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Iowa Baseball to play in the 2026 Frisco College Baseball Classic

On3 imageby: Kyle Huesmann12 hours agoHuesmannKyle
The Hawkeyes will compete in the 2026 Frisco College Baseball Classic.
The Hawkeyes will compete in the 2026 Frisco College Baseball Classic.

The first puzzle piece for the 2026 Iowa Baseball schedule has been released. On Tuesday morning, it was announced the Hawkeyes will compete in the Frisco College Baseball Classic at the home ballpark for the Double-A Frisco Roughriders. Rounding out the four-team field will be Alabama, Houston and Oregon State. The tournament will run from Friday, February 27th to Sunday, March 1st.

It’s the Hawkeyes second time playing in the tournament, appearing back in 2022 where they faced Texas A&M, Wichita State and Washington State. They finished that weekend with a 1-2 record, defeating Washington State in the Sunday finale.

Alabama and Iowa have never met in baseball and will do so for the first when the open their stay in Frisco on Friday night. The Crimson Tide are led by third-year head coach Rob Vaughn who previously was the head man at Maryland for six seasons. Alabama finished last season with a 41-18 overall record and a 16-14 mark in SEC play. They advanced to the Hattiesburg Regional at the NCAA Tournament, but went 0-2 with losses to Miami FL and Southern Miss. Alabama has appeared in an NCAA Regional in four of the last five seasons.

It will be just the third all-time meeting between Iowa and Houston, with both meetings coming in the Houston Regional in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. The Cougars, led by 16th-year head coach Todd Whitting, finished with a 30-25 record last season, including a 12-17 mark in Big 12 play. They’ve made the NCAA Tournament three times in the last decade, with their last trip to a regional coming back in 2018.

Iowa will face off against Oregon State in the tournament finale on Sunday for the fourth meeting all-time, with the previous three meetings coming in Des Moines last season during the regular season. The Beavers, led by seventh-year head coach Mitch Canham, finished with a 48-16-1 record last season and advanced all the way to the College World Series. Oregon State has made an NCAA Regional in eight consecutive seasons, including three trips to the College World Series and five Super Regional appearances.

The Hawkeyes, led by 13th-year head coach Rick Heller, are coming off of a 33-22-1 season that saw them come up short of the NCAA Tournament after starting 20-4 in Big Ten play. Iowa last made the field of 64 in ’23, advancing to the Terre Haute Regional Championship where they fell to Indiana State.

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