Iowa Heads to Houston Regional as No. 4 Seed

Iowa Heads to Houston Regional as No. 4 Seed

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa baseball team heads to the Lone Star State to the Houston Regional as a No. 4 seed, it was announced Monday during an NCAA Baseball Tournament Selection Show on ESPN2.

The Hawkeyes will face top-seeded Houston on Friday at 7 p.m. (CT) at Darryl and Lori Schroeder Park. No. 2 seed Baylor and No. 3 Texas A&M will play at 2 p.m.

Iowa is making its second NCAA Tournament appearance in three seasons under UI head coach Rick Heller and the fifth in school history. The Hawkeyes earned the Big Ten Conference’s automatic bid after defeating Northwestern, 13-4, Sunday to win the Big Ten Tournament title — the first in school history.  Iowa is 38-20 overall – the wins are tied for the fifth-most victories in school history.

The Hawkeyes joined Collegiate Baseball’s national rankings following their tournament title, coming in at No. 28.  Houston is 24th in the same poll.

The Cougars are the regional’s top seed after winning 40 games and claiming the American Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles.  Houston defeated East Carolina, 6-0, on Sunday to complete the AAC double.

Houston is led by the AAC Co-Player of the Year Jake Scheiner and Co-Pitcher of the Year Trey Cumbie.  Scheiner has a .347 batting average with 38 extra base hits — 18 doubles, three triples, and 17 home runs — to go along with 48 runs and 57 RBIs. Cumbie — the Cougar ace — is 10-1 with a 1.88 ERA in 14 starts. He has 80 strikeouts over 96 innings and has four complete games this season.  Opponents are hitting .226 against the sophomore southpaw.

Houston has a .290 team batting average and averages 6.3 runs per game. Along with Scheiner, three other Cougar regulars hit above .300.  On the mound, Houston has a 3.37 team ERA and it has 420 strikeouts over 520 2/3 innings.

Tickets to the Houston Regional will go on sale to the general public at 8 a.m. on June 1 at UHCougars.com/tickets.  Single session passes, if available, will be available online to the public at noon.