Baseball Opponent Preview

[KyleHuesmann]

I haven’t been doing them all season, but would anyone be interested in a preview article of the upcoming weekend opponent?

Next weekend would be Maryland and Northwestern.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Always interested, I’ve enjoyed your work so far. It would be nice to have a more consistent baseball presence on here.

 

[Hawkeye78]

I'd love to see this.

 

[KyleHuesmann]

I'd love to see this.

Hawkeye Beacon - Previewing a big series for Iowa baseball

Previewing the Opponent – Maryland/NorthwesternIowa is set to play in their second pod series of the season, with this

iowa.rivals.com

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

I'd love to see this.

@KyleHuesmann has been a welcome addition here, we’ve needed a constant baseball voice and coverage for sometime now.

 

[AuroraHawk]

I'm not sure one can overstate the importance of this weekend's games against Maryland and Northwestern.

First, given that Iowa is as of now, without question, an NCAA at-large contender, they will have a target on them. At this point, teams like Maryland and Northwestern are relegated to "spoiler" status and I'm sure that they'd like nothing better than to leave Iowa City this weekend after notching a few "W"s and concluding that they likely did some damage to Iowa's chances of receiving a NCAA bid.

Second, as noted in the article, Maryland did some heavy damage to OSU's post-season chances this past weekend. Northwestern gave Indiana everything it could handle in all 3 games. Neither the Terrapins nor the Wildcats are going to simply roll over.

Third, there isn't a player on Iowa's roster who is unaware of the fact that both d1 Baseball and Baseball America have them projected as an NCAA at-large team right now. How will Iowa handle that "status?" Do they become even more focused? Do they become overconfident? Do they play "tight?" It will certainly be interesting to monitor over the next four days.

Fourth, Indiana looms next weekend. Given that Iowa and Indiana seem to be currently in a dogfight for taking up one of the at-large bids, I'm sure that Iowa's players know the importance of next weekend's games. Can Heller keep them focused and on a game-to-game approach? Or, will the players be guilty of looking ahead a bit? Given the relatively narrow margin for error, I'd be shocked if Iowa is looking past either the Terrapins or the Wildcats but . . . I've been disappointed before when it appeared that an NCAA bid was within grasp.

Bottom line? Four home games. Against teams that Iowa "should" (and I use that word carefully) be capable of beating. I don't believe that Iowa needs to go 4-0 to stay on track for a NCAA at-large bid but I certainly believe that 2-2 does not "advance the cause." Would likely be considered a setback. I'm thinking that 3-1 is needed . . . particularly heading into such a big series against Indiana. Go 4-0 or 3-1 this weekend and Iowa can likely absorb a 1-2 weekend in Bloomington.

Kind of goes without saying that a 1-3 or 0-4 weekend would be absolutely devastating to Iowa's post-season chances.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

I'm not sure one can overstate the importance of this weekend's games against Maryland and Northwestern.

First, given that Iowa is as of now, without question, an NCAA at-large contender, they will have a target on them. At this point, teams like Maryland and Northwestern are relegated to "spoiler" status and I'm sure that they'd like nothing better than to leave Iowa City this weekend after notching a few "W"s and concluding that they likely did some damage to Iowa's chances of receiving a NCAA bid.

Second, as noted in the article, Maryland did some heavy damage to OSU's post-season chances this past weekend. Northwestern gave Indiana everything it could handle in all 3 games. Neither the Terrapins nor the Wildcats are going to simply roll over.

Third, there isn't a player on Iowa's roster who is unaware of the fact that both d1 Baseball and Baseball America have them projected as an NCAA at-large team right now. How will Iowa handle that "status?" Do they become even more focused? Do they become overconfident? Do they play "tight?" It will certainly be interesting to monitor over the next four days.

Fourth, Indiana looms next weekend. Given that Iowa and Indiana seem to be currently in a dogfight for taking up one of the at-large bids, I'm sure that Iowa's players know the importance of next weekend's games. Can Heller keep them focused and on a game-to-game approach? Or, will the players be guilty of looking ahead a bit? Given the relatively narrow margin for error, I'd be shocked if Iowa is looking past either the Terrapins or the Wildcats but . . . I've been disappointed before when it appeared that an NCAA bid was within grasp.

Bottom line? Four home games. Against teams that Iowa "should" (and I use that word carefully) be capable of beating. I don't believe that Iowa needs to go 4-0 to stay on track for a NCAA at-large bid but I certainly believe that 2-2 does not "advance the cause." Would likely be considered a setback. I'm thinking that 3-1 is needed . . . particularly heading into such a big series against Indiana. Go 4-0 or 3-1 this weekend and Iowa can likely absorb a 1-2 weekend in Bloomington.

Kind of goes without saying that a 1-3 or 0-4 weekend would be absolutely devastating to Iowa's post-season chances.

3-1 is my goal with the loss coming against Maryland, it’s a tough ask to go 4-0 in a weekend. I’d feel much better had Iowa won one of the L’s against Purdue or Rutgers.

 

[AuroraHawk]

Very nice win last night. Giant stones with back-to-back squeeze bunts.