Iowa Earns No. 2 Seed in Springfield Regional

May 25, 2015

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa baseball team will head to the Springfield Regional as a No. 2 seed, it was announced Monday during a NCAA Selection Show on ESPNU.

The Hawkeyes will face third-seeded Oregon at 1 p.m. (CT) at Hammons Field. Missouri State is the top-seeded team in the regional and the No. 8 national seed. The Bears will face No. 4 seed Canisius — the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion — at 6 p.m.

Iowa is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1990 and the fourth regional appearance in school history. The Hawkeyes boast a No. 29 RPI and finished runner-up in the Big Ten with a 19-5 record. Iowa is 39-16 overall — the most wins for the program since 1985.

UI head coach Rick Heller will be taking his third Division I team to NCAA Regional play (Northern Iowa, 2001; Indiana State, 2012). He is one of five active coaches to bring three different Division I schools to NCAA Regional play and one of eight all-time.

Oregon used a late season surge to earn an at-large berth, as the Ducks won their final five series in Pac-12 play and nine of their last 10 games overall. Oregon closed out the regular season with a key series win, taking 2-of-3 games at home against Pac-12 champion UCLA — the top overall national seed.

Sophomore Cole Irvin is the Ducks’ Friday night starter, going 2-4 with a 4.01 ERA in 74 innings. The southpaw has allowed 40 runs (33 earned) on 73 hits and has 42 strikeouts to 22 walks.

Offensively, Oregon has a .254 team batting average with just one player hitting above .300. Mitchell Tolman leads the team with a .329 average with team-highs in hits (72), runs (42), and RBIs (40). He is slugging .475 and reaching base at a .462 clip.

Tickets to the Springfield Regional are on sale now and will be available through the Springfield Regional Central site today. Beginning May 26, phone and in-person ticket orders will be also accepted only through the Hammons Field Box Office (Gate 1 only) at (417) 863-2143 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

On game days throughout the Regional, the Main Gate Box Office at Hammons Field will open two hours prior to the start of each contest.