By Jacob Miller
After struggling on the road for most of the early part of the season, the Iowa softball team appears to have gotten back on track after the Hawkeye Invitational.
Iowa won four out of the five games, and for the first time this season showed some consistency. The Hawkeyes were able to get on the right side of a 1-run game, and they played tough. This type of play is something they have been looking for all season.
25 Strikeouts
Redshirt senior Shayla Starkenburg and freshman Allison Doocy combined for 25 strikeouts in the four games they won, and they are proving to be quite the one-two punch in the circle.
Both Starkenburg and Doocy set season bests for strikeouts in a game at 7 and 9 respectively. The 9 strikeouts for Doocy in the second game against South Dakota State was also a career best.
The two shut down their opponents and allowed no runs in their four victories. If the two continue to dominate in the circle, then the Hawkeyes will be difficult to beat in the future.
Scoring Early
In their four wins, the Hawkeyes on average scored their first run by the second inning. The batting has not been a strong point for Iowa all season, but the difference between early on and now is when they score.
Scoring first is a huge momentum boost for a team in the early parts of a game and for the Hawkeyes it is essential for victory. They have only won one game this season when they did not score first.
This early scoring harmonizes well with strong pitching and defense because 1 run can be all they need for a victory. This was the case in their game against South Dakota where they won 1-0.
2 errors
The Hawkeyes only made 2 errors in their four games they won. The team has not had an unusually large number of errors this season, but they never came at a good time. The easiest way to fix it is to just not make any errors, which is easier said than done, but the Hawkeyes have done that.
The disciplined defense played well together last weekend and had success because of it. Iowa was not flawless, though, because it did lose one of the five games.
In their loss against Creighton, the Hawkeyes had 5 errors, more than double the number of errors in all their victories. If they keep the errors down, the Hawkeyes will keep rolling.
Home-field advantage
It was almost as if a different team showed up. The Hawkeyes appeared to have more energy, and they were sharp. They played well in all aspects of the game.
Head coach Marla Looper stresses taking care of the ball, and the Hawkeyes did that at home. At the Hawkeye Invitational, Iowa won twice the number of games it had won all season on the road.
There is no doubt whether the Hawkeyes play better on their home field. The real question now is whether Iowa can carry over the home energy and intensity to road games in the future.