Iowa Cruises to 2017 Big Ten Baseball Championship over Northwestern

The Iowa Hawkeyes won their first Big Ten baseball tournament title Sunday, beating the Northwestern Wildcats 13-4 in Bloomington, Indiana.

Big Ten Network shared a replay of the game's final out and the Hawkeyes' celebration:

The bulk of Iowa's offense came in a first inning in which it chased Northwestern starting pitcher Matt Gannon out of the game after he recorded just two outs.

Gannon balked home the first run of the game, and Tyler Cropley doubled the Hawkeyes' lead with a sacrifice fly. Gannon then made way for Tyler Lass, who allowed an RBI double and let Grant Judkins come home on a wild pitch.

Ben Norman capped off the Iowa outburst with an RBI single, making it a 5-0 game. The Hawkeyes shared a replay of the hit:

Iowa added another run in the bottom of the fifth, and Jake Adams sparked a four-run seventh with a two-run blast to left-center field. The Associated Press' Eric Olson noted how Adams has terrorized Northwestern pitching this season:

The junior first baseman hit another homer in the eighth, bringing his season total to 27 and tying him with Morehead State's Niko Hulsizer for the overall lead in Division I. Big Ten Network provided a second look at the home run:

While the Hawkeyes offense stole the show, Drake Robison's performance on the mound shouldn't be overlooked. The senior right-hander allowed one earned run on four hits in seven innings.

With the team playing its fifth game in four days, Iowa's pitching has been taxed in the Big Ten tournament. Robison took a lot of pressure off the bullpen by pitching deep into Sunday's game and stifling Northwestern's lineup.

Go Iowa Awesome reacted to Robison's day:

Having secured the Big Ten title, Iowa coach Rick Heller can begin turning his team's focus to the NCAA tournament. It's just the second time since 1990 the Hawkeyes have earned a tourney berth and continues an impressive turnaround for a team that was 30-26 (12-12, Big Ten) a year ago.

Iowa will learn where it's headed for the tournament regional Monday when the bracket is revealed.

Of course, simply reaching the conference title game was a significant accomplishment for Northwestern, which falls to 27-30 overall for the season.

The Wildcats showed solid improvement after winning 15 games in 2016. In his second year at the school, coach Spencer Allen has the program headed in the right direction.