Iowa softball is on a powerful streak heading into this weekend’s slate of games in the Saluki Invitational in Carbondale, Illinois.

The Hawkeyes have won nine of their last 11 games, largely because hitter DoniRae Mayhew and pitcher Allison Doocy have been nothing short of dominant.

They will try to put in some of the same work this weekend with matchups against Illinois-Chicago and Wisconsin-Green Bay on March 8, Butler on March 9, and Wisconsin-Green Bay and Miami (Ohio) on March 10.

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Mayhew and Doocy represent the changing atmosphere in the program; they have both been steady and effective in their own ways for first-year head coach Renee Gillispie.

Mayhew — a junior transfer in her first year at Iowa — had a coming-out party at the team’s appearance at the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic on Feb. 22-24. She put up big numbers in that series, 3 doubles and a home run with a .625 average.

Since then, she’s been building on the team-leading numbers. She has 5 doubles on the season with 2 home runs and 9 RBIs on a team-leading .358 batting average (among those with a minimum of 5 at-bats).

On the mound, Iowa’s ace Doocy has picked up right where she left off last season, ranking fourth in the conference with 79 strikeouts.

But even more impressively, she has almost single-handedly been the team’s go-to starter. Doocy leads the team with 81 innings pitched — the closest pitcher, closer Erin Riding, checks in at 20.1 innings.

Iowa racked up an eight-game winning streak heading into the last weekend, before losing a game to Middle Tennessee on March 2.

It’s hard to see that streak lasting as long as it did without Doocy and Mayhew. Doocy was a major player during the streak, tossing a 0.74 ERA, striking out 34, and giving up only 4 earned runs. Mayhew batted .556 with 4 doubles and 2 dingers.

Even though it’s early in the season, both are making their marks on the conference. Even more importantly, Mayhew transferred from an Iowa community college heading into the first year of Gillispie’s tenure. It’s hard to imagine Mayhew’s early success hurting Iowa’s stock in recruiting in-state talent.

The most important games are only a few weeks away. This weekend’s matchups are the last purely nonconference weekend slates for the rest of the season; Iowa will take on a three-game series against Purdue on March 23-24.

Now, as the team builds toward the conference, it has a lot of work to do to become the team it wants to be. But with players such as Mayhew and Doocy posting big numbers, the program rebuilding could happen at a quicker pace than previously thought.

The team’s first action March 8 comes against Illinois-Chicago at 10 a.m., followed by a matchup against Wisconsin-Green Bay shortly after at 12:15 p.m.