Riley Sheehy made sure Iowa softball finished the weekend with a memorable victory when she stepped up to the plate as there was a runner on third base with two outs in the tenth inning against Indiana.

After Indiana pitcher Emily Goodin released her 139th pitch of the day on a 0-1 count, Sheehy hit the ball right back to her, knocking off her glove. The ball was then picked up by shortstop Brooke Benson who threw it to first base, where Sheehy was ruled safe.

The runner, Sammy Diaz, had crossed home plate, giving the Hawkeyes a 2-1 win and Sheehy a RBI single as the team celebrated on the field in Iowa City.

“It was just a really exciting game the whole way through,” Sheehy, who played left field Sunday, said. “And I think everybody came up when they needed to in different situations, and I’m glad that I was able to come through for my team just like they had in previous innings.”

Diaz was placed on second to start the inning because of the international tiebreaker rule, which dictates that starting in the tenth inning, a runner is placed at second at the beginning of the inning.

Head coach Renee Gillispie described the emotions the Hawkeyes have had this season with Sunday’s game being the fifth time they’ve won an extra inning game.

“It’s crazy,” Gillispie said. “It’s been that crazy every time we have an extra inning game… It’s like their energy accelerates. They increase their focus and their discipline when we get into those extra innings. It’s interesting to see how they get motivated, but they actually get motivated more once we get into extra innings.

“So, it’s fun to watch. It’s fun to see them come in and want to be the one come in with that big hit.”

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Sheehy had been struggling at the plate on the weekend before making what should be one of the highest highlights the Hawkeyes have this year. In her previous 12 at-bats, she only had two hits.

She detailed from a player’s perspective on how the Hawkeyes become clutch in the final moment of extra inning games.

“We just make it work when we need to,” Sheehy said with a smile. “There’s a lot of heart on this team and it really shows in these games especially but it’s always fun to be in here and just is awesome. Somehow, we get in these situations, and we’re making them work.”

The heroic finish came after a wild seventh inning where the Hawkeyes were down to their final strike but found a way to send it to extra innings after center fielder Brylee Klosterman hit a single with the base loaded up the middle to tie up the game.

The Hawkeyes kept themselves in the game after that point with strong pitching from Lauren Shaw, who came in during the seventh inning. Though she let up a double in the ninth, she made sure no Hoosier crossed the plate in her three innings of work.

Allison Doocy pitched the first six innings.

“We just knew we had to make some kind of change and kind of keep them of balanced,” Gillispie said. “Shaw came in and did a great job in those extra-inning games and kind of closing the book for us. But they’re used to that. They like feeding off each other like that, and when Shaw came, she knew she needed to close for Doocy.”

Iowa took three games out of four against Indiana this weekend to improve its record to 13-7. Iowa will travel next weekend to Wisconsin for a four-game series.