East Lansing, Michigan — The Iowa Hawkeye baseball team completed a weekend sweep at Michigan State with an 11-3 victory but it was too little, too late when the NCAA pairings were announced Monday morning.
The Hawkeyes finished fifth in what coach Rick Heller calls a loaded Big Ten race. At 26-18, they finished a game behind a three-way logjam for second place involving Indiana, Maryland and Michigan. Those three teams along with Conference Champion Nebraska made the tournament field of 64.
A Big Ten only schedule hurt the league when it came to NCAA bids and Heller felt on Sunday it appeared doubtful the conference would get five teams in.
Heller says the Big Ten continues to make progress in baseball and Michigan’s runner-up finish at the last College World Series is proof of that.
The Hawkeyes finish the year at 26-18.
