Photo courtesy of Minnesota Baseball U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis sits empty on Thursday in preparation for a weekend of college baseball games.

MINNEAPOLIS — The Iowa Central baseball team will be a part of history here on Friday morning when they play Century College.

The two junior colleges will play in the first-ever baseball games at U.S. Bank Stadium — home of the Minnesota Vikings.

First pitch is scheduled for 6 a.m. in the doubleheader.

After the twinbill involving the Tritons, Grand View meets Jamestown University, and Minot State takes on Minnesota-Crookston in two more doubleheaders.

Originally, games were scheduled to be played for earlier in the week. The U.S. Bank Stadium crew decided they could not get the field switched over from the recent Supercross event to baseball in time, however, making this a last-minute moment in history for the Iowa Central program.

“This is something everyone will be able to look back on down the road and never forget,” ICCC head coach Justin Meyer said. “It is an experience they will always remember.

“We were actually suppose to play Thursday and Friday, but now that we are the first official actual (baseball) game, it’s pretty cool.”

Meyer is entering his first season as head coach of the Tritons after taking over for Rick Pederson. He had served 10 years as an assistant after playing two seasons for Iowa Central.

The final field painting took place Thursday afternoon. The change from football to baseball involved the field crews removing dirt and two layers of plywood, protective barriers and turf cover, according to a report by the Associated Press. Also, 36 rows of seating were retracted that will now make up the outfield.

Dugouts, a pitcher’s mound and home plate were all added.

“The new stadium hired the same group that worked in the Metrodome and coach Pederson passed information along to me,” Meyer said. “We showed interest and submitted a request to play, and that’s all we could do. They matched us up with an opponent and a time, we sent it back and away we go.

“(Even with the unusual start time) there was no question we were willing to take it. Getting the chance to play up here is special.”

Meyer and the team departed Fort Dodge late Thursday night, beating the incoming weather. They will be able to enter the stadium 75 minutes before first pitch, at 4:45 a.m.

“We’ve been watching the weather and knew we had to get up here early to make it all happen,” he said. “The kids are all excited.”

U.S. Bank Stadium opened last year to the cost of $1.1 billion. It was the key to keeping the Vikings in Minnesota and has also been host to concerts and other events.

Iowa Central’s roster includes a pair of former Fort Dodge Senior High players in outfielder Austin Halligan and infielder Max Bodholdt, along with ex-St. Edmond outfielder Landon Hughett. Halligan and Hughett are sophomores, while Bodholdt is a freshman.

Halligan played in all 44 games a year ago, batting .248 with a team-high 489 runs scored. He also drove in 17 and had seven steals.

The Tritons went 29-16 a year ago and 17-13 in the ICCAC. They were eliminated in the Region XI tournament by Des Moines Area.

Franyelyn Diaz returns to anchor the offense after hitting .402 with 29 RBI and seven home runs a year ago. Jared Renken hit .357 and drove in 12 in just 22 games.

Anderson DeLeon went 7-2 on the mound with six complete games and 77 strikeouts in 58-plus innings. Bryce Kearns joins him among the pitching staff after going 4-0 with six saves and a 1.69 earned run average.

Austin Suhr, a sophomore who has signed with South Dakota State, will get the start in the opener. And while Meyer wants everyone to remember this opportunity, the focus remains on winning.

“We have an idea of guys we want to work in,” he said. “But we are coming up here with the mind-set to win two baseball games.”

After these two games vs. Century, Iowa Central heads to Millington, Tenn. for a five-game set over three days followed up by stops in Missouri, South Dakota and Nebraska. The first Iowa game is scheduled for March 21 at Indian Hills, while they open the home portion of their schedule April 6 vs. Rochester.