IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa baseball team will compete as the USA National Team at the 83rd National Baseball Congress World Series from July 29-Aug. 6 in Wichita, Kansas.
The NBC World Series, which is the largest and oldest continuous sporting event in the United States, will be played at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.
“This will be an excellent opportunity for our team to compete before we head to Taiwan for the World University Games,” said UI head coach Rick Heller, who will take the Hawkeyes to Taipei in the middle of August. “We’re grateful that the NBC has awarded us this opportunity.”
The USA National Team will begin pool play at the 83rd NBC World Series on Sunday, July 30, and continue with games on Tuesday, August 1, and Thursday, August 3. Should the USA National Team qualify out of pool play, it could potentially play on August 4-5 and eventually in the National Championship on August 6.
The Hawkeyes won 39 games during the 2017 season, claimed their first Big Ten Tournament title, and qualified for a second NCAA Regional in three seasons under Heller. The team hit 71 home runs and posted a .284 team batting average.
This is the fifth time a US National Team has played in the NBC World Series. Team USA played in 1995 and 1999. The NJCAA National Team played in 2014 and 2016.
During championship week, Iowa could find itself squaring off against the Kansas Stars — a team comprised of former Major League Baseball stars.
The Kansas Stars’ roster includes the likes of Roy Halladay, Joe Nathan, Roy Oswalt, Jake Peavy, Ben Sheets, Kenny Rogers, Chipper Jones, Adam LaRoche, Dan Uggla, Jack Wilson, John Buck, Jonny Gomes, and David Dellucci.
Visit: https://nbcbaseball.com/kansasstars/ to see the complete Kansas Stars roster. To learn more about the NBC World Series, visit www.nbcbaseball.com.
See the full article at http://www.hawkeyesports.com/news/2017/7/11/baseball-iowa-to-compete-in-nbc-world-series.aspx
