Marcus Morgan Hurls Hawkeyes to Win

Iowa Sophomore Right-Hander No-Hits MSU for 6 Innings Friday

Iowa pitcher Marcus Morgan talks with a teammate in the dugout  during a game against Cornell on March 2, 2022 at Banks Field in Iowa City, Iowa. (Rob Howe/HawkeyeNation.com)

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Everything about Iowa’s 9-0 win over Michigan State on Friday, left fielder Sam Petersen said, was because of pitcher Marcus Morgan.

Morgan threw six no-hit innings after moving into the Friday starter’s role, combining with Jared Simpson on a three-hit shutout, and the Hawkeyes backed that up with 11 hits and a lot of glove work to take the first game of a critical three-game Big Ten series at Duane Banks Field.

“An all-around team effort today,” Morgan said, but Petersen knew who deserved all the credit.

The offense scoring five runs in the first four innings?

“I’ll keep going back to Marcus setting the tone,” said Petersen, who went 4-for-4. “When a pitcher does something like that early, and battles, it’s really easy to hit. We were all just waiting to hit.”

The defense that turned two double plays, and featured a leaping catch by Petersen at the wall?

“I’ll bring it back to Marcus again,” Petersen said. “You just stay dialed in when he pitches like that. You just know he’s competing, so you want to do something good for him. Hot night, getting us off our feet, you want to do something for him. He competed his ass off, and you want to do the same for him.”

Morgan walked four and allowed the lead-off hitter to reach base in the first four innings, but his navigation through an offense that leads the Big Ten in batting average was impressive work.

“You always would say you wish it was a little cleaner, that he wouldn’t put lead-off guys on,” coach Rick Heller said. “But he had great stuff tonight.”

“Even though the scoreboard may look good, there’s a lot of things that can be cleaned up,” Morgan said. “Credit to them, they barrelled a couple of balls. But it was guys making plays.”

Morgan retired the last nine hitters he faced after pitching out of the stretch after his early struggles. He threw 96 pitches, 52 for strikes.

“Once I settled in, started grooving a little bit more, the confidence only built from there,” Morgan said. “I had guys making plays behind me all day. I was very confident just throwing it over the dish.”

Morgan enjoyed getting the Friday start, but kept the same routine.

“Not much changes, same mindset,” he said. “You have to make adjustments all year. I’ve got to compete every time I’m out there. It’s fun getting to the Friday spot. Things can still change. I’m just going to roll with whatever’s going.

“It’s any other day. Whether I’m pitching Friday, Saturday or Sunday, I’ve got to have the same approach, same mentality.”

Morgan had six strikeouts.

“It was a great start,” Heller said. “He had really good stuff. Fastball was good. Cutter, slider, and change were all good after he got things established in the first inning. He settled in and didn’t give up a hit.”

“I don’t think there are too many guys out there with my arsenal,” Morgan said. “If I’m crispy and throwing it over the dish, I’m going to make it hard on them.”

Petersen got Iowa’s scoring going with a solo home run in the second inning. Cade Moss added a run-scoring single later in the inning for a 2-0 lead.

Kyle Huckstorf raced home on a double steal in the third inning to push the lead to 3-0, then Brayden Frazier’s two-run home run in the fourth put the Hawkeyes in command.

Heller would have liked to have stuck with Morgan longer. But the Hawkeyes are facing a short week — next week’s series at Northwestern starts on Thursday, and Iowa could have a Tuesday game the following week at the Big Ten Tournament.

“The right move was to get him out, and hopefully get him as much rest as possible,” Heller said.

Simpson closed the game by allowing three singles, and conserving Iowa’s bullpen for the rest of the series.

It also conserved the wear and tear on Heller’s left knee that was operated on Monday. Heller coached third base the entire game, and was glad he didn’t have to make an in-game pitching change.

“I certainly didn’t want to,” he said, laughing.