By Jacob Miller
After battling into extra innings, the Iowa softball team fell to Wisconsin on Sunday in the deciding game of the series in Madison.
The Hawkeyes and the Badgers fought for 10 innings, going back and forth. At some points, it did not seem like the game was ever going to end with both teams so evenly matched, but something had to give.
Iowa burned out in the bottom of the 10th. The Hawkeyes were almost out of the inning with two Badgers put away, but they ended up with the deciding blow in bottom half of the 10th. Junior Brooke Wyderski hit a walk-off RBI double into right field to seal the deal, giving the Badgers a 6-5 win and a 2-1 series win over the Hawkeyes.
“I can’t say enough about the fight in this group,” head coach Marla Looper said in a release. “That’s really all that needs to be said about this game. They continued to fight, claw, and grind throughout that game. I’m proud of my young ladies. We came out as a team, put forth great effort, never gave up, and had the chance to win that game both in regulation and then again in the ninth.”
The Hawkeyes are starting to develop a theme of starting slow in series against Big Ten opponents. In their first game of each respective series against Illinois, Purdue, and Wisconsin, the Hawkeyes lost by a combined score of 20-3. In their game against Illinois, it ended in the fifth inning because of the run-rule. Iowa needs to get in its comfort zone earlier on in series, especially as it gets closer to the toughest part of its schedule.
The positive from the weekend for the Hawkeyes is that they were able to steal a win from Wisconsin to avoid the sweep. They continue to prove that they are capable of hanging with tough Big Ten opponents. They now need to prove they can not only beat these teams, but win series against them in order to be taken as a serious threat in the future.
In the first game against Wisconsin, the Hawkeyes were slowly beaten down. The Badgers scored first and consistently throughout the game, giving the Hawkeyes no chance to respond, and they lost, 8-1.
Iowa stole the second game thanks to building a strong lead early on. The Hawkeyes rattled off 10 hits, and they were first to score as well. After scoring 1 run in the first, Iowa scored 3 in the fifth. The Badgers mounted a brief comeback in the bottom of the fifth to bring the game within 1, but they were unable to score anything more. Iowa won, 4-3.
“We will regroup, and we won’t get our heads down,” Looper said in a release. “We fought all the way through this game. I’m proud of these young ladies. We will get back on the horse Tuesday and drive to UNI.”