The Iowa softball team claimed the Lovelace Invitational crown this past weekend with a 4-1 record on the campus of the University of North Texas.

The Hawkeyes, fresh off their 3-2 start from the Hilton Houston Plaza Classic on Feb. 8-10, improved their record with four straight wins to begin the Lovelace Invite in Denton Texas. Iowa collected each win by less than three runs, including an 8-inning outing in the first matchup with the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Iowa won a 3-0 game against Dayton early on Friday before their 3-1 extra-inning victory over the Pokes Friday night. The Hawkeyes continued to roll with a 2-1 nail-biter over Nebraska-Omaha early on Saturday and won their fourth-straight late Saturday 4-1 over host North Texas.

The winning ways came to an end for the Hawkeyes late yesterday in their rematch with Oklahoma State. The Cowboys ran out to a 4-0 lead before Iowa mounted a comeback. Unfortunately for the Black and Gold, the comeback never completed, and they lost 4-3.

“Overall, we had a pretty good performance this weekend,” Iowa head softball coach Marla Looper said in a release. “I wish we would be the aggressor on Day Three of a tournament. We came out and earned four victories early. Today was a big one for us; we wanted to come away 5-0 and we didn’t. I am not always based on the outcome, but our process was not very good today. We sat back on our heels.”

Iowa’s record now sits at 7-3. The Hawkeyes will return home for a week of practice before heading to Tuscaloosa, Ala., where they’ll get a crack at the defending national champions in Alabama this weekend.