UNI coach blasts ISU’s decision to drop baseball

Northern Iowa hosts Iowa State tomorrow night in college baseball in what will be the final meeting, ever, between the two programs. I-S-U announced it will drop the baseball program at the end of the current season and U-N-I coach Rick Heller says while the Cyclones are an in-state rival he sees the move as a “slap in the face” to the sport. He says he feels sad for the I-S-U coaches and team. He says it’s just a bad thing for all of baseball. Heller says he doesn’t understand how they ever managed to run a program if they can’t run one now. He says it scares other programs that they may be cut.Heller says schools in the north that feel they can not compete in baseball are wrong. He calls that assertion “baloney.” Heller cites the improvement of the Nebraska program as an example of how a northern team can excel if the time and effort are put into the program.