Iowa Hawkeyes
Overall Rank: #44
Conference Rank: #4 Big Ten
Iowa is coming off their first ever Big Ten Tournament title and they made some noise in the NCAA Tournament as well, knocking off top seeded Houston in the Houston Regional. They lost their next two games, but this program has certainly turned into a consistent contender under Coach Rick Heller. Losing Nick Gallagher and Ryan Erickson does leave a couple big holes in the pitching staff, but the expectations are high for Nick Allgeyer and Cole McDonald to step in and pick up the slack. A handful of freshmen and experienced options like Zach Daniels should provide the Hawkeyes with plenty of quality options on the mound.
2017: 39-22, 15-9
2017 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Rick Heller
Key Departed Players:
Jake Adams, 1B, .335 BA, 29 HR, 72 RBI
Mason McCoy, IF, .328 BA, 5 HR, 34 RBI
Nick Gallagher, P, 3.48 ERA, 95.2 IP, 87 SO
Ryan Erickson, P, 3.00 ERA, 75.0 IP, 58 SO
Josh Martsching, P, 2.54 ERA, 46.0 IP, 46 SO, 8 SV
Key Returning Players:
Robert Neustrom, OF, .310 BA, 9 HR, 55 RBI
Chris Whelan, IF/OF, .309 BA, 7 HR, 25 RBI
Matt Hoeg, IF, .277 BA, 5 HR, 38 RBI
Tyler Cropley, C/OF, .268 BA, 9 HR, 36 RBI
Zach Daniels, P/IF, 3.22 ERA, 50.1 IP, 55 SO
Projection:
There are some significant departures at the plate too. Most notable is Jake Adams, who belted 29 homeruns and drove in 72. Mason McCoy is also gone after batting .328. Those were Iowa’s top two hitters last year. Robert Neustrom and Chris Whelan have proven that they can hit for average and power. As juniors those two will provide much of the leadership and consistency at the plate. However, there are plenty of others who can make a big impact. Lorenzo Elion and Kyle Crowl had impressive outings when Iowa represented the United States at the World University Games in Taiwan over the summer. The Big Ten may not have a dominating team this year and expect Iowa to remain right in the mix to take home a regular season title to add to last year’s tournament title.
Projected Postseason: NCAA Baseball Tournament
