By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Baseball is an extremely difficult sport to play in that the slightest hesitation or misjudgment can sometimes be the difference between success and failure.

Take one wrong step when trying to catch a line drive and the next thing you know the batter is sliding into third base because of the fielding miscue.

Leave a fast ball hanging over the plate and watch as a batter belts it for a home run.

Baseball is the one sport where failing seven out of 10 times is actually the makings of a good hitter.

So, when a team does play the game at an exceptionally high level, and for an extended period, that team deserves some praise.

And that’s what Iowa baseball coach Rick Heller had for his team after watching it complete a three-game sweep against Indiana with a 10-0 beat-down in seven innings on Sunday at Duane Banks Field.

“It’s a lot of fun for me because it’s what you try to get your team to be able to do, to go out and play loose, but be highly focused,” Heller said. “And that’s a fine line and some never get there.

“And it comes down to the whole group, pitchers, hitters, whatever; the whole group has to buy in and this group has. And when you get an entire team to buy into being unselfish and focus on the things that’s going to help the team and not chase hits or chase strikeouts or whatever on the personal agenda side, when you put the personal agendas in the rear and egos in the trash, and you play hard like these guys do every single day, special things can happen.”

Special things are happening as the Big Ten-leading Hawkeyes improved to 20-4 in Big Ten play and 31-12 overall with Sunday’s win.

Iowa has now won eight straight Big Ten series and has swept four Big Ten opponents this season. Iowa also has shutout eight opponents this season, which is the second most in the nation.

Heller couldn’t remember the last time he had a team that was 20-4 in conference play, and that covers a lot of ground with him having coached at Indiana State, Northern Iowa and Upper Iowa.

Iowa will face Illinois State on Tuesday at home before traveling to Seattle, Washington to face Washington in a three-games series beginning on Friday.

Iowa also will face Oregon State in a three-games series May 9-11 at Principal Park in Des Moines before hosting Oregon in the final Big Ten series May 15-17 at Duane Banks Field.

So, it’s probably fair to say that the toughest part of Iowa’s schedule still remains.

But on the other hand, the Hawkeyes have dominated what is considered the easier part of their schedule, winning 20 of 24 conference games.

However, Heller’s team was reminded just how humbling and difficult baseball can be as Iowa fell to Western Illinois 7-3 this past Tuesday at Duane Banks Field. The Leathernecks entered the game with a 12-24 record, and yet still found a way to prevail.

“Maybe the best thing to happen to us was getting beat on Tuesday by Western Illinois when we had a chance to regroup and really talk about and focus on getting back to being the best version of ourselves, just really going out the and having fun because in baseball when you feel like you have to win, it’s not fun,” Heller said. “It felt like we were on a 23-game losing streak on Tuesday night by the sixth inning.

“And the great thing was the guys responded. We all talked about it and we renewed our commitment to being the best at the process because the reason we’re in first place is because we’re the best at the process, and we’re a real team, a total team and we have to play as a team. And when we do that, this is what you see; a really good team.”

The Hawkeyes only had eight hits in Sunday’s win, but as good teams so often do, they made them count.

Andy Nelson smacked two home runs, while senior shortstop Gable Michell, the team’s leading hitter, had two hits, scored two runs and drove in three runs.

Starting pitcher Reece Bueter also did his part, allowing just three hits and recording seven strikeouts over six innings. He also walked just one batter.

Ben DeTaeye then pitched the seventh inning and retired the side.

“Everybody playing together and everybody just trying to help the cause and that’s what you saw this weekend,” Heller said. “And when you do that and you’re not worried about who gets the credit, man, good things can happen, and this team is a great example of that.”

Opposing coaches are starting to recognize Iowa’s approach to winning, the latest being Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer.

Northwestern head coach Ben Greenspan also had high praise for Iowa, according to Heller.

“The best compliment a coach can get from another coach is you guys are a really good team and I heard that from Jeff Mercer today and I heard that from Ben Greenspan when we played Northwestern,” Heller said. “Maybe we’re not the flashiest here or there. But as a total team, when we play together and we focus on the process, these guys are pretty special.”