The Iowa and UNI baseball teams will open conference play, today, weather permitting. The Hawkeyes are 7-9 on the season and open a four-game series at Michigan on Friday afternoon. The Hawks played a couple of mid-week games which coach Jack Dahm hopes will get the accustomed to the cold weather.
The forecast for Ann Arbor on Friday calls for a high of 39. Dahm says the Hawks should be at full strength this weekend. Dahm says a strength early in the season has been the bullpen. The series continues through Sunday.
For the second time this week the UNI Panthers will need to get snow off the field before they can play. The Panthers open the Missouri Valley Conference race at home against Evansville. Coach Rick Heller hopes they can get off to a good start in league play. He says for the first time in his nine years, they are not on the road to start the conference season.
UNI is 10-9 and Heller believes the Panthers are a much improved team. He says with a senior laden team they hope to take advantage and have a good start. Evansville has struggled and stands just 2-17 on the season.
The three game series opens with a single game on Friday afternoon.