeast Valley boys track and field

Competing at home, Burger dominated, earning four gold medals. He won the 400-meter hurdles and the long jump while running on the winning 4×200-meter relay and shuttle hurdle relay.

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Kolby Hodnefield, Clear Lake boys track and field

Hodenfield, a defending state champion, broke the meet, venue and school record in the 200 and the 400 at the Clear Lake Invitational. He added victories as part of the 4×100 and 4×400 relays. Both relays also set meet records.

Easton Moon, North Polk boys tennis

Moon has started off his senior season on the courts unbeaten, winning all four matches while dropping just one game in 44 played.

Ava Lohrbach, Gilbert girls golf

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One of the top golfers in the state, Lohrbach has had a hot start, firing a 35 in her nine-hole debut and a 72 for her 18-hole opener.

Nathan Manske, Algona boys golf

An elite quarterback and basketball player, Manske is showing his golfing skills this spring, coming out with a state-low 30 in a nine-hole event.

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Ella Hein, Tipton girls track and field

Hein set school records in the 400-meter run and long jump at the Tiger/Tigerette Relays while also locking in the Blue Standard and qualifying for the Drake Relays. She won the long jump (18-6) and was second in the 400.

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Maeve Bowen-Burt, Iowa City High girls track and field

The sophomore helped the Little Hawks land three Drake Relays events on the last night of qualifying, advancing in the 400 hurdles, along with the sprint medley and 4×400 relays.

About Our Athlete of the Week Voting

High School on SI voting polls are meant to be a fun, lighthearted way for fans to show support for their favorite athletes and teams. Our goal is to celebrate all of the players featured, regardless of the vote totals. Sometimes one athlete will receive a very large number of votes — even thousands — and that’s okay! The polls are open to everyone and are simply a way to build excitement and community around high school sports. Unless we specifically announce otherwise, there are no prizes or official awards for winning. The real purpose is to highlight the great performances of every athlete included in the poll.

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Houston icon George Foreman laid to rest in Iowa, drawn by a peaceful 1988 visit

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Houston icon George Foreman laid to rest in Iowa, drawn by a peaceful 1988 visit


The late boxing great George Foreman lies buried in a cemetery in the northwestern corner of Iowa – a place he has no connection to outside of a lone visit to the region nearly 40 years ago.

Foreman died March 21, 2025, at the age of 76 in Houston and was buried in Logan Park Cemetery at Sioux City, Iowa, a month later, city officials confirmed. Foreman’s family returned Thursday to his burial site, holding a news conference with Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott to reveal Foreman’s burial place, marked by a large monument that bears an image of him as a teen following his Olympic gold medal boxing win.

The family explained in a statement released by Sioux City officials that he had visited the Iowa city in 1988, and often recalled the sense of peace he experienced there.

After traveling to the city on April 17 last year to bury Foreman, his family said they immediately understood the region’s appeal.

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“Our father lived a life of purpose, faith and gratitude,” the family said in a statement released by Sioux City officials. “To see him laid to rest in a place that brought him peace means everything to us.”

Scott joined the family at Foreman’s monument that lies just a few miles north of the Missouri River in an upper Midwest city of nearly 87,000 people. The cemetery overlooks the scenic Loess Hills, created by windblown silt deposits that reach up to 200 feet high (about 61 meters) and line the river along the Iowa border for 200 miles (322 kilometers).

“Their story is a reminder of how one place can stay with someone for a lifetime,” Scott said.

A native Texan, Foreman rose to fame when he made the 1968 U.S. Olympic boxing team, winning gold in Mexico City. He became the heavyweight champion of the world in 1973 by defeating the great Joe Frazier, only to lose the title a year later to Muhammad Ali in the famous “Rumble in the Jungle.”

A full 20 years later in 1994, Foreman became the oldest man to win the heavyweight championship at 45, defeating Michael Moorer in an epic upset.

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Foreman retired in 1997 with a 76-5 career record.

He then moved on to the next chapter in his life as a businessman, pitchman and occasional actor, becoming known to a new generation as the face of the George Foreman Grill. The simple cooking machine sold more than 100 million units and brought him more wealth than boxing.

A biographical movie based on Foreman’s life was released in 2023.

Copyright © 2026 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.



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GOP governor candidate Zach Lahn pitches Iowa-first platform at Dubuque town hall

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GOP governor candidate Zach Lahn pitches Iowa-first platform at Dubuque town hall


DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) — About 50 Iowans braved the threat of severe storms to hear from Republican candidate for governor Zach Lahn at his town hall in Dubuque Friday night.

Lahn, a farmer and businessman, said his campaign is about solving the long-term systemic issues facing Iowans.

One priority is addressing what Lahn calls a cancer crisis in Iowa, as the state has the second-highest cancer rate in the country. Solving the crisis means ensuring Iowans have access to clean, nitrate-free drinking water, working with farmers to reduce agricultural runoff.

“Iowans are just ready for something that they should be able to count on, like clean drinking water,” Lahn said. “We have ways to clean up the drinking water in Iowa that isn’t on the backs of farmers, but is working alongside with them because they’re drinking the water too, and they want to do what’s right.”

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Lahn also wants to stop Iowa’s “brain drain,” as more of Iowa’s college graduates left the state for opportunities elsewhere.

“Don’t leave! Give me some time! I’m going to fight to keep you here,” Lahn said. “I was one of these kids. I thought I had to leave the state to find something better. We have to prioritize Iowa’s incentive dollars to make sure they’re going to grow Iowa businesses that are going to be here for the long haul, so our kids have places to work.”

Running a distinct campaign feels challenging this election, as Lahn is one of five GOP candidates who want to be Iowa’s next governor, facing U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, former Department of Administrative Services Director Adam Steen, state Rep. Eddie Andrews and former state Rep. Brad Sherman.

Iowa Auditor Rob Sand is the only Democrat running for the state’s top office.

Lahn said he stands out by promising Iowa will be for Iowans, pledging to ban the use of eminent domain for private gain and tax out-of-state landowners and data centers at higher rates to lower property taxes.

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“It always goes back to follow the money, so when it comes to not being a weak-kneed Republican today, I believe the paramount piece of that is answering only to the citizens of Iowa, not to special interests to pad their bottom line, but what’s best for the people of Iowa,” Lahn said.

Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.



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