Iowa softball escapes Orlando with two wins
Iowa softball returns from a heavy weekend slate with two wins on a game-winning home run from DoniRae Mayhew.
Iowa’s Allison Doocy delivers a pitch during Iowa’s Big Ten tournament game against Ohio State at the Goodman Softball complex in Madison, WI. The Hawkeyes defeated the Buckeyes, 5-1. (Nick Rohlman/The Daily Iowan)
February 17, 2019
Iowa softball gained its second and third wins of the season in the Diamond 9 Citrus Blossom last weekend.
The Hawkeyes took down Kansas and Massachusetts in the invitational but also saw losses to Missouri, Villanova, and St. Joe’s.
The team saw two matchups on its Friday slate, losing to Villanova in its first outing but taking down Kansas in its second.
The loss to Villanova was competitive; the Hawkeyes tied the game at 2 runs apiece in the top of the fifth inning on a 2-RBI single from senior Mallory Kilian.
Despite a valiant five strikeout effort from DoniRae Mayhew, the Hawkeye comeback came up short after a Villanova rally in the bottom of the fifth.
“DoniRae gave us a good outing [against Villanova] but there are still some things [we] are working through to make ourselves more successful,” head coach Renee Gilliespie said in a release. “[Kilian] did a great job with a single that score two runs for us.”
Later that day, Iowa’s ace Allison Doocy threw a complete game against Kansas and only gave up one run to the Jayhawks.
Iowa’s freshman Miranda Schulte posted the first RBI of her career at the bottom of the first inning. She gave the Hawkeyes a lead it would never relinquish. Doocy held the Jayhawks scoreless until a late rally in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough as the Hawkeyes sealed up their first win of the weekend.
“The defense was really backing me up, making the plays they needed to and we saw some progress in our at-bats,” Doocy said in a release. “We had a lot more quality at-bats today.”
The Hawkeyes showed some fatigue the next day, dropping matchups against Mizzou and St. Joe’s. Doocy had a tough outing against Mizzou’s big bats, giving up 5 earned runs in 4.1 innings pitched. Iowa’s closer Erin Riding came slowed things down in relief, but sluggish batting from the Hawkeyes held them back to a 9-1 loss.
The next game against St. Joe’s yielded much of the same results. Sophomore Aralee Bogar and Kilian found some light on the offensive end, but it wasn’t enough for the team on its way to a 4-1 loss.
Iowa’s offense showed up against Massachusetts in its biggest outing of the season so far. The team came out in full force against the Minutewomen in the seventh inning with the game knotted at 3 apiece. Mayhew lit off on a homerun to left center field, driving in Kilian and sealing the game up for the Hawkeyes.
Kilian went 3-for-3 in the win and scored 3 runs. Doocy pitched another complete game, this time only giving up 3 earned runs on 6 strikeouts.
“They are all coming together [and] doing what they needed to do,” Gillispie said in a release.
Mayhew’s late game heroics helped the Hawkeyes come away from Orlando with two wins and some much-needed momentum. The Hawkeyes return to action next weekend again in Orlando with a heavy schedule of five games.
