You have room for two more, Omaha? Big Ten baseball coaches want to make the conference tournament a 10-team affair.
Can we start this year?
That wouldn’t guarantee a spot for the local team, Nebraska, which currently sits in 11th place in the 13-team Big Ten. But, hey, it gets NU closer.
Images of TD Ameritrade Park without the Huskers and about 20,000 of their closest friends seem about as gloomy as an April weather forecast.
But look who might ride to the rescue.
Imagine a week with Iowa baseball fans setting up shop in downtown Omaha and the eateries and bars around TD Ameritrade.
Imagine those fans gazing around and saying, “I wonder what this would be like during the College World Series.”
Crazy? About 20 years ago, so was the idea of Nebraska showing up in June.
Two years ago, in the second Big Ten tournament in Omaha, Iowa made it to the championship game against Ohio State. The ballpark was filled with black and gold.
Unless Husker fans want to see that again — and sell their tickets to their neighborhood Hawkeye fan — they need their team to rally. Now.
Which brings us to this cozy little three-game series at Haymarket Park starting today.
The defending Big Ten champion Huskers have been reeling for most of this lost season. At 15-16 overall, an NCAA regional is not part of any conversation. A 2-6 record with two losses at Michigan State caused big red faces.
Pitchers are hurt, hitters sometimes hit and there have been holes in their mitts.
But there are five Big Ten series remaining — 15 games, weather permitting — including three home series.
Symbolically, a series win over Iowa could transform the comeback.
Yes, Iowa.
After losing to the Buckeyes in the 2016 Big Ten tourney final, the Haweyes took the tournament crown last year. They went to an NCAA regional — their second since 2015 — and made some noise.
It’s an Iowa program that is feeling it. There’s an expectation of making NCAA regionals every year. There’s a giant photo of TD Ameritrade Park on a wall in the Hawkeye locker room — and it’s not there to reference the Big Ten tourney.
Meanwhile, Iowa fans have caught the college baseball bug. They’re traveling. They’re talking big. One day, the CWS.
Remind you of anyone?
Iowa coach Rick Heller remembers. He had a front-row seat, 17 years ago, at that 2001 NCAA regional at Buck Beltzer Field.
Heller was the coach at Northern Iowa, which was in that regional along with Rutgers and BYU. UNI had a nice team that year, led by ace Nic Ungs — now the director of operations for Iowa baseball.
But Dave Van Horn and the first NU team to make the CWS were in no mood to pay Ungs any respect. The Huskers won the opener 16-6.
“I remember it vividly,” Heller said. “Unfortunately we had to face (Shane) Komine. You remember how good he was. Coach Van Horn and (Rob) Childress and those guys had it rolling.”
Husker fans recall it vividly, too, the fans lined up two and three deep behind the outfield fence, the super regional win over Rice, the celebration. It was all fresh and new.
Nobody says this Iowa team is ready to make the CWS. But there’s something going on in Iowa City.
It’s a baseball program. Iowa got hit by the baseball draft last year but has come back swinging. The Hawkeyes, 20-10 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten, are solid. Iowa ranks in the top six in the league in 14 offensive categories, its pitchers lead the league in strikeouts and its defense leads in double plays.
The catalyst is Heller, a veteran of Missouri Valley baseball (UNI, Indiana State) who just earned career win No. 850. And is not afraid to dream big.
“We want to have a chance to compete for a national championship in Omaha, and we believe we can do that,” Heller said. “Getting to the regionals on a consistent basis is the key. We’ve made it two out of four years. That’s going to be the goal every year from now on. Get there and somebody gets upset and you can be on your way.”
For proof that a Midwest team can make it, Iowa need only look around Haymarket Park.
Well, not this Nebraska. We don’t hear much about the CWS in Lincoln these days. But it’s important to remember that NU made NCAA regionals in three of the past four years. And won the marathon Big Ten regular-season title.
Nobody, but nobody, expected this season to be the follow-up.
The 5.30 ERA, 12th in the league, is no surprise, not with four pitchers going down early in the season. Jake McSteen and Reece Eddins have come back, but neither is all the way back.
Scott Schreiber, who ranks second in the Big Ten with a .416 batting average and 11 homers, has been the rock in an otherwise erratic display of baseball. Most maddening for coach Darin Erstad? The uncharacteristic lapses in defense, including 39 errors in 31 games. No excuses there.
“In the game of baseball, if you limit the free passes, they’re going to put the ball in the play — you have to defend,” Erstad said. “To me, that’s a sustainable thing. It’s like hustle. It never goes away. Defensively, it should be a staple.”
The pitching injuries cut down on the team’s margin for error, put pressure on the hitting and defense to carry the load. It’s gone the other way.
The record in the postseason is one thing. This is a program that prides itself on playing meaningful games in April and May and making the regionals.
The idea that it would not be one of eight teams to make the league tourney on Nebraska soil? That can’t help matters.
The good news is that NU has series left with five teams that sit in the top eight of the standings. But they can’t afford to dig a bigger hole.
“There’s no doubt that there’s nerves involved,” Erstad said. “There’s anxiety involved.
“We’re just grinding every day. Is it there? Yeah. Do they think about it? I’m sure. All the external stuff is there, it’s what you sign up for. Right now we’re focusing on getting these guys to play the kind of baseball they can.
“I mean, is it possible not to make it? Sure, that’s real. But I’m pretty sure life will go on.”
Check back with Husker fans if downtown Omaha in late May is Hawkeye Central.
http://www.omaha.com/huskers/plus/s...cle_d5d16837-435f-5991-8546-8417f74be85a.html
Can we start this year?
