After a strong start on Feb. 10, the Iowa softball team was not able to recapture that energy for the Feb. 11 and Sunday games in the CenturyLink Classic hosted by Texas State and sputtered to the finish.

The Hawkeyes opened the weekend against Abilene Christian. The game remained scoreless throughout the first five innings until Abilene scored in the top of the sixth inning after a wild pitch. The Hawkeyes came roaring back in bottom of the sixth thanks to a couple of RBI singles. Freshman pinch hitter Devin Cantu was the first to put the Hawkeyes on the board. Then junior Allie Wood hit the game-winning single to start the season off 1-0.The Hawkeyes followed this performance by demolishing Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 8-0. Senior Kaitlyn Mullarkey led the Hawkeyes with 3 runs and one RBI. Redshirt senior pitcher Shayla Starkenburg got her first win of the season, allowing only 4 hits and striking out 4.

The Hawkeyes were primed for another impressive showing on Feb. 11, but that’s when they hit a wall and were not able to notch another victory in Texas.

They lost both their games against Texas State and Texas Tech, 2-0 and 7-4. The Hawkeyes were not able to get back on track on Sunday in a rematch against Abilene and dropped that game, 3-1. They ended the weekend with a 2-3 record.

“We have to learn from this weekend,” head coach Maria Looper said in a release. “If we don’t, we are throwing away an opportunity to get better. The last few games, we were playing the opponent too often instead of just playing the game. When we play the game instead of the opponent, I really feel that the wins are going to come.”

Even though the Hawkeyes dropped the ball at the end of the weekend and ended with three-straight losses, they still have a lot to build on for the rest of the season.

— by Jacob Miller