Frost helps Hawks contend

DES MOINES — Time was running out on the Iowa Hawkeyes baseball team late Sunday afternoon — literally because of an agreed-upon time limit for Oregon State’s travel arrangements — and metaphorically for Iowa’s season in terms of an NCAA tournament berth.

The No. 8-ranked Beavers had already swept the first two games of the non-conference series on Friday and Saturday at Principal Park, home of the Iowa Cubs. The teams agreed to move up Sunday’s start time to 12:05 p.m. to accommodate Oregon State’s departure flight schedule, and set a policy of no new inning starting after 3:35 p.m.

It was a topsy-turvey game down the stretch after Iowa rode five no-hit shutout innings by emergency starting pitcher Ben DeTaeve to take an early 3-0 lead. Oregon State grabbed the lead on a grand slam home run in a five-run sixth to jump in front, 5-3.

Iowa fought back into a 5-5 tie to force extra innings, as the time limit loomed.

Trailing 6-5 in the bottom of the 10th inning, just minutes before the 3:35 p.m. time limit, Iowa tied it again on a solo home run by third baseman Jaixen Frost of Mount Ayr. The redshirt freshman, who entered the game in the eighth inning in place of starter Kooper Schulte, jumped on an 0-1 slider and sent it onto the suites in left field.

“I took a heater for a strike the first pitch,” Frost recalled. “The second one was an off-speed pitch. He threw me a slider and I was able to pick up the spin early. It was headed for my hip and I knew it would break over the middle. I just told myself to put my best swing on it. When I hit it I said please stay high enough to get out of here! When I watched the left fielder kind of jog toward it, that was kind of a give that it was gone.”

Frost, supported by numerous Ringgold County friends and family members all weekend, pointed toward his parents behind the Iowa dugout after rounding third base. It was a big team celebration, because the blast could prove to be a big moment for this resurgent Iowa baseball team.

NCAA contention

Despite leading the Big Ten by one game over UCLA and two games over Oregon going into this weekend’s final series at home against the Ducks, Iowa needed to avoid being swept by Oregon State to maintain an RPI ranking worthy of an NCAA bid.

With the tie, Iowa stands at 32-17-1 overall. The RPI awards a half-points for ties, so the Hawkeyes bump up a couple of spots to 66th. On Tuesday, Iowa baseball was listed as one of the “last four in” in the latest D1Baseball Field of 64 projection.

Iowa could automatically qualify as the Big Ten tournament champion from action beginning May 20 in Omaha. But, the Hawkeyes also hope to assemble a worthy resume for an at-large bid should the championship quest fall short. The Hawks are looking to clinch their first Big Ten regular season title since 1990.

Frost’s homer could prove to be one of the decisive factors in changing a loss to a tie in the calculations.

“Obviously you want to come out on top,” Frost said. “But, it’s not a loss. Getting the win would have definitely helped our circumstances for the RPI, but at the end of the day we battled and did what we could. That’s what we are, a gritty team that finds a way to get back in games when we’re down. We know that whoever is on the field at a given time will do the job.”

Former opponents

Frost has an interesting past encounter with the player he’s sharing the third base position with during his redshirt freshman season. Schulte, a transfer from Southeastern Community College, was on the New London team that topped Frost’s Mount Ayr squad for a 2021 state tournament berth in a 4-2 substate win.

Both Frost and Schulte were the starting shortstops for their team that night, and Schulte closed out the game on the mound for the save.

“When he joined us we started talking and we realized we played each other in that game to go to state,” Frost said. “We’re kind of in a rotation. He’s a very good defender with a good arm. Kooper smashes the lefties and I might see more opportunities against the righties. It’s all about who has the hot hand at the moment after they analyze all of the data in the analytics.”

Going into the series, Frost was batting .298 with two runs, eight doubles and 22 RBIs, showing a .465 slugging average. He had an .887 fielding average in 53 chances including 30 assists and four double plays.

Iowa, UCLA and Oregon all have chances to earn at least a share of the regular season title, with the Hawkeyes in the most favorable position holding first place by one game. Oregon has an RPI of 19, so success in the series that began Thursday could kick-start a run for an NCAA berth.

Fan support

After Sunday’s game, Jaixen posed for a picture with his mother Jolene on Mother’s Day, as she clutched a rose given to the mothers by team members before the game. He was swarmed for autograph requests by young fans, many wearing gold Hawkeye shirts adorned with Frost’s name and jersey number (12). Frost said he heard support from the third base seating area throughout the weekend series.

“It was amazing,” Frost said. “I know that a lot of people can’t make that trip to Iowa City, but having the games at Principal Park, I knew it would be like home and I’d see a lot of familiar faces. When I would come out of the dugout, I’d hear my number and name called out. I’d try to give a wave. In that crowd I couldn’t pick out exactly who it was. But when I came around third after the home run, I knew where my parents were sitting and I pointed to them.”

Frost said he improved as a player by playing 82 games in summer collegiate ball as a member of the St. Cloud Rox. He said his host mom, Deanna Butcher, provided a place to eat and sleep and he just concentrated on playing baseball.

“You’re playing with guys from D-1 colleges and traveling by bus to games in Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota,” Frost said. “I played in Canada on my birthday, July 4. You get better from just playing every day against good competition. I think we had seven days off all summer.”

And now, Frost and his Hawkeye teammates are playing for a Big Ten title. This series at Duane Banks Field will be the biggest home series in 35 years. All three games were scheduled for national television, starting with Thursday evening’s game on FS1. The Big Ten Network will carry both the Friday game at 6 p.m. and the Sunday game at 12 p.m.

“It’s a neat feeling to be a part of it,” Frost said. “It’s a little kid’s dream to be playing for something like a Big Ten championship.”