LHP Ryan Erickson (Brian Ray, Hawkeyesports.com)

Baumann: Iowa Keeps Pace At Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Iowa came into the weekend with a 13-2 Big Ten record, but with all the hallmarks of a paper tiger. Before Friday’s action, the Hawkeyes were 10th in the conference in runs scored, and while they were roughly equal to Illinois and Ohio State in terms of preventing runs, Iowa’s pitchers had posted–not to put too fine a point on it–cringeworthy peripheral numbers: 281 strikeouts vs. 161 walks, a ratio of 1.74 in a category in which anything under two makes you start tugging your collar. (Illinois, by comparison, started the weekend with 345 strikeouts against 86 walks,[…]