The Iowa baseball team will open its season this weekend at the Big East-Big Ten Challenge in Tampa, Fla. The Hawkeyes will face West Virginia this morning, Pittsburgh on Saturday evening, and Seton Hall on Feb. 20.

Iowa lost to West Virginia in last year’s Challenge. The Mountaineers scored four runs in the seventh inning to pull away for a 9-5 win. The Hawkeyes have never played Pittsburgh or Seton Hall.

The Black and Gold return 21 members of its 2010 Big Ten Tournament runner-up squad, including 10 pitchers and seven starters. The team was picked to finish fifth in the conference this year by Big Ten coaches.

Iowa has been practicing in the Bubble since Jan. 28, and the Hawkeyes are itching to get outside and begin the year.

“I’m very excited,” coach Jack Dahm said at the team’s media day on Feb. 10. “They’re getting to the point where we need to get outside. We can beat anybody in the country in the Bubble, but these games wouldn’t count … We need to get outside and see where we’re at.”

— by Seth Roberts