The Iowa softball team ended its final spring invitational of the season with a 3-1 record at the LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Hawkeyes carried strong offensive momentum, earning two wins over Nicholls State, 5-3 and 8-5, and a win over Memphis, 11-2. Iowa’s only loss at the invitational came in the team’s second ranked matchup of the season. LSU took home the victory, 5-3, to end Iowa’s weekend.
Offensive dominance on day one
The Hawkeyes got off to a hot start in Baton Rouge with a 5-3 victory over the Nicholls State Colonels on Feb. 27.
A strong outing by fourth-year Serayah Neiss to start the first five innings on the mound for the Hawkeyes was highlighted by more than just a shutout performance, but a pitching milestone as well.
With striking out the first Colonel batter during the bottom of the third inning, Neiss earned the 350th strikeout of her career.
Fourth-year Tory Bennett led the Hawkeye offense in the first four innings with a deep home run to lead off the top of the fourth. The blast was her fifth of the season and the sixth of her career.
The latter three innings for the Hawkeyes saw a decrease in the offensive scoring and defensive actions, allowing the Colonels to sneak three runs across, closing the gap late in the seventh inning. But thanks to confident pitching by third-year Avery Sapp, the Hawkeyes earned a 1-0 record to start the weekend.
Game two for Iowa was no different as they carried their offensive momentum to an 11-2 victory in five innings over Memphis later that day.
First-year Braylen Conlon pitched her first collegiate complete game. She struck out four of the 18 batters she faced and only gave up two runs off three hits, and no walks.
Offensively, Iowa got off to a slow start, only scoring two runs through the first two innings and facing a tied game going into the third.
The Hawkeyes’ third inning was one to remember as Iowa would score five unanswered runs, with key batting discipline from first-years Kiyah Chavez and Mariah Myers earning much-needed walks with bases loaded for Iowa.
“We got two strong starts from our pitchers today, and they really shut down opposing offenses. Sereyah has been consistently improving, and we’re thrilled she’s a Hawkeye,” head coach Stacy May-Johnson told HawkeyeSports. “We’re still learning to play together, but we’re getting close.”
Hawkeyes split two well-fought games
Iowa’s rematch with Nicholls State featured similar offensive production.
Following a silent first inning, Iowa’s bats became hot with the Hawkeyes scoring five runs to end the second, highlighted by a deep triple to center field from third-year Devin Simon.
The Colonels answered back in the top of the third, however, scoring five of their own runs, off three hits and a multitude of Hawkeye defensive and pitching errors.
Iowa rebounded, scoring three more runs in the fourth, and with excellent pitching from Conlon and Sapp, the Hawkeyes outlasted the Colonels to earn their third win of the weekend.
Having only matched up with one ranked team so far this season, Iowa knew beating No. 17 LSU would take grit and confidence on both sides of the ball. But for the Hawkeyes, the Tigers were just too strong both offensively and defensively in the 5-3 loss.
Iowa remained in reach of LSU through the first three innings, only to see the single-run deficit fade away with a three-run RBI double by LSU’s Char Lorenz midway through the fourth.
The Hawkeyes tried to claw their way back with a late sacrifice fly in the fifth by fourth-year Avery Jackson and another RBI by third-year Leah McAnally in the sixth, only to see the three Iowa batters in the seventh fly out to the outfield to end the game.
Up Next
With the invitational and tournament part of the season finally wrapped up, Iowa moves to its first conference matchup of the season. The Hawkeyes will face the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio, with a three-game weekend starting on Friday, March 6, at 4 p.m.