May 6, 2014
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IOWA CITY, Iowa –The University of Iowa baseball team will play its final midweek game Wednesday, hosting Upper Iowa at 6 p.m. (CT) at Duane Banks Field.
The Hawkeyes enter the contest with a 26-17 overall record after dropping 2-of-3 games last weekend at Ohio State. The series loss snapped a string of four-straight series wins. The Peacocks are 11-29 overall, and the contest will serve as the team’s season finale.
Iowa will hand the ball to junior Nick Hibbing, who will be making his second start of the season after throwing 2 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits, April 26 against South Dakota State. The right-hander is 1-3 with a 5.72 ERA this season in 18 appearances with 25 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings.
Upper Iowa will counter with junior Jake Barron, who is 0-3 with an 8.76 ERA in three starts. Barron has allowed 12 runs on 16 hits over 12 1/3 innings, striking out 10 against nine walks. Opponents are hitting .356 against the right-hander.
The game will be a stroll down memory lane for UI head coach Rick Heller, who coached, played for and graduated from Upper Iowa. Heller spent 12 years in Fayette, Iowa, as head coach for the Peacocks, where he was named the Iowa Conference Coach of the Year four times.
Heller led Upper Iowa to three NCAA Regional appearances and to the 1996 NCAA Division III College World Series, finishing the season ranked No. 6 nationally. As a Peacock student-athlete, Heller was a four-year starter at shortstop and lettered in basketball and football. He graduated in 1986 and is a member of the Upper Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame.
Wednesday’s game will be streamed live on the Big Ten Digital Network. Fans can also listen to the game via Hawkeye All-Access with Brent Balbinot on the call.
The Hawkeyes currently sit in a three-way tie for sixth place with Michigan State and Ohio State in the Big Ten Conference standings with an 8-10 record. Iowa has six league games remaining beginning with a three-game series this weekend against Illinois at Banks Field.