By Jess Westendorf
After losing a gut-wrenching final game and series to Wisconsin, the Iowa softball team gears up to take on Northern Iowa at 6 p.m. today in Cedar Falls, hoping to take a bit of winning mojo with them and not the bad luck it experienced in Madison last weekend.After the matchup against Wisconsin, Iowa is now 3-6 in the Big Ten, but it gets a break from the grueling conference schedule in this midweek contest.
The Hawkeyes dropped the series opener 8-1 in Madison on April 7, but evened the series 1-1 after taking the second game, 4-3.
After 10 innings, Iowa fell short 6-5 in the series finale Sunday when Wisconsin’s Brooke Wyderski nailed a walk-off RBI single.
UNI is coming off of a 2-1 series victory against Southern Illinois, giving the Panthers an overall record of 20-14. The Panthers are ranked No. 55 in the nation with a 2.52 ERA this season.
The one thing Iowa does have heading into tonight’s game is the winning record against UNI. The Hawkeyes and the Panthers have competed 47 times, but Iowa leads the series, 30-17.
The last time both teams met, April 12, 2016, Iowa came out on top with a 6-3 victory.
It is no question that Iowa has struggled while going on the road this season. The last road series for the Hawkeyes has them at an even 3-3, winning the series at Purdue and falling to Wisconsin.
After tonight’s game against UNI, the Hawkeyes will head home to return to conference play against Nebraska in a double-header on Wednesday.
Nebraska will have the upper hand in the Big Ten standings going into Wednesday’s games; the Cornhuskers are 6-3 in the conference and swept Rutgers on April 8-9. The Huskers also hold a 17-12 series lead over the Hawkeyes.
Iowa proved that it could hold its own against Wisconsin, and the Hawkeyes will need to do the same against Nebraska. Iowa can’t afford to start the games off slowly. The team will need a solid defense and consistency at the plate to have a chance to show it can beat conference opponents as well as win series.