The baseball Hawkeyes (10-12, 2-1 Big Ten) will take their hot bats, and coats, to Minnesota today through April 3 to renew a rivalry with the Gophers (13-9, 0-0) that dates to 1892.

The Gophers are riding a three-game winning streak that includes two victories over Missouri State, which swept the Hawkeyes earlier this spring.

“I had a feeling they were going to have a really good year based on what I saw last year and what they had returning,” Iowa head coach Rick Heller said. “In a year where a large portion of the league turned over, the Gophers had a lot of good players coming back.”

The Gophers, who have seven players in their lineup hitting above .300, are led by a trio that ranks in the top eight in the Big Ten. Junior catcher Austin Athmann has clipped at a .412 average with 5 home runs, 19 RBIs, and 14 runs. Freshman shortstop Terrin Vavra has a .403 average with 14 RBIs, and junior outfielder Matt Fiedler is hitting .389 with 20 runs scored.

Sophomore C.J. Eldred will have the task of slowing down the Gopher bats this evening.

“They’re a team that’s matured,” he said. “They were pretty young these last couple years. It sounds like they’re hitting the crap out of the ball. It’s going to be a good challenge for us.”

The Hawkeyes are coming off a midweek game against Northern Illinois in which they exploded for 12 runs, including four hits that left the yard.

Freshman Robert Neustrom, one of four Hawkeyes to homer on Tuesday, was recently named Big Ten Freshman of the Week. The Sioux City native has worked his average up to .370 — tops on the team — and worked his way up the lineup.

Fellow freshman Zach Daniels has also been productive for the Hawkeyes but in a not-so-obvious way.

Daniels is only batting .143, but he does a lot of things well, his head coach said.

“Zach Daniels has had about as much bad luck as a hitter could,” Heller said. “If you look at our statistics, we focus a lot on quality at-bats … Daniels has the most quality at-bats on the team; he just doesn’t have a lot to show from it from an average standpoint.”

The Hawkeyes have played in cold weather this year, (the temperature was in the 40s during their Easter game against Maryland) but may have to deal with even colder temperatures in Minneapolis this weekend — the forecast calls for strong winds and temperatures in the high 30s.

“It’s as much mental as anything,” senior Nick Roscetti said. “You just have to layer up and make sure you have your hot hands with you and have your hands in your pocket so you can grip the ball.”

As cold as the air may be, the series between the Gophers and Hawkeyes should have plenty of fire.