Sixth-seeded Iowa softball’s Big Ten championship goals ended abruptly on Wednesday, as the Hawkeyes fell to the No. 11 Penn State Nittany Lions in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament by a final score of 6-2.
Iowa swept Penn State earlier this season, but the Nittany Lions secured the victory when it mattered most in the conference tournament.
Here are three takeaways from the Hawkeyes’ loss:
Rare rough outing for Jalen Adams
Iowa ace pitcher Jalen Adams has been sharp all season long, pitching to a 2.02 earned run average with 30 complete games and a record of 25-5 in the regular season.
Wednesday was a different story, however, as the Nittany Lions jumped all over the Iowa third-year, scoring two runs in the second inning and one in the third to take an early 3-0 lead.
Adams surrendered six earned runs on six hits and struck out two batters, while walking one. The rough start allowed Adams to throw just 4 ⅓ innings before Talia Tretton relieved the Hawkeye ace in the fifth.
Eight different Penn State hitters recorded a hit, with four posting two hits. The Nittany Lions finished with 12 hits, as their offensive outburst pushed them to an upset victory over Iowa.
Offense struggles
The Hawkeye hitters struggled to find any gaps in Wednesday’s loss, as they scattered just five hits to produce two runs. Iowa scored one run each in the fourth and fifth innings.
Shortstop Soo-Jin Berry and right fielder Devin Simon each drove in one run, both finishing 1-for-2 on the day. Catcher Desiree Rivera had the best day offensively for the Hawkeyes, going 2-for-4 in the loss.
After Iowa responded with a run in the fourth to cut the Penn State lead to 3-1, the Nittany Lions scored three more in the top of the fifth, and the Hawkeyes were unable to mount a comeback.
Iowa’s batters were able to put the ball in play, as they only struck out five times as a team. The Hawkeyes also walked five times, but couldn’t find the grass to bring the baserunners home and left eight runners on base.
Big day from Barbanente haunts Hawkeyes
Penn State second baseman Michela Barbanente saw the ball extremely well, as she went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer in the second inning, along with an RBI triple in the fifth.
Barbanente has been an RBI machine all season for the Nittany Lions, and that trend continued on Wednesday. Barbanente had driven in 33 runs in the regular season, adding three more to that total in the Penn State win.
The second-year infielder has hit for a .281 average and a .400 on-base percentage this season. Barabenente tallied seven total bases in the 6-2 win over the Hawkeyes to bring her season total to 63.
Up next
Iowa, now 35-18 overall, will anxiously await to see if its name gets called for the NCAA tournament on Selection Monday on May 11. The event will be televised by ESPN2 at 6 p.m. local time.