By Jacob Miller
This past weekend, the Iowa softball team came up somewhat short, unable to win a single game in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.The losing streak for the Hawkeyes is now at seven, with their last victory being Feb. 10 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
In both games against Virginia Tech, Iowa lost 2-1. Against Georgia Tech, they lost 3-2 in the first game and 6-5 in the second.
If there was one thing the Hawkeyes did right this weekend, it was scoring early.
The latest it took them to score was in the fourth inning in the second game against Virginia Tech, but in the first game, Iowa was first to score in the second inning thanks to a home run by sophomore Brooke Rozier. This early scoring kept the Hawkeyes within reach of victory in all their games.
The biggest issue for the Hawkeyes was that they were not able to close out.
In the first game against Virginia Tech, Iowa had the lead until the seventh inning, when Virginia Tech scored the tying run. The Hokies then scored the winning run in the eighth.
In Game 2, Iowa was in the game until the sixth, when Virginia Tech scored the winning run thanks to a solo home run. Iowa still had a chance to win with three runners on base, but they were not able to bring any of them around.
The story was the same in the Georgia Tech games. In the first game, Iowa lost in the seventh. Game 2 was the only game Iowa trailed for the entire game was not able to even it up.
After a frustrating weekend in which not a single 1-run game went their way, the Hawkeyes have next weekend off and plenty of time to regroup before a March 2 matchup against Florida.
“We are going to get one of these,” head coach Marla Looper said in a release. “I know it. I believe in this group. I believe in these young ladies and the time, effort, and energy they’ve put in. They have the want and the will, and it will happen. We just have to keep fighting for it.”