That wouldn’t guarantee a spot for the local team, Nebraska, which currently sits in 11th place in the 13-team Big Ten. But, hey, it gets NU closer.
Images of TD Ameritrade Park without the Huskers and about 20,000 of their closest friends seem about as gloomy as an April weather forecast.
But look who might ride to the rescue.
Imagine a week with Iowa baseball fans setting up shop in downtown Omaha and the eateries and bars around TD Ameritrade.
Imagine those fans gazing around and saying, “I wonder what this would be like during the College World Series.”
Crazy? About 20 years ago, so was the idea of Nebraska showing up in June.
Two years ago, in the second Big Ten tournament in Omaha, Iowa made it to the championship game against Ohio State. The ballpark was filled with black and gold.
Unless Husker fans want to see that again — and sell their tickets to their neighborhood Hawkeye fan — they need their team to rally. Now.
Which brings us to this cozy little three-game series at Haymarket Park starting today.
The defending Big Ten champion Huskers have been reeling for most of this lost season. At 15-16 overall, an NCAA regional is not part of any conversation. A 2-6 record with two losses at Michigan State caused big red faces.
Pitchers are hurt, hitters sometimes hit and there have been holes in their mitts.
But there are five Big Ten series remaining — 15 games, weather permitting — including three home series.
Symbolically, a series win over Iowa could transform the comeback.
Yes, Iowa.
After losing to the Buckeyes in the 2016 Big Ten tourney final, the Haweyes took the tournament crown last year. They went to an NCAA regional — their second since 2015 — and made some noise.
It’s an Iowa program that is feeling it. There’s an expectation of making NCAA regionals every year. There’s a giant photo of TD Ameritrade Park on a wall in the Hawkeye locker room — and it’s not there to reference the Big Ten tourney.
Meanwhile, Iowa fans have caught the college baseball bug. They’re traveling. They’re talking big. One day, the CWS.
Remind you of anyone?
Iowa coach Rick Heller remembers. He had a front-row seat, 17 years ago, at that 2001 NCAA regional at Buck Beltzer Field.
Heller was the coach at Northern Iowa, which was in that regional along with Rutgers and BYU. UNI had a nice team that year, led by ace Nic Ungs — now the director of operations for Iowa baseball.
But Dave Van Horn and the first NU team to make the CWS were in no mood to pay Ungs any respect. The Huskers won the opener 16-6.
“I remember it vividly,” Heller said. “Unfortunately we had to face (Shane) Komine. You remember how good he was. Coach Van Horn and (Rob) Childress and those guys had it rolling.”
Husker fans recall it vividly, too, the fans lined up two and three deep behind the outfield fence, the super regional win over Rice, the celebration. It was all fresh and new.
Nobody says this Iowa team is ready to make the CWS. But there’s something going on in Iowa City.
It’s a baseball program. Iowa got hit by the baseball draft last year but has come back swinging. The Hawkeyes, 20-10 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten, are solid. Iowa ranks in the top six in the league in 14 offensive categories, its pitchers lead the league in strikeouts and its defense leads in double plays.
The catalyst is Heller, a veteran of Missouri Valley baseball (UNI, Indiana State) who just earned career win No. 850. And is not afraid to dream big.
“We want to have a chance to compete for a national championship in Omaha, and we believe we can do that,” Heller said. “Getting to the regionals on a consistent basis is the key. We’ve made it two out of four years. That’s going to be the goal every year from now on. Get there and somebody gets upset and you can be on your way.”
For proof that a Midwest team can make it, Iowa need only look around Haymarket Park.
Well, not this Nebraska. We don’t hear much about the CWS in Lincoln these days. But it’s important to remember that NU made NCAA regionals in three of the past four years. And won the marathon Big Ten regular-season title.
Nobody, but nobody, expected this season to be the follow-up.
The 5.30 ERA, 12th in the league, is no surprise, not with four pitchers going down early in the season. Jake McSteen and Reece Eddins have come back, but neither is all the way back.
Scott Schreiber, who ranks second in the Big Ten with a .416 batting average and 11 homers, has been the rock in an otherwise erratic display of baseball. Most maddening for coach Darin Erstad? The uncharacteristic lapses in defense, including 39 errors in 31 games. No excuses there.
“In the game of baseball, if you limit the free passes, they’re going to put the ball in the play — you have to defend,” Erstad said. “To me, that’s a sustainable thing. It’s like hustle. It never goes away. Defensively, it should be a staple.”
The pitching injuries cut down on the team’s margin for error, put pressure on the hitting and defense to carry the load. It’s gone the other way.
The record in the postseason is one thing. This is a program that prides itself on playing meaningful games in April and May and making the regionals.
The idea that it would not be one of eight teams to make the league tourney on Nebraska soil? That can’t help matters.
The good news is that NU has series left with five teams that sit in the top eight of the standings. But they can’t afford to dig a bigger hole.
“There’s no doubt that there’s nerves involved,” Erstad said. “There’s anxiety involved.
“We’re just grinding every day. Is it there? Yeah. Do they think about it? I’m sure. All the external stuff is there, it’s what you sign up for. Right now we’re focusing on getting these guys to play the kind of baseball they can.
“I mean, is it possible not to make it? Sure, that’s real. But I’m pretty sure life will go on.”
Check back with Husker fans if downtown Omaha in late May is Hawkeye Central.
http://www.omaha.com/huskers/plus/s...cle_d5d16837-435f-5991-8546-8417f74be85a.html
