As the Big Ten regular season nears its conclusion, Iowa baseball (32-15, 21-6 Big Ten) continues to receive votes in the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll for the seventh consecutive week, with the program looking to clinch its first conference regular season title since 1990.
While Iowa’s momentum has slowed a bit lately after losing yet another pesky midweek non-conference game at home against Illinois State and dropping its first conference series of the season to Washington in Seattle, Wash., they still maintain a 2 1/2 game lead atop the conference standings.
However, the Hawkeyes’ 1-3 record in the past week has lowered their number of votes in the latest Coaches Poll. Iowa now receives just 19 votes, unlike the 21 they earned a week prior.
Regarding the rest of the Big Ten, Oregon leads the pack this week at the No. 7 position. The Ducks moved up three spots after finishing the week with a 3-1 record.
Following the Ducks is UCLA, which earns the No. 17 slot in this week’s poll. The Bruins fell three slots from the previous poll as they dropped two of three games against crosstown rival USC over the weekend to finish the week with a 1-3 record.
Joining Iowa among the programs also receiving votes is USC, which earned 25 votes this week. The Trojans leapfrog the Hawkeyes by finishing the week with a 3-1 record, highlighted by the previously mentioned series victory over UCLA. This places USC higher than Iowa in the pool of 13 other programs that are also getting recognition.
Iowa will have a prime opportunity to potentially jump into next week’s Top 25 as the Hawkeyes open a three-game weekend series vs. No. 11 Oregon State from Principal Park in Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday.
Great fans, great place
See you in the 515, #Hawkeyes!
#10 Oregon State
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Game 1 of the series against the Beavers is scheduled to begin at 6:35 p.m. CT.
The entire series will stream on Big Ten Plus (subscription required) and be available on the Hawkeyes Radio Network alongside play-by-play voice John Leo and color analyst John Evans.
Below is how the full USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll appears for the week of May 5-12:
Schools Dropped Out
No. 25 Kansas;
Others Receiving Votes
Northeastern 32; USC 25; Georgia Tech 24; Kansas 20; Iowa 19; TCU 18; Florida 15; Duke 10; UTSA 8; Miami (FL) 8; Western Kentucky 5; Arizona State 4; Wake Forest 1; Texas A&M 1; Southeastern Louisiana 1;
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Where does Iowa baseball rank in the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll?
Reporting by Scout Springgate, Hawkeyes Wire / Hawkeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
