Numbers indicate early-season success for Iowa softball
Iowa softball went 6-0 last weekend with several individuals posting some big-time numbers.
University of Iowa softball player Allison Doocy winds up to pitch during a game against Western Illinois University on Tuesday, Apr. 17, 2018. The Fighting Leathernecks defeated the Hawkeyes 2-1.
February 25, 2019
Iowa softball had one of its most fruitful performances in recent memory last weekend, winning each of its six games.
The Hawkeyes struggled to get the bats going in the first few opportunities of the season, but strong showings in Orlando, Florida, gave Iowa a lot of bright spots to work with.
Several individual Hawkeyes have put up strong numbers, helping the team to the early season success.
Mayhew hit 10-for-16 over the weekend
In her first season at Iowa, junior transfer DoniRae Mayhew is making a big impact. The big hitter — who also is in the team’s starting pitching rotation this season — was relatively quiet in the first few weeks of the year. On Feb. 17, Mayhew went yard in game-winning fashion, and she hasn’t hit the pause button since.
Junior Donirae Mayhew, infielder, shouts congratulations to a teammate during the Iowa v Kirkwood softball game at the Pearl Softball Complex in Coralville on Sept 14, 2018. The Hawkeyes defeated the Kirkwood Eagles 10-6.
Last weekend, Mayhew went 10-for-16 with a home run and 3 doubles, in addition to scoring 10 runs and putting up 5 RBIs. She took the circle on Feb. 22 against Fordham and pitched 4 innings, giving up only 1 earned run.
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Mayhew leads the team in doubles (4), hits (15), home runs (2), and RBIs (8). She also ranks first in the team in batting average (.385) among those who have more than 5 at-bats. Don’t look now, but Mayhew could be the future of Iowa softball.
Doocy’s 1.69 ERA leads the team this season
Iowa’s starting ace Allison Doocy has picked up right where she left off last season.
The right-hander gained several preseason honors heading into 2019. She has lived up to expectations, and last weekend, she gave some of the best performances of her career.
She started three games for the Hawkeyes, pitching the full seven innings in each and giving up merely a single earned run. Her performance on Feb. 23 was particularly noteworthy — she only gave up 1 hit against Fordham and was perfect through the fifth.
Doocy is Iowa’s most stable asset. She has had only one outing this season in which she gave up more than 3 earned runs and has posted 4 or more strikeouts in six of her 10 appearances.
Five Hawkeyes are hitting at least .300
Especially last weekend, consistency appeared across the board for Iowa’s hitters. Five Hawkeyes are hitting at least .300 on the year.
Mayhew (.385) is joined by Kate Claypool (.500), Cameron Cecil (.333), Mallory Kilian (.308), and Hallie Ketcham (.300).
Kilian — one of the team’s two seniors — has led the charge with consistent batting.
She reached base in all but one of the team’s games last weekend, scoring 2 runs and putting up an additional RBI. Even when the team struggled to get the bats going in matchups earlier in the season, Kilian found ways to get on base. That is certainly an important talent.
Even though the team has seen how much it can struggle this season, it has a lot it can work with. The strong individual performances helped make a perfect weekend for the team in Orlando, and with Big Ten play just around the corner, replication is the name of the game.
