Still riding high from its momentous walk-off series win over No. 7 Michigan, Iowa baseball has its sights set on another impressive opponent heading for Banks Field: Missouri.
In what is likely the best conference in college baseball, Missouri has been nothing but solid. Despite not coming from deep in the South, the Tigers have found ways to put the pieces together to form a decent baseball club.
Missouri enters the game with a 29-15 record, but that mark slips to 9-12 in conference play. Still, those numbers are nothing to scoff at.
The Tigers are in the same conference division as perennial bluebloods Florida, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky. D1 baseball ranks the Gators No. 1 in the country, while Kentucky sits at No. 14, and the Commodores come in at No. 23.
Missouri has managed to be competitive against some of those top teams in the SEC. The Tigers took a series from No. 22 Auburn on April 1, 2-1, and despite being swept by Florida, bounced back to take two games over Vanderbilt. They nearly won a series against Kentucky as well, but lost by 1 in the series’ rubber match on Sunday.
Missouri is definitely a step up from some of the Division-3 competition Iowa faced earlier in midweek games, but the Hawkeyes are not changing their approach.
“We’re going to do everything we can to win [Tuesday’s] game, then worry about the next game,” Iowa head coach Rick Heller said. “That’s kind of how we’ve always approached it; don’t worry about the next day. You’ve got to find a way to take care of your business when you’re there.”
Sophomore outfielder Kameron Misner, who was a freshman All-American in 2017, leads Missouri’s production at the plate.
Misner swings the bat well, slashing .360/.497/.576, which leads the team in all three categories. He has also knocked in 25 runs and leads the team with 9 doubles and 3 triples.
Chad McDaniel, Trey Harris, and Brian Sharp all enter the game with averages above .300 as well.
Sharp will also take the mound for the Tigers. The junior right-hander is currently 4-0 with a 2.16 ERA, allowing 21 hits in 25 innings while striking out 26 opposing batters.
Iowa will send usual midweek starter Trenton Wallace to the mound. Wallace has a 4.29 ERA through 21 innings of work. He has given up 22 hits and struck out 24 in his time on the bump.
In Sunday’s win over the Wolverines, starter Cole McDonald only went 3.2 innings because of an injury. Nick Nelson then stepped in to pitch 1.1, and Zach Daniels followed with 4 innings, only giving up 2 hits and no runs. Daniels usually pitches shorter stints, but his stamina helped Iowa keep its bullpen fresh for these midweek games.
“You hate to think ahead, but as a coach, you’re always thinking,” Heller said. “That’s exactly what I was thinking when Cole was struggling those first couple innings — worst possible day for this to happen, if we have to burn Trenton or Jack [Dreyer] [Sunday] when we have those two midweek games.”
The momentum the Hawkeyes have gained following the series against the Wolverines is extremely important heading into the double midweek.
After battling Missouri, Iowa will face Western Illinois on Wednesday. The gauntlet then continues into the weekend when No. 17 Oklahoma State travels to Banks Field.
But the Hawkeyes have continued to prove they can handle adversity.