By Jacob Miller
The Iowa softball team, getting a break from conference play, will seek to avenge an early season defeat at the hands of Drake.
The last time the two teams clashed, Drake dominated the game, winning 11-1. The Bulldogs notched 12 hits and had no errors in the game.
“They’re a pretty gritty team,” Iowa junior Angela Schmiederer said. “We’ve seen them once, we’ve seen them 10 times. We just have to keep looking different, even though we have the same people on the field, and that’s something we work on among the pitcher, catcher, and batting.
“We have to change up our game plan but also stick with what we know how to do.”
Head coach Marla Looper emphasized the importance of looking different against opponents they have seen this season.
When Iowa and Drake last played, the Hawkeyes were on the tail end of a brutal 16-game losing stretch. The Bulldogs will face a different team today, one with more confidence and swagger.
“We did a really nice job [last] weekend of continuing to just be in in the moment, being in that pitch, or that at bat, and then that inning, and then the game,” Looper said. “Not worrying too much, too far down the future, but what can I do right here right now, where my feet are, right where I’m standing, and they did a great job of that. They continue to fight and plug away.”
The Hawkeyes are coming off some major wins against Purdue and are no longer looking up from the Big Ten cellar; Iowa aims to get three wins in a row for the first time this season.
“Drake’s always good to play,” sophomore Brooke Rozier said. “It’s always good to go up against Iowa competition and to get the rematch.”
The Bulldogs are 19-16 this season and have had some notable wins against Stanford and Maryland.
Drake’s bullpen is an efficient unit that will be a nightmare for Iowa batters. This was one of the major issues for the Hawkeyes’ in the previous meeting; they were able to come away with only 6 hits and scored only 1 run.
If they are going to come away with a win, the Hawkeyes will need to step up in the batter’s box as they did in their final two games against Purdue. The game shapes up to be another entertaining in-state battle for state pride.
“We have a little bit of momentum coming into this midweek series and as well as the weekend,” Schmiederer said. “We’ve got to take care of Drake, so one person at a time, and then we’ll focus on Wisconsin. We feel good as a team right now, and we’re really working out some of our defensive and offensive kinks that have been apparent, but we are hopefully going to build on our momentum.”