Iowa baseball: Three early predictions for 2020 roster
By Ryan Sikes
The Iowa baseball season ended in disappointing fashion but the team should be excited for the future. Let’s take an early look at the 2020 season.
The number one seed Indiana Hoosiers were stunned by the number eight seed Iowa baseball team on Wednesday evening when the Hawkeyes defeated them 4-2. Rick Heller’s club rallied late in that game scoring three times in the seventh inning and adding another run in the eighth inning.
Iowa starting pitcher Cole McDonald was terrific tossing 8.0 innings of one-run ball while striking out nine batters. Grant Leonard came into the ninth inning looking for a school-record 14 saves. He gave up a run in the process but locked down history for himself.
Unfortunately, the Hawkeyes luck ended there as they lost on Friday to Nebraska 11-1 and then were eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament with a 3-0 loss to Minnesota on Friday night. Iowa lost their final five games of the regular season, barely made the tournament and then lost 2-of-3 in postseason play.
It’s a disappointing ending for the Hawkeyes season as many media sources were projecting them as a number 3 seed in the NCAA Regionals but were forced to win out in the Big Ten Tournament just to get into the NCAA tournament.
The Hawkeyes finished with an overall record of 31-24 but Rick Heller seemed generally happy with how the season went:
"“I’m happy with how the guys competed all year,” Heller said. “It will go down in my memories as a team that overcame as many obstacles as I’ve coached with coaching changes injuries, guys in the draft. They fought. This group I will remember fondly for a long, long time.” – via The Gazette"
There were several seniors on this roster and now we must look ahead to the 2020 roster to determine what implications that might have on the season as Rick Heller will be looking for his seventh straight 30+ win season since taking over head coaching duties for the Hawkeyes.