The Iowa softball team will attempt to upset the No. 3 team in the Big Ten, Penn State, when the Nittany Lions travel to Pearl Field for a three-game series starting tonight.
The Hawkeyes, 12-30, 2-12 in the Big Ten, are last in the Big Ten standings, and they will need a couple of wins over the weekend to keep their conference-tournament hopes alive.
“The biggest thing is controlling what we can — our attitude and our approach offensively, in the circle, and defensively. When we get away from that, we struggle a little bit,” Iowa head coach Marla Looper said. “We need to not worry about the win but worry about the process and the approach to the game.”
Getting those wins might be easier said than done. After starting its season 9-13, Penn State has gotten red hot and won 15 of its last 19 games. It is on a five-game winning streak with two over Bucknell and three over Maryland.
This puts Penn State at its best conference start in program history. Additionally, the team has completed three series sweeps so far, the most it has ever done.
The wins could come from the hitting performance Penn State has put on so far. As a whole, the team is batting .326, which puts the Nittany Lions behind only Michigan in Big Ten statistics. Michigan is ranked No. 2 in the country.
Seven Lions are batting at or above .300. Senior Macy Jones paces the team with a .409 average (No. 4 in the Big Ten), and Shelby Miller, Lexi Knief, Alyssa VanDerveer, Tori Dubois, Erin Pond, and Shannon Good are all within fewer than 100 points of her.
If Iowa wants to compete with Penn State, it will have to start cranking out some hits, especially with runners on base. Holly Hoffman is the only Hawkeye with more than three at-bats who is hitting above .300, and just four others are hitting at or above .300 with runners on base.
Marlaina Laubach leads Penn State in pitching with a 2.84 ERA and a 9-8 record. The Northampton, Pennsylvania, native has pitched 125.2 innings for the Nittany Lions, logging 78 strikeouts.
While many of the Nittany Lions have their fair share of experience in the Big Ten, the team is fairly spread out between upper- and lowerclassmen. Six underclassmen have started or played in at least half of Penn State’s games, rather similar to the Hawks. The Hawkeyes also have six underclassmen who have started or played in at least half of the games.
