They talked about the situation that moved him from Northern Iowa to ISU.
The weather in Terre haute a lot better in Terre Haute than in Cedar Falls. They weren't able to get on their own field until the end of March...travelling for first six or seven weeks.
New stadium much. much better. Heller says he's good friends with Bob Warn and it is something Warn has worked on for 25 years. The field is great also because you can get a lot more work in with the infielders because it is all-weather and requires little maintenance.
Bob Warn Field is the best in the state. Wichita State and Missouri State have two of the best fields in the country and Creighton will play in the new $135-million replacement for the Rosenblatt Stadium...home of the College World Series. Looking forward to adding 1000-1500 seats in the future at Bob Warn Field.
The team is 12-5 leading into this week. 5-0 streak. Pleased to be 12-5. Heller says he set goal of having 14 to 16 wins going into conference play and considering they have had four rain-outs he feels they have met that goal as those four rainouts could have easily been wins.
He says the team is not playing up to its full potential yet. "We aren't playing to the level we think we can play," he says. Hopes to be the best team in the league going into the tournament in Wichita. He says, "If thye believe they can, they can."
A tough part of the schedule leads of conference play with illinois State, Creighton and Wichita State...with a long-distance road trip to The Citadel thrown in.
Talked about winning by a run four times over the weekend and winning a number of close games. These pressure situations in non-conference play are good.
He is pleased with the bullpen. he says he thought it would be a weak point with the team this season and it was part of the downfall in 2009. The starting pitching was good while they were practicing indoors, "but sputtered a little bit" in actual play outdoors.
Regarding the relief corps...he says Scott Harlan, Tyler Browning and Kevin Mann have really stepped up. Scott and Tyler have been "nails" late in the games, not giving up anything. He's very pleased with Tyler's maturity as a true freshman.
Also happy to see Blake Drake have a strong outing in relief on Saturday in the 13 inning affair. He had tendonitus in his throwing shoulder two weeks ago. He came in Saturday in a pressure situation Saturday...got two outs without giving up a run...and pitched for four innings of no-hit ball.
Austin Peay is going to be a good challenge Tuesday. He will start J.T. Stentfenagel and you'll see a lot of other pitchers. Not sure about Drake, Harlan and Browning as they saw a lot of inning over the weekend. But you might see Petricka and Van Skike throw an inning each.
Talked about bringing Levi Ferguson and Grant Grgurich with him from Northern Iowa. They add depth to the team. They had not found a suitable playing situation for this Spring and Heller was able to get an NCAA waiver to bring them in at mid-year.
Defgense really solid. Haven't had a game where we really gave it away. Lot's of double plays. Pitchers started out the year giving up fly balls and now we're seeing grounders as the pitchers are pitching low in the zone.
The team is third in the nation in offensive sac flies and leads the lead in lack of offensive strike-outs with 90...about 25 less than anyone else.
Illinois State is the best hitting team we will see up to this point. On the other hand, their starting pitching, which Heller thought would be tough, has been slow to come around this Spring. He hopes they'll remain that way through the first weekend!
Illinois State likes to steal bases, so pitchers will have to keep runners close and catchers will have to throw them out. Offensively, we should be able to steal on Illinois State.
Editor's Note: It was an informative half hour with Coach Heller. The interviewer was well-prepared...and since they will be doing all of the league season games on WBOW...those questions will probably come from a more informed base of information over the thext eight Monday shows.
The pre-game show this Friday on WBOW (on-line and over the air) will begin at 2:40 with gametime of 3:00 (ET).
The weather in Terre haute a lot better in Terre Haute than in Cedar Falls. They weren't able to get on their own field until the end of March...travelling for first six or seven weeks.
New stadium much. much better. Heller says he's good friends with Bob Warn and it is something Warn has worked on for 25 years. The field is great also because you can get a lot more work in with the infielders because it is all-weather and requires little maintenance.
Bob Warn Field is the best in the state. Wichita State and Missouri State have two of the best fields in the country and Creighton will play in the new $135-million replacement for the Rosenblatt Stadium...home of the College World Series. Looking forward to adding 1000-1500 seats in the future at Bob Warn Field.
The team is 12-5 leading into this week. 5-0 streak. Pleased to be 12-5. Heller says he set goal of having 14 to 16 wins going into conference play and considering they have had four rain-outs he feels they have met that goal as those four rainouts could have easily been wins.
He says the team is not playing up to its full potential yet. "We aren't playing to the level we think we can play," he says. Hopes to be the best team in the league going into the tournament in Wichita. He says, "If thye believe they can, they can."
A tough part of the schedule leads of conference play with illinois State, Creighton and Wichita State...with a long-distance road trip to The Citadel thrown in.
Talked about winning by a run four times over the weekend and winning a number of close games. These pressure situations in non-conference play are good.
He is pleased with the bullpen. he says he thought it would be a weak point with the team this season and it was part of the downfall in 2009. The starting pitching was good while they were practicing indoors, "but sputtered a little bit" in actual play outdoors.
Regarding the relief corps...he says Scott Harlan, Tyler Browning and Kevin Mann have really stepped up. Scott and Tyler have been "nails" late in the games, not giving up anything. He's very pleased with Tyler's maturity as a true freshman.
Also happy to see Blake Drake have a strong outing in relief on Saturday in the 13 inning affair. He had tendonitus in his throwing shoulder two weeks ago. He came in Saturday in a pressure situation Saturday...got two outs without giving up a run...and pitched for four innings of no-hit ball.
Austin Peay is going to be a good challenge Tuesday. He will start J.T. Stentfenagel and you'll see a lot of other pitchers. Not sure about Drake, Harlan and Browning as they saw a lot of inning over the weekend. But you might see Petricka and Van Skike throw an inning each.
Talked about bringing Levi Ferguson and Grant Grgurich with him from Northern Iowa. They add depth to the team. They had not found a suitable playing situation for this Spring and Heller was able to get an NCAA waiver to bring them in at mid-year.
Defgense really solid. Haven't had a game where we really gave it away. Lot's of double plays. Pitchers started out the year giving up fly balls and now we're seeing grounders as the pitchers are pitching low in the zone.
The team is third in the nation in offensive sac flies and leads the lead in lack of offensive strike-outs with 90...about 25 less than anyone else.
Illinois State is the best hitting team we will see up to this point. On the other hand, their starting pitching, which Heller thought would be tough, has been slow to come around this Spring. He hopes they'll remain that way through the first weekend!
Illinois State likes to steal bases, so pitchers will have to keep runners close and catchers will have to throw them out. Offensively, we should be able to steal on Illinois State.
Editor's Note: It was an informative half hour with Coach Heller. The interviewer was well-prepared...and since they will be doing all of the league season games on WBOW...those questions will probably come from a more informed base of information over the thext eight Monday shows.
The pre-game show this Friday on WBOW (on-line and over the air) will begin at 2:40 with gametime of 3:00 (ET).
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