The Iowa softball team had a different outcome in mind for the four seniors who played their last home game as Hawkeyes on Sunday afternoon.
“The best part of coaching these girls have been that they are a funny group,” head coach Marla Looper said. “They’re a quirky group. They’re funny at times, they’re intense, and they’re stubborn, but that’s what I love about all of them.”
After the game, the Hawkeyes celebrated seniors Elizabeth Wiegand, Claire Fritsch, Kaitlyn Mullarkey, and Shayla Starkenburg.
“They each have their own personality,” Looper said. “They bring it with them every day, and I want them to be themselves. I’m excited to see what they’re going to do in the real world, but it’s not time yet; we still have games to play this year.”
The Hawkeyes on Sunday dropped the series finale against Northwestern, 5-2, in a hard-fought battle of defense at Pearl Field.
Northwestern was first on the board, wasting no time to ruin the mood of Senior Day. The Wildcats put a 2-spot on the scoreboard before the Hawkeyes had their first chance at the plate.
Sabrina Rabin was the first Wildcat to score.
After a Morgan Nelson sacrifice fly and a wild pitch, Rabin and Anna Petersen put Northwestern ahead 2-0.
The Hawkeyes responded in the bottom of the first, scoring a run of their own. Freshman Lea Thompson drilled a triple down the left field line and scored on freshman Brooke Rozier’s sacrifice fly.
In the top of the second, the Wildcats retook the lead on a Krista Williams RBI single to deep left field.
Until the top of the seventh, both teams were quiet, doing little on offense. In fact, Iowa was stopped in its tracks each time it got a runner in scoring position.
“We just didn’t execute on offense today,” Mullarkey said. “We couldn’t get runners across the plate, and that’s what you need to do to win. We need to be more aggressive and efficient on offense.”
In the top of the fourth, Iowa brought out Wiegand in relief to take the mound, and she dominated Northwestern batters.
At one point, she had retired seven Wildcats in a row.
“My main focus coming into the game was to throw different pitches and mix it up,” Wiegand said. “I wanted to give a different look than what they had seen all game.”
But in the top of the seventh, Wildcat batters were able to get a couple hits off Wiegand.
They added 2 runs on 2 hits, scoring Abbey Boyd and Rabin.
Throughout the game, Iowa struggled with playing balls on the ground. It seemed as if each time a batter hit a grounder, Iowa couldn’t wrangle it in and get a much-needed out.
The Hawkeyes have clinched a spot in the Big Ten Tournament, however, which is the silver-lining coming out of a disappointing weekend.
The team will find out its seeding today, as there are a few more games that need to be played, but the Hawkeyes feel confident going in — especially with the motivation of being left out of the tournament last year.
