Principal Park power display

DES MOINES — The University of Iowa baseball team went into this week’s Big Ten Tournament with a surge of momentum from a weekend sweep of conference No. 5 seed Purdue at Principal Park.

Third baseman Jaixen Frost of Tingley, an athletic star at Mount Ayr High School, was a big part of the team’s offensive explosion against the Boilermakers. Frost improved his batting average from .226 to .245 in the three games with his own hot streak that included his fifth home run on Friday night. He was named offensive player of the game by the Iowa Radio Network after going 3-for-5 with a single, double and home run with four RBIs.

Iowa won three straight games at the home of the Class AAA Iowa Cubs, starting with comeback wins of 10-7 and 14-5 on Thursday and Friday nights, capped by a 15-9 triumph Saturday afternoon.

Record production

The series marked the most hits in a weekend (52) under coach Rick Heller, surpassing the previous mark of 50 in 2021. Iowa also scored a season-high 39 runs in the series, surpassing the mark of 31 set against Penn State and at the MLB Classic.

Frost was in a groove offensively and defensively in the three-game set. On Thursday he went 3-for-5 with two doubles and three runs scored. He followed Friday’s big night at the plate with a 1-for-4 day Saturday with a walk and two runs scored.

“It feels pretty good,” Frost said after Friday’s three-hit performance, including a towering home run to left field. “It was a fun series, especially being in front of the home crowd like that. I think the entire town of Mount Ayr was there. I’d hear things from guys that made me smile, trying to guess who said it.”

Frost, son of Josh Heidtman and Jolene Frost, is a redshirt sophomore on the Hawkeye squad, eligible for two more seasons. He’s on track to finish his bachelor’s degree next year in sports management and recreation, with plans to take graduate classes during his final season. That is, unless he’s taken in the professional draft before then.

“Here and there I’ll hear from teams,” Frost said. “I’ve done some questionnaires and teams have reached out, or I talk with a scout and I’ve been told good things. But not a ton of that stuff yet.”

Tourney outlook

The Hawkeyes didn’t have the regular season they wanted, but the sweep of Purdue lifted their conference record to 15-15. Iowa earned the home team designation in the No. 8 vs. No. 9 seeds matchup in Tuesday’s opening round at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha. (That game began after the production deadline for this edition.) Overall, the Hawks improved to 32-21 against Purdue.

Frost is also part of an NCAA Division I top-five defense (.985) by Iowa, which has helped in the late-season surge along with more efficiency on the mound. Walks and early deficits hampered Iowa early in the season, but over the weekend reliever Justin Hackett of Winterset was part of a victorious pitching staff on three straight days. Hackett allowed one earned run with three strikeouts in two innings Thursday night.

“We probably have to win the tournament to make it to a regional,” Frost acknowledged. “When we all click on the same cylinders we are one of the top teams in the Big Ten, I truly believe that. Our defensive ranking is a shout-out to coach Heller. All of those funky drills you hate doing in the cold in those early practices, it shows in the stats.”

The tournament bracket has the winner of Tuesday’s game facing the winner of No. 5 seed Purdue vs. No. 12 seed Michigan State on Wednesday, for the right to move into the single-elimination bracket against No. 4 seed USC. Tuesday’s loser is sent to the double-elimination consolation bracket against the loser of of Purdue-Michigan State.

Attendance for the three-game series in Principal Park was 10,035. Many of them were from Ringgold County, stationed near third base and the Hawkeyes’ third-base dugout. Late in Friday’s game, when fans started a widespread chant, “Let’s Go Hawks!”, Frost said it was a “pinch-me” moment as he was realizing a boyhood dream.

“Being a Hawkeye fan as a kid, dreaming about that situation while playing in the back yard, it gives you chills when you realize this is real life,” said Frost, who was mobbed by young fans for autographs near the players’ exit behind the stadium. He stayed to sign all the requests he could, while also visiting with family and friends.

Home-grown lineup

Frost said having so many Iowans in the lineup made the Hawkeye sweep in the capital city even more rewarding. In Friday’s game, for example, shortstop Kooper Schulte of New London was once a substate final opponent of Frost and Mount Ayr. The lineup also includes second baseman Gable Mitchell of Iowa City (grandson of wrestling legend Dan and Kathy Gable), first baseman Caleb Wulf of North Liberty, left fielder Jaylen Ziegler of Urbandale sharing the spot with Kellen Strohmeyer of Dubuque Hempstead, center fielder Miles Risley of Johnston and right fielder Ben Swalis of Clear Creek-Amana. Swalis has shared the third base position with Frost at times this season, and they are close friends.

“It’s super neat to have so many guys from Iowa on the team,” Frost said. “We grew up playing against each other, or with each other in club ball. We bond from being Iowans, battling for the same thing. You’re representing your state.”

Frost went out of state the past two summers, however, honing his skills with the St. Cloud Rox summer collegiate team. He said his host mother, Deanna Butcher, is like a second mother in helping with his laundry and meals while he focused on playing baseball games every night.

“Baseball is a sport where the more live pitching, the more reps on the field, the better for you as a player,” Frost said. “There are a lot of D1 guys in that league, from places like Georgia, Clemson and LSU. It’s great competition every night.”

This week, Frost’s goal is to rise to the top of Big Ten competition and earn an NCAA regional berth.

“Last weekend gave us a lot of momentum and now we just need to build on that,” he said.