In a week-long series of games in the Silicon Valley Tournament, the Iowa softball team managed to go 6-5. Ending the tournament with four straight wins, the Hawkeyes now sit at 12-10 on the season. 

Here are three takeaways from the tournament. 

Errors continue to be an issue

Fielding errors continue to be an issue for the Hawkeyes. In each of their five losses, the Hawks had at least one error. 

In the loss to Loyola Marymount, Iowa had four errors. In the loss to Saint Mary’s, Iowa had three errors, while Saint Mary’s played a clean game with zero. In game one of the doubleheader with Santa Clara, Iowa only had one error. In the second game of the doubleheader, Iowa had four errors. 

Over the week in California, Iowa notably did much better in games when committing zero errors. In four of the six victories, the Hawkeyes did not have a single error. Look for a late-season push from the Hawks if they can clean it up on defense.

Hawks prove they can hit the ball 

The first four batters in the lineup, including Rylie Moss, Jena Young, Soo-Jin Berry, and Sammy Diaz, are all batting over .300 on the season.

This was prevalent against CSU Bakersfield, where the Hawks tallied up 17 runs as a team off 18 total hits. Six players recorded multi-hit games while eight different players recorded at least one RBI. Of those eight, six players had more than one RBI. 

In the win against Pacific, Iowa had a total of 10 runs off 10 hits. Six players recorded at least one hit in the win. First-year starter Berry continues to contribute offensively and recorded three hits and an RBI against Pacific.

Iowa softball can handle adversity

It is no secret that handling adversity is a key attribute to successful teams. Iowa softball has proven it can handle adversity.

The Hawkeyes lost four straight games to Santa Clara, LMU, UC Davis, and Saint Mary’s. They then bounced back, managing to win four straight games against Pacific and Sacramento State. 

Iowa will open up Big Ten play Friday with a three-game home series against the Wisconsin Badgers. First pitch is set for 5:00 p.m. at Bob Pearl Field. 

“It is great for us to close out this long trip with four solid wins. We had a lot of different people step up over the past four games and this is what we needed to see heading into conference next weekend,” head coach Renee Gillispie told Hawkeye Sports. “Once again Jaylee and Jalen gave us all they had in the circle and put us in a great position to win. Our offense came through today and capitalized when we had runners on. I am excited to see how we carry this momentum into our home opener on Friday.”