It was a speedy game of softball for the Hawkeyes Friday in the first game of a weekend matchup with Nebraska. 

And that 1-0 win for the Hawkeyes — in a game that lasted just one-and-a-half hours — featured a one-hit pitching performance by Allison Doocy. The senior pitcher kept the Huskers’ hitting squad to no hits for the first six innings and one hit overall in an 80-pitch game. The top of the first inning lasted just five pitches.

The Hawkeyes tallied six hits and one run against Huskers’ pitcher Olivia Ferrell, who threw 86 pitches.

The Hawkeyes’ home series at Bob Pearl Field is coming after the team swept Rutgers last weekend in Piscataway, New Jersey, capped by an historic Doocy-pitched no-hitter  on May 2.

After Friday’s win, the Hawkeyes are 21-16 on the season. 

Doocy held the Huskers hitless on Friday until the top of the sixth inning when Nebraska’s center fielder, Caitlynn Neal, lobbed a hit to left field for a single. Doocy walked the next batter, Brooke Andrews, after reaching full count.  

But the Iowa defense stepped in to cut the Huskers’ momentum short. 

Nebraska’s Cam Ybarra hit a ground ball toward second base, which Hawkeye shortstop Grace Banes scooped, stepped on second base, and threw to first for a double play to end the sixth inning. 

“We knew we still had control of the game. We were up one to zero,” Doocy said. “So at that point, it was just getting every out — every out counts. So, just not letting it get to two hits and just taking control of the game.”

Doocy struck out six batters and allowed just two walks for the game, continuing an efficient pitching streak.

“With having 10 hitless innings right now you know, she’s in her zone right now,” head coach Renee Gillispie said. 

The Hawkeyes’ last seven games will be critical for the team’s postseason play, Gillispie said, and Doocy’s dominance on the mound is helping continue momentum for the team. 

“She’s (Doocy) really playing hard, you know, the girls have their goal right now of being able to get to regionals,” Gillispie said. “These games are so important for us to get to that spot and get to Illinois next weekend. Because that’s going to be a major deciding factor of how we finish the last 10 games of the season.”

Selections for first rounds of the postseason tournaments are set for May 16 for teams that will play in the NCAA Regionals. The tournament field includes 64 teams — 31 that automatically qualify and 33 that are selected for at-large bids. From there, teams play in Super Regionals and the field is further narrowed to eight collegiate teams that will face off in the Women’s College World Series in June. 

With seven games to go in the regular season, Gillispie said the team’s goal is to go 10 for 10, but that if the Hawkeyes finish eight for 10 in their last 10 games, they will be in a good place when the Division I Softball Committee makes its selections.

“We finish strong in the last 10 games in the season, then we have to have a really hard look for the committee,” Gillispie said. “And again, it comes down to committee. So, it’s kind of out of our hands at that time. But what we have in our hands right now is what we can do with these next seven games.”

In preparing for the series this weekend after the four-game sweep in New Jersey last week, Doocy said the team wanted to continue momentum built from the first May weekend. 

“We were excited to be back home,” Doocy said. “And that’s always motivating, wanting to play in front of our home crowd. So, we just worked hard this week during practice to fix the little things that we’re doing wrong, but also just building on our strengths from last weekend.”

The Hawkeyes will take on the Huskers again Saturday for a doubleheader, starting at 11:30 a.m. at Pearl Field. The games will be streamed on BTN+.