After its stinging 4-0 loss to the Maryland Terrapins in the 2023 Big Ten Tournament’s championship game, Iowa head baseball coach Rick Heller pointed out some of the positives to On3’s Kyle Huesmann of Hawkeye Report.
“The good thing about this is that it’s not a goodbye this year and that’s the hard part when you lose a game like this if you’re not going. Then, it’s goodbye to a lot of the guys who won’t be coming back and it’s a really sad emotional trip home. It’s not going to be a very fun bus ride home, but when the sun comes up tomorrow it’s going to be gone and we’ll meet and gather and start preparing as soon as we know where we’re going.
“It’ll be a happy day and a reward for an incredible season for a bunch of guys who brought it every single day from day one and have overcome so much here in the last 12-14 games. I believe that this team can be back here (in Omaha) in a couple of weeks if we play like we’re capable of,” Heller said.
Iowa (42-14, 15-8 Big Ten) has already had a historic season. The Hawkeyes’ 42 wins trails only the 1981 team’s 44 wins for the most in school history. This group also joined the 1977, 1981, 1985 and 2015 squads as Iowa baseball teams that eclipsed the 40-win mark.
The Hawkeyes are a lock for an at-large bid into the 2023 NCAA Tournament and the world will find out the Hawks’ fate tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN2. Fans can also stream the bracket reveal on WatchESPN.
The sixteen regional hosts were announced this evening: Auburn, LSU, Virginia, Clemson, South Carolina, Coastal Carolina, Miami, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Oklahoma State, Indiana State, Alabama, and Wake Forest.
While the championship game against Maryland didn’t go the Hawkeyes’ way, fans still took to social media to celebrate a brilliant Big Ten Tournament run one final time. Here’s some of the sensational still photos from the 2023 Big Ten Championship game that was.