It’s a winners’ bracket date for the Iowa Hawkeyes Saturday night versus the host and No. 14 seed Indiana State Sycamores from Bob Warn Field in Terre Haute, Indiana.
After hanging on for a thrilling 5-4 tournament-opening win over North Carolina, the Hawks would be one victory away from advancing to the super regionals if they can top Indiana State tonight.
There are plenty of storylines in this one, but the big one coming in is the return of Iowa head baseball coach Rick Heller to where he coached before.
Of course, these two teams opened the season in the Snowbird Baseball Classic in Port Charlotte, Florida on Feb. 17.
Kyle Huckstorf played the role of hero that day, belting a walk-off grand slam to hand the Hawkeyes a 6-2 win over Indiana State. Heller knew then Iowa had beaten a very good team.
“Couldn’t ask for more it was a great baseball game between two really good teams. Two really good arms. Anytime you play in a situation like that where every pitch matters, whether its game one or game fifty, and you see your guys hang in there and compete and get out of some tough jams it makes you proud. Really proud of our guys,” Heller said after the season-opening win.
Junior right-hander Ty Langenberg started versus ISU to open the season, throwing five innings and allowing two earned runs. Then, redshirt senior Jared Simpson and redshirt junior Will Christophersen combined for six shutout innings to secure the win.
Little did any of us know a rematch would be in store almost four months later with much higher stakes. The winner moves oh-so-close to the Super Regionals, while the loser would have to take the long way forward with three more wins to collect in order to advance to the next round.
Here’s where and how Hawkeye fans can tune into the big game tonight. Plus, several notes on the matchup.