By the numbers: Iowa softball
As the 2021 college softball season winds down, The Daily Iowan examines some of Iowa’s most impressive numbers.
Iowa’s Allison Doocy pitches during a softball game between Iowa and Northwestern at Bob Pearl Softball Field on Saturday, April 17, 2021. The Wildcats defeated the Hawkeyes 9-7.
May 4, 2021
Through 36 games in 2021, Iowa softball has posted a 20-16 overall record — good for a share of fifth place in the Big Ten Conference standings.
With eight games remaining on the Hawkeyes’ schedule, The Daily Iowan examines the most potent numbers Iowa has put up this season.
24 Denali Loecker RBIs
This season, freshman first baseman Denali Loecker has driven in 24 runs for Iowa. Loecker currently ranks ninth in the Big Ten in total RBIs.
Loecker’s .327 batting average is tied for 16th in the league.
Last Saturday, Loecker amassed three RBIs with just one swing of the bat — vaulting a three-run home run over the Rutgers Softball Complex fence in Piscataway, New Jersey.
In four games against Minnesota April 23-25, Loecker hit .308 and racked up six RBIs.
On April 24, Loecker went 3-for-6 and hit five RBIs across two contests with the Golden Gophers.
One of Loecker’s best games of the season came against Purdue on March 28 in West Lafayette, Indiana. Locker went 3-for-4 from the plate, hitting a home run, a double, and four RBIs.
As a team, Iowa’s .226 batting average ranks 11th in the Big Ten. Iowa’s 126 RBIs are good for seventh in the league.
2.45 Earned Run Average
Behind three solid senior pitchers — Lauren Shaw, Allison Doocy, and Sarah Lehman — Iowa has posted a 2.45 ERA this season that ranks fifth in the Big Ten.
All three starting pitchers on Iowa’s staff boast ERAs that rank inside the top 25 in the Big Ten. Shaw’s 2.01 ERA is good for ninth, Doocy’s 2.11 ranks 11th, and Lehman’s 2.90 is 21st.
RELATED: Doocy throws no-hitter, Iowa softball sweeps Rutgers
Against Rutgers last Sunday, Doocy threw a five-inning no-hitter — the Hawkeyes’ first since 2015. The day before, Doocy became the sixth player in Hawkeye history to record 700 strikeouts.
Shaw pitched one of her best games of the season April 24. The LaGrange, Ohio, native gave up just one earned run on five hits against Minnesota.
When Iowa played Penn State in Florida March 12, Lehman tossed eight innings and surrendered no runs.
8 Riley Sheehy sacrifice bunts
While Riley Sheehy certainly isn’t the best hitter on Iowa’s roster, she’s still found a way to help the Hawkeyes offensively.
The now .233 hitter has helped advance Iowa runners all year via the bunt.
So far, Sheehy has racked up eight sacrifice bunts in 2021.
On April 24, the Newtown, Pennsylvania, native registered one sacrifice bunt and went 3-for-6 across two games of action.
Sheehy also lifted the Hawkeyes to victory April 24, hitting a walk-off single in the 10th inning of a game against Indiana.
Last Sunday, Sheehy recorded two hits, one of which was double, that resulted in two RBIs.
On two occasions, Sheehy has hit the ball three times in one game. She did so once against Michigan State Feb. 28 and again in a game with Northwestern April 17.
Iowa’s last two series of the season will be against Nebraska from May 7-9 and Illinois from May 14-16. Television and streaming providers for most of Iowa’s remaining eight games have yet to be announced.
