When Iowa stepped onto the baseball diamond in Normal, Illinois, its record was 19-3 and it was sitting at #49 RPI ladder with a chance to pick up about 57 RPI points and climb into the lower 40s in RPI and head into a key weekend series. A disappointing loss to ISU, an ill-timed line drive off Brecht's ankle with Iowa up 5-0 and a blown late inning lead later, Iowa falls into the low 70s on the RPI ladder. No sugar coating it. A brutal week of results.
The good news? Iowa rebounds on Sunday to avoid a sweep by Maryland and earns a relatively low-stress road win at Bradley. Those two wins moved Iowa back into the 60s in RPI.
Iowa currently sits at #65 in RPI. Other B1G teams' RPI are as follows: Indiana (20-9/5-1) is currently #28 RPI and leads the B1G. Rutgers (15-13/1-2) is currently #38 RPI and 2nd in B1G RPI ratings. Illinois (12-13/2-4) is currently #52 and 3rd in B1G RPI ratings. Michigan State (16-9/4-2) is currently #57 RPI and checks in 4th in B1G RPI. Iowa at #65 is 5th ahead of 6th place Michigan (16-12/5-1; 71 RPI) and 7th place Maryland (17-11/2-1; 72 RPI).
On the RPI "ladder," Iowa is 7 RPI points behind #64 Oregon State and 2 RPI points ahead of #66 Long Beach State. Iowa is 40 RPI points behind #59 Loyola-Marymount.
An Iowa win today would result in a gain of 88 RPI points. An Iowa loss would result in the loss of 3 RPI points.
To characterize this weekend's series as anything other than "huge" for not only Iowa's post-season chances but for the B1G conference race would be an gross understatement. Win 2 of 3 and Iowa will almost certainly be back in the 40s RPI. It will be 3-3 against two of the tougher conference teams and Iowa will still have the chance to feast on the bottom dwellers to enhance their conference record/boost them in the standings.
Here is a link to the Iowa Baseball official game notes: https://hawkeyesports.com/news/2023/04/06/hawkeyes-head-to-bloomington-for-first-b1g-road-trip/
Brecht starts today.
Morgan returns as a starter tomorrow.
Langenberg remains as the Sunday starter.
The ERA of IU's first two weekend starters isn't particularly impressive: (1) 6.63 and (2) 4.26. Iowa should be able to score some runs. I'm thinking that Iowa will rise/fall with the performance of its starting pitching along with how Voelker and Simpson pitch when called upon. I'm still surprised that Voelker hasn't earned the Saturday starting slot and I'll admit to being disappointed that he won't be handed the ball to start the game. That written, it might be a shot of confidence for Morgan and I'm crossing my fingers that he locks it in and gives a really strong 5-6 innings.
Not sure that I'll be in front of my laptop during Heller's pre-game. If anyone else wants to summarize what he has to say, that would be great.
Maybe not a "make or break" weekend but awfully damn close. Would love to see Brecht provide a statement start tonight.
Go Hawks!
The good news? Iowa rebounds on Sunday to avoid a sweep by Maryland and earns a relatively low-stress road win at Bradley. Those two wins moved Iowa back into the 60s in RPI.
Iowa currently sits at #65 in RPI. Other B1G teams' RPI are as follows: Indiana (20-9/5-1) is currently #28 RPI and leads the B1G. Rutgers (15-13/1-2) is currently #38 RPI and 2nd in B1G RPI ratings. Illinois (12-13/2-4) is currently #52 and 3rd in B1G RPI ratings. Michigan State (16-9/4-2) is currently #57 RPI and checks in 4th in B1G RPI. Iowa at #65 is 5th ahead of 6th place Michigan (16-12/5-1; 71 RPI) and 7th place Maryland (17-11/2-1; 72 RPI).
On the RPI "ladder," Iowa is 7 RPI points behind #64 Oregon State and 2 RPI points ahead of #66 Long Beach State. Iowa is 40 RPI points behind #59 Loyola-Marymount.
An Iowa win today would result in a gain of 88 RPI points. An Iowa loss would result in the loss of 3 RPI points.
To characterize this weekend's series as anything other than "huge" for not only Iowa's post-season chances but for the B1G conference race would be an gross understatement. Win 2 of 3 and Iowa will almost certainly be back in the 40s RPI. It will be 3-3 against two of the tougher conference teams and Iowa will still have the chance to feast on the bottom dwellers to enhance their conference record/boost them in the standings.
Here is a link to the Iowa Baseball official game notes: https://hawkeyesports.com/news/2023/04/06/hawkeyes-head-to-bloomington-for-first-b1g-road-trip/
Brecht starts today.
Morgan returns as a starter tomorrow.
Langenberg remains as the Sunday starter.
The ERA of IU's first two weekend starters isn't particularly impressive: (1) 6.63 and (2) 4.26. Iowa should be able to score some runs. I'm thinking that Iowa will rise/fall with the performance of its starting pitching along with how Voelker and Simpson pitch when called upon. I'm still surprised that Voelker hasn't earned the Saturday starting slot and I'll admit to being disappointed that he won't be handed the ball to start the game. That written, it might be a shot of confidence for Morgan and I'm crossing my fingers that he locks it in and gives a really strong 5-6 innings.
Not sure that I'll be in front of my laptop during Heller's pre-game. If anyone else wants to summarize what he has to say, that would be great.
Maybe not a "make or break" weekend but awfully damn close. Would love to see Brecht provide a statement start tonight.
Go Hawks!
