College Crosscheck: 2022 Week Five

This week College Crosscheck took me to Iowa City to catch the Red Raiders and the Hawkeyes in the cool and cozy confines of Duane Banks Stadium. With a Saturday series opening game time temperature of 50 that felt more like mid-30s in the shade, the three hour and 17-minute ballgame left me chilled to the bone for a few hours afterwards. In a funeral-quiet atmosphere, Texas Tech scored early and often while coasting to a 11-3 win. Red Raider catcher Cole Stilwell did the most damage, crushing a double to left field on a hanging slider his second at-bat, then smashing a two-run home run to left in the fourth inning. He would later add a Sac Fly to center field in the sixth for his third RBI of the game.

Game Two on Sunday was warmer in the stands and a well-played game on the field, highlighted by a standout performance from two Hawkeye right-handers, Ty Langenberg and Dylan Nedved. The Red Raiders jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a 2nd inning home run by Ty Coleman, but Iowa tied it in the 3rd and built a 5-1 lead on an Andy Nelson home run in the 6th before locking down a 6-3 victory.

The main attraction for the dozens of scouts in attendance was a premier pitching matchup of Top 100 prospects Adam Mazur (Iowa) and Brandon Birdsell (Texas Tech). As an added bonus, projected first rounder Jace Jung (Texas Tech) was hitting in the 3-hole and ready to swing it for Tech.

With an unorthodox Mickey Tettleton layback of the barrel Jung doesn’t hit conventionally. Instead of the more traditional setup...