With 18 nonconference games under its belt, the Hawkeye baseball team will finally begin Big Ten competition this weekend.
Beginning today, the Hawks will welcome Maryland to Banks Field for a three-game series to kick off the conference schedule. First pitch for today’s opener is set for 3:05 p.m. Saturday’s action is scheduled for 2:05 p.m., and the series finale on March 27 will start at 12:05 p.m.
Iowa (7-11) brings momentum in to the weekend following a dramatic walk-off victory over Bradley on Tuesday night courtesy of senior shortstop Nick Roscetti. The Terrapins (10-10) come to Iowa City riding a three-game winning streak.
On the hill Friday for the Hawks will be sophomore righty C.J. Eldred (1-2, 2.43 ERA) and senior righty Calvin Mathews on March 27 (0-1, 4.82 ERA). Saturday’s starter has yet to be announced.
Iowa head coach Rick Heller said after Tuesday’s game that the team’s success at the plate could dictate how the conference season goes for the Hawkeyes.
“We’ve had some guys offensively that have really stepped up,” Heller said. “Joel Booker and Nick Roscetti have played awesome in this first part of the season.”
There’s certainly no doubt about that. So far in 2016, senior outfielder Booker is hitting .382, and Roscetti leads the team at .405. The duo went a combined 6-for-9 with a double, triple, 2 runs, and 4 RBIs against Bradley.
Roscetti said that the team’s fighting spirit, which it showed off against the Braves after being down 5-1 at one point, could carry the team through conference play.
“We have to have the mentality to fight back,” he said. “We have to take it inning by inning. We just have to win each of nine innings. That was our mindset when we were down [to Bradley], and it paid off.”
After the team’s best season in 25 years in 2015, expectations were high for the 2016 campaign. With that said, a losing record in nonconference play isn’t what the team expected.
But Tyler Peyton, a senior right-hander and first baseman, believes that the record is deceiving. The nonconference schedule for the Hawks has been filled with tough competition.
So the team doesn’t care that the Terrapins were picked to finish second in the conference in the preseason coaches’ poll. Peyton and his teammates are no strangers to good teams.
“We’ve just had some tough unlucky breaks this year,” Peyton said. “We’ve been playing some really great competition. We just have to stick with the approach, just play our game, and see what the outcome is after nine innings are over.”
Heller agreed with the senior, saying the team has run into quite a few hot squads so far this season.
The losses could be viewed as negatives, sure. However, Heller knows that the bumpy nonconference schedule has only made his team stronger for a Big Ten title run.
