Iowa baseball head coach Rick Heller and his team met with members of the media Wednesday to discuss the Black and Gold’s slate of weekends games, as well as wrap up last weekend’s competitions.

The Hawks have a 4-1 record after winning a pair last weekend against Arkansas-Little Rock and Missouri State. The weekend rubber match against the Trojans was canceled because of poor weather, which forced the team to move the three-game series to Arkansas from Texas. 

Weather wreaks havoc once again

For the second week in a row, the Iowa baseball team has had its plans altered by Mother Nature. Originally scheduled to square off in the USA Baseball Irish-Classic in Raleigh, North Carolina, forecasts showing heavy snow in the area forced Heller to reschedule his team’s weekend plans once again.

The Hawks will now fly to the Perfect Game Baseball Complex in Emerson, Georgia, to play a three-game weekend series against Cincinnati. 

It’s a headache Heller and his team didn’t need, but one they must deal with nonetheless.

“It’s brutal, just brutal,” Heller said. “You’re on the verge of not getting the games in at all, and you have to play someone. At this point, having to take a full week off and not play at all would be catastrophic for us.”

Now the team must turn around and prepare for a different team than the two they were prepared to play against this weekend.

“The coaches get the scouting reports on every team, so we need to just try to adapt and play them to the best of our ability,” junior Calvin Matthews said. 

Finding consistency

A number of factors have all contributed to a couple of inconsistent albeit promising performances in the early going by the Black and Gold.

Pitching and hitting have, on more than one occasion, been on opposite cycles, with one having to bail the team out. 

And while it’s far too early to get worried about the outcome of a few nonconference games in February, Heller knows he can’t totally discount them, either.

“I think you really have to watch and see how the games play out,” Heller said.  “It is a situation where we haven’t played a lot, but if it’s things like mental mistakes and not being prepared that hurt us, it’s something you want to watch out for.”

Peyton focused on team game

Junior-college transfer pitcher/first basemen Tyler Peyton knocked in a walk-off single to win Iowa’s game against Missouri State last weekend.

It was a big moment for Peyton personally, but despite the chance to play hero for one game, Peyton remains focused on his team trying to get better every game.

“I never really thought of it that way,” he said. “I just kind of try to do what I can do for the team, and hopefully, it turns out well both pitching and hitting.”

It’s an attitude that Peyton has had since joining the Hawks last summer, and one he thinks is commonly shared by winning teams. 

“The only thing that matters is getting that win and finding different ways of doing it,” Peyton said. 

Follow @ryanarod on Twitter for news, updates, and analysis about the Iowa baseball team.