The Iowa softball team snatched two of three games from Big Ten rival Michigan State over the weekend in East Lansing, Michigan. The result improves the Hawkeyes to 31-17 on the season and 12-7 in league play.
Here are three takeaways from the series triumph:
Pitching prevails
Starting pitcher Jalen Adams tossed all seven innings in both Hawkeye victories. The Iowa ace struck out four and allowed one earned run on five hits in a 3-1 win in game one.
Game two began on a promising note, as first-year pitcher Talia Tretton threw 6 ⅔ innings, but Adams was forced to relieve Tretton in the seventh after the freshman walked two batters.
With runners on the corners, Adams promptly surrendered a walk-off three-run homer. All three runs were charged to Tretton’s earned run average, as she was the one who allowed the runners to reach.
Game three was a little shakier than game one for Adams, as she gave up four runs on five hits with three strikeouts and three walks. Three of the four Spartan runs, however, came in the fourth, as Adams settled in the last three frames to secure the victory.
Offense does just enough
The Iowa offense has been somewhat inconsistent all season, even to the point where head coach Karl Gollan made a few lineup changes after a loss to Illinois State. Since then, the Hawkeyes have put up five or more runs in six of 11 games.
This weekend, Iowa scored three in game one, two in the second contest, and six in the series finale. All three games were within three runs, and both Hawkeye wins were by just two runs.
In game one, catcher Desiree Rivera and designated hitter Hannah Lindsay were the heroes for the Iowa offense, driving in all three runs. Rivera was 1-for-3 with a game-tying RBI double in the third, and Lindsay followed with a go-ahead two-run shot in the fourth.
Iowa won game three, 6-4, with all six runs coming in the first two innings. The Hawkeyes couldn’t have asked for a better start, posting up five runs in the opening frame.
A bases-loaded walk drawn by Soo-Jin Berry put Iowa on the board. Tretton then stepped up and smacked a grand slam off the foul pole in left to cap off the five-run inning.
In the second, the Hawkeyes added on with a solo shot to straight away center field from second baseman Jena Young.
Walks haunt Hawkeyes in game two
Tretton allowed a whopping eight walks in the game two loss, and added a hit batter to make it nine free bases given up by the Iowa pitcher.
The two walks given up by Tretton in the seventh were the last straw for Gollan, as he decided to pull the first-year righty from the game with two outs and a one-run lead.
Just six pitches later, the Hawkeyes would find themselves strolling off the field in heartbreak after a walk-off homer allowed the Spartans to steal a game in the series.
Up Next
The Hawkeyes return to Pearl Field in Iowa City on Tuesday, April 29, for the second edition of the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series against Iowa State. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Big Ten Plus.