UNI plays for spot in MVC tourney

The Northern Iowa baseball team hopes to maintain its momentum and lock up a spot in the Missouri Valley Conference post season tournament. The top six teams qualify and the Panthers sit in fourth with a record of 11-12. Impressive when you consider the Panthers opened league play 1-9. U-N-I coach Rick Heller says they started out with three of the top ten teams in the league and didn’t do so well, but have recovered. Heller who feels the Panthers changed the tide when they won the final two games of a series at Southwest Missouri State.Heller says the Panthers have built momentum throughout the season despite some adversity with the loss of some pitchers to injury. But he says they’re a strong hitting team.The Panthers visit Evansville this weekend in a four-game Valley series.