Iowa baseball team ready for Big Ten Conference tournamnt

IOWA CITY — A final chance to change the narrative of this University of Iowa baseball season.

Win this week’s Big Ten Conference baseball tournament in Omaha, Neb., and the Hawkeyes qualify for an NCAA regional. All will be well.

Don’t win this week’s Big Ten Conference baseball tournament, and 2024 unquestionably will be considered disappointing. Underachieving and disappointing.

“Everyone needs to know the facts,” said Iowa Coach Rick Heller on Monday morning. “If we want to play in a regional, we have to win this tournament. If you attack that from a scared, fearful, failure standpoint, you are doomed.

“But there (needs to be) a feeling of your backs are against the wall, and I’m going to fight with everything I have with zero fear of failure. I’m going to fight for all the right reasons. I’m going to fight for my teammates, fight for the program.”

Iowa (31-21) plays Michigan (30-26) in a first-round game Wednesday afternoon at 2 at Charles Schwab Field. The teams tied for fourth place in the conference in the regular season, with identical 14-10 records.

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Michigan won two of the three regular-season games between the clubs in Iowa City. Iowa’s win was 3-2 in 10 innings.

“I think what we’ve tried to do is start attacking it about three weeks ago,” Heller said. “As an example, before the Illinois series (two weeks ago) it was OK, here’s a trial run for us. For us to have any chance to win the Big Ten regular season, we have to sweep. Well, we didn’t do that, we only won one game. This past weekend in Des Moines (against Florida International), we were in an environment similar to what we’re going to be in at Omaha. Let’s use this as a trial run with our backs against the wall. Well, we didn’t get it done there. We won two out of three.

“But the thing that I saw happening on Friday and Saturday was what I hoped would happen.”

That was two blowout victories via 10-run rule in seven innings.

“I’m hopeful, and I have a good feeling that we might be able to carry that over to Omaha,” Heller said.

This was the most anticipated Iowa baseball season in recent memory considering the amount and quality of the returning players. Those players talked openly about not just getting to the NCAA tournament but a super regional and the College World Series.

But things just have not gone as planned. The starting pitching has never seemed to fire on the same weekend, the bullpen was leaky, especially early, and injuries have hindered the lineup.

Outfielders Sam Petersen and Kyle Huckstorf are done for the rest of this season, as an example. It seems to have been one thing after another for the Hawkeyes.

But ace Brody Brecht, a very possible first-round MLB draft pick, has returned to form the past month. Lefty sophomore Cade Obermueller has been good as well. Brecht will get the ball against Michigan.

If Iowa wins Wednesday’s game, it would face the winner of Tuesday night’s first-rounder between top-seeded Illinois and No. 8-seed Penn State. Heller knows it’s imperative his club wins its first two games to have a realistic shot at this tournament.

“As you guys know, it’s the first two,” he said. “From a pitching standpoint, from a depth standpoint, can it be done (without winning the first two games)? Yes, it can be done. But in our state, with Petersen out and Huckstorf out and all the other stuff, we need to come into it with the intent to run the table.

“That’s how we’re going to attack it. If you lose one of the first two games with Brody and Cade on the mound, that puts you in a really tough spot to win it. It’s not impossible, but it’s hard under the best conditions, with everybody healthy and super deep to make it back and win it.”

Indiana (third seed) and Purdue (sixth seed) open the tournament at 10 a.m. Tuesday, then it’s the 2-7 game between Nebraska and Ohio State. The one-off championship game is Saturday at 2 p.m.

Comments: jeff.johnson@thegazette.com