Rick Heller has done a remarkable job for the University of Iowa in his brief two years with the baseball program, but he's done much more than boost the school's fortunes.

He's given us all hope.

If you live in Iowa and care about baseball, Heller's performance has given all of us reason to hope again that the state can have a top-notch Division I program.

Iowa State dropped its baseball program in 2001. Then the University of Northern Iowa pulled the plug on its program in 2009, ironically with Heller at the helm.

There was talk in recent years that the Hawkeyes might drop their baseball program as well, which would have stripped the state of its last fading hope at the Division I level.

That won't happen now.

The 15th-ranked Hawkeyes finished a three-game sweep of Minnesota Sunday with a 7-1 victory at Duane Banks Field. That raised Iowa's records to 37-12 overall and 18-3 in the Big Ten and clinched the No. 2 seed for the Big Ten tournament.

There's a good chance Iowa will host an NCAA regional tournament later this month as a reward for its good work this year. That's good news for the Hawkeyes, but even better news for all the baseball fans and players in the state.

We're fortunate to have so many quality junior college, NCAA Division III and NAIA baseball programs in Iowa. And local players in the Metro area are fortunate to have Kirkwood, Coe and Mount Mercy right in town and hungry for talent.

But if you aspire to play at the very highest level of college baseball, you now have a viable option right there in Iowa City. Heller will not be able to keep all the best talent in the state, not when NCAA kingpins like Florida and Arizona State come calling, but at least now the top players will be giving Iowa a serious look.

Jack Dahm brought good players to Iowa before his tenure ended after the 2013 season. Indeed, there are some talented upperclassmen on this year's club who were Dahm recruits.

But Heller has been able to weave a little magic with the Hawkeyes. He steered them to a 30-23 record in his first year at Iowa last season and now has surpassed that.

Iowa passed when it could have hired Heller before, but the athletic department made the right call when it lured Heller away from Indiana State to succeed Dahm, who is now the head coach at Mount Mercy.

Heller is a total Iowan, through and through. He's from Eldon and was a star athlete at Upper Iowa University, where he was a four-year starter at shortstop and also played football and basketball.

He became the head coach at Upper Iowa just two years after he graduated from the school, won 291 games with the Peacocks in 12 seasons and took them to the NCAA Division III tournament (Upper Iowa is now an NCAA Division II institution).

Heller won 269 more games during his 10 years at Northern Iowa and led the Panthers to the NCAA Division I tournament. He spent four years at Indiana State, won 131 games and took the Sycamores to the NCAA tournament during his tenure there as well.

All told, Heller has compiled a 757-600-4 record during his 28 years as a head. He's won league titles and taken teams to NCAA tournaments everywhere he's been, and now he's doing the same things in Iowa City.

Heller could have stayed home in Iowa City on Thursday, strummed his guitar and rested for the big weekend series with Minnesota. Instead, he attended the regional junior college tournament in Waterloo that day in search of more talent for future years.

He visited with the junior college coaches, scoured rosters and kept a careful eye on the games, all the while working his smart phone and keeping tabs on matters in Iowa City.

Heller is already a member of the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, a tribute from his peers who have appreciated his work for quite some time. Now he's making legions of new friends and new fans at the University of Iowa.

Most of all, he's given us hope.