September 22 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Omaha Storm Chasers

September 22, 2022 – International League (IL) – Iowa Cubs News Release

IOWA CUBS (66-77) @ OMAHA STORM CHASERS (69-74)

Thursday – 6:35 PM – Werner Park – Papillion, NE

RHP Cayne Ueckert (3-1, 8.10) vs. LHP Austin Cox (7-7, 4.19)

TONIGHT’S GAME: The I-Cubs and Storm Chasers are set to play game three of their five-game series tonight, with Cayne Ueckert getting the nod for the I-Cubs. The righty is set to make his first career professional start in his 38th game for Iowa. Through his first 37 games, Ueckert is 3-1 with an 8.10 ERA, allowing 42 earned runs on 52 hits and 48 walks in his 46.2 innings pitched. He has struck out 58 batters over that span, with opponents hitting .281 against him. On the other side, Austin Cox will toe the rubber for the Storm Chasers tonight, set to pitch in his 28th game with Omaha and make his 25th start. In his first 27 games, the southpaw is 7-7 with a 4.19 ERA, allowing 63 earned runs on 152 hits and 48 walks while striking out 89 batters. Opponents are hitting .280 against him in his 135.1 innings, while Iowa is hitting .240 as a team against him in 13.0 innings. He is 1-0 with a 4.15 ERA in two starts against Iowa, allowing six earned runs on 12 hits and three walks while striking out eight.

WALK THIS WAY: Catcher John Hicks had his six-game hitting streak snapped yesterday, meaning no player can tie Dixon Machado’s streak of 14 straight games with a hit set earlier this year. Hicks streak got snapped because he went 0-for-1 while taking four walks out of the cleanup spot for Iowa. He is the first player for Iowa to take four walks in a single game this year and the first since Alfonso Rivas took four walks on July 24 last year against Columbus. It is also the first time Hicks has ever taken four walks in a single game in his entire career. The catcher had taken more than two just once, when he walked three times back on July 20, 2013, against the Mississippi Braves. The most walks in a single game Iowa has had this year was three before yesterday’s game, most recently done when Jackson Frazier walked three times against Memphis on May 26. Hicks was not the only player walking for Iowa, as the team combined to take a season-high 11 walks, surpassing their previous high of nine walks done three times this year, most recently in game one of the current series against the Storm Chasers. With their 20 walks through the first two games of this series, Iowa is now just nine free passes away from tying their season-high 29…