Iowa baseball coach Rick Heller says Cade Obermueller (oh-burr-mtoll-ir) is expected to return to the mound Friday night when the Hawkeyes open a Big Ten series at league leading Illinois. Obermueller missed his last two starts with a sore back.

That’s Iowa coach Rick Heller. The Hawkeyes are 13-8 and currently fifth in the Big Ten. This will be their final conference series and they will be forced to wait a week to see if they qualify for the eight-team Big Ten Tournament.

The Hawkeyes close the regular season next weekend with a nonconference series against Florida International in Des Moines.

Illinois is the top hitting team in the Big Ten and has slammed 31 homers in posting a 13-5 record.

Heller says Hawkeye pitchers must limit walks against the Illini.

The series runs through Sunday.