The Big Ten Baseball Tournament has been the site of some of the biggest successes of the Rick Heller Era for Iowa baseball. It will need to be again for the Hawkeyes to achieve their preseason goal of returning to the NCAA Tournament. Despite entering the season ranked in the Top 25, the Hawkeyes have struggled for consistency all season, finishing the regular season 31-21 overall and 14-10 in Big Ten games. That 14-10 league record earned them the 5-seed in this week's Big Ten Tournament.
Iowa has appeared has made three NCAA Tournament appearances in Rick Heller's tenure at Iowa: in 2015, 2017, and 2023. In 2017 and 2023 Big Ten Tournament success was a key factor in Iowa's ability to make the NCAA Tournament. In 2017 Iowa won four games as the 5-seed to earn win the tournament and earn the Big Ten's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament -- a bid they needed to get into the NCAA Tournament, as they were unlikely to earn an at-large selection.
The 2023 Hawkeyes won three games to make the Big Ten Tournament final, before falling short to Maryland in the championship game; that run was enough to help secure an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Simply making the title game won't be enough this year -- the Hawkeyes enter this year's Big Ten Tournament 95th in the RPI rankings, which will doom any at-large aspirations. To make the NCAA Tournament this season, Iowa will need to do what they did in 2017 and win the whole Big Ten Tournament.
Iowa's Big Ten Tournament is set to get underway on Wednesday, May 22 at approximately 2 PM CT against 4-seed Michigan. The Wolverines went 30-26 overall this season and 14-10 against Big Ten competition. Rain delayed the start of the Big Ten Tournament on Tuesday, but has not impacted Iowa's game (yet); Tuesday's game between 1-seed Illinois and 8-seed Penn State (the other teams on Iowa's side of the bracket) was moved to Wednesday at 10 AM CT.
The Hawkeyes played Michigan in a series in Iowa City in early April; the Wolverines took two of three to win the series. Iowa eked out a 3-2 win in 10 innings in the series opener, before losing 4-3 on Saturday and 10-6 on Sunday.
Neither Iowa nor Michigan has announced projected starting pitchers for the game on Wednesday. Iowa is likely to start either Brody Brecht (4-3 in 14 starts, 3.55 ERA, 118 K, .167 opponent batting average) or Wes Obermuller (4-3 in 12 starts, 4.12 ERA, 66 K, .189 opponent batting average). After a dip in form in the middle of the season, Brecht has been excellent of late, going 3-0 with a 0.79 ERA in his last three Big Ten starts.
Michigan looks likely to counter with Kurt Barr (5-3 in 9 starts/19 total appearances, 3.52 ERA, 50 K, .222 opponent batting average) or Chase Allen (3-3 in 11 starts/18 total appearances, 7.35 ERA, 30 K, .315 opponent batting average) as the starter on Wednesday.
The winner of the Iowa-Michigan game will face the winner of Illinois-Penn State at approximately 6 PM CT on Thursday, May 23. The loser will face the loser of Illinois-Penn State in an elimination game at 10 AM CT on Thursday.
Iowa did not face Penn State this season, but lost two of three against the Illini just two weeks ago. Iowa picked up a 10-4 win in the middle game of the series, but lost the Friday opener 10-5 and dropped the Sunday rubber match 6-3.
The strategy for Iowa at the Big Ten Tournament is simple: just win. The Hawkeyes will either need to win four straight games or win four of five games if they suffer a loss in one of the opening rounds to book a return trip to the NCAA Tournament. Anything less and their season will end in Omaha this weekend.
This Iowa team has the talent to put together a run in the Big Ten Tournament -- but that's been true all season without leading to consistent results. The Hawkeyes will need to summon their best baseball of the season -- on the mound, at the plate, and in the field -- to put together the winning streak they need to keep their season alive. The journey to do so gets underway on Wednesday, at 2 PM CT on Big Ten Network.
