Iowa baseball defeats Loras 8-1 in rare February home opener
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – In Rick Heller's world, there is no such thing as too much baseball.
So when Heller saw that this week's forecast called for temperatures in the mid-70s, his mind started working.
Iowa's head baseball coach wanted to take advantage of the rare February heat wave by scheduling a mid-week game. He called around looking for potential opponents and eventually secured a matchup with Loras College.
The teams met on Wednesday at Banks Field in what is believed to be the earliest home opener in the history of the Iowa program. The Hawkeyes scored three runs in the first inning and two in the second and then cruised to an 8-1 victory against its Divison III opponent from Dubuque.
"Great night and big crowd," Heller said of the 1,312 attendance figure. "It was good for our guys to get out here on their home field. It was way better for us than a practice at this point."
Iowa entered Wednesday's game with a 1-2 record after dropping two of three games in its season-opening series against South Florida this past weekend in Tampa, Fla.
It was after last Saturday's game in Tampa when Heller started to lay the groundwork for a mid-week game back home.
His idea was embraced by Loras coach Carl Tebon.
"We were down in Florida and I was following the forecast and saw that Tuesday and Wednesday were both going to be really nice if they held true," Heller said. "So after the game on Saturday down in Tampa I got on the horn and started calling around to see who could play, who could get transportation and school in and out and all that stuff and Carl said that he thought he could pull it off. Our adminstration was supportive. They just wanted us to avoid Tuesday with the basketball game last night, which makes a lot of sense."
As for the game, third baseman Matt Hoeg sparked the Iowa offense by clearing the bases with a bloop, three-run triple down the right field line in the first inning.
"I didn't really square it up that well, but it just happened to land in the right spot and we were able to get some runs out of it," Hoeg said.
There always is a sense of excitement and anticipation for any home opener. But to play the earliest home opener in school history, and to do it on an unseasonably warm day in February made Wednesday's game extra special.
"To get outside in February and play games is a big deal in Iowa," Hoeg said.
There was no charge for admission to Wednesday's game. The sun also set much sooner than a game in the spring.
But other than that, it seemed like a typical home opener, enough to where Heller had to remind himself at times that it was February.
"I certainly did," Heller said. "The last time that I coached in a game in Iowa in February was at Upper Iowa back in the '90s and two days later we got two feet snow and didn't see the field until April 5. So I'm hoping we don't pay for it down the road."
Iowa's state of the art field surface made it possible for Wednesday's to be played.
"It's a game changer, an absolute game changer," Heller said. "As warm and as nice as the weather has been, if we had grass we probably wouldn't have played today."
Grant Judkins started on the mound for Iowa and allowed just one hit over three innings. Judkins is competing for the mid-week starting spot, but he might have to play a bigger role if starter C.J. Eldred continues to struggle with nerve pain in his elbow.
Eldred felt pain in his elbow after making his first start of the season last weekend in Florida.
Heller is preparing as if Eldred won't pitch when Iowa travels to Hoover, Alabama, this weekend for the Hoover Classic. The Hawkeyes face Alabama State on Friday and Saturday before closing the weekend road trip against Morehead State on Sunday.
"We had a little bad news with C.J. Eldred having some nerve issues in his elbow after his start," Heller said. "So if C.J. is down for a while, that will put Grant for sure throwing quite a few innings on the weekend. We'll have to make up some innings there. That would kind of put the kabosh on the mid-week stuff.
"But as of right now, that would be a good situation for him. We can use him if we have to and then start him in the mid-week."
Heller said he didn't think Eldred's injury was too severe.
"He saw the doctor today and everything was pretty optimistic," Heller said. "I just think it needs to calm down. It's one of those deals where it may bother him for a while, or he may come up to us on Friday and say, hey, it's fine now. I'm okay. It's just one of those unfortunate things that happens with pitchers from time to time."
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