Iowa began a six-game home stand with Wednesday's homer-fueled 9-1 win over Milwaukee and it's no stretch to label this a pivotal part of the schedule. The Hawkeyes sit at 12-14 overall and 3-3 in the Big Ten, but they've been very good so far at home (6-1), so the need to take advantage of these games at Duane Banks Field and start piling up wins. Iowa's hopes of making the NCAA Tournament aren't looking good right now (they have an RPI of 130 and while that number isn't everything, it does matter) and they might still come down to Iowa winning the Big Ten Tournament in order to make a return trip to the NCAA Tournament (you only get so much boost from beating Big Ten opponents, unfortunately).
IOWA VS ILLINOIS PREVIEW + OPEN THREAD
