Second-year Brianna Johnson’s walkoff comeback for Iowa Tuesday afternoon in game two of its St. Thomas double header, marks just one example of the team’s ever growing connectedness and resilience that has been building since the beginning of the season.
The Hawkeyes, though picking up much-needed non-conference wins early in the season, have struggled to earn wins against their conference opponents. Iowa dropped a series to Ohio State to open conference play, and just recently lost 2-of-3 against Minnesota at home.
“We have just been slow to adjust since the fall in what we need to do,” head coach Stacy May-Johnson said. “Sometimes it takes us a few innings to make the adjustment, and in the case of Minnesota, we just never make that adjustment. At some point, we are going to make that happen.”
Tuesday marked a turning point for the Hawkeyes with two well-fought wins against St. Thomas, highlighted by Johnson’s walk-off.
Game two for Iowa saw little offense, but thanks to strong pitching, the Hawkeyes found themselves only down one in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Redshirt sophomore Nailyn Marshall entered as a pinch hitter to start the inning for the Hawkeyes. She battled in the box, fouling off five consecutive pitches before earning a walk after a 10-pitch at-bat.
First-year Mariah Myers then doubled to right-center, moving Marshall to third and brining the tying run up to the plate for Johnson with one out in the inning.
The infielder battled through four pitches, three of which she fouled off, before sending one deep to left-center field to give Iowa a 4-3 win.
“Going in, I knew just stick to the plan of just trying to get a ground ball with runners in scoring position,” Johnson said. “After I was just really excited for my team to get us the win with us being down most of the game.”
Johnson, over her two years with the program, has become one of Iowa’s key development players. In 2025, she appeared in 37 of the 53 games, starting 16 of them, but struggled on the offensive side of the ball. Through only 24 at-bats, Johnson earned just five runs, three hits, and nine walks.
The 2026 season has already been a spark boost for her, appearing in all but two games so far. Making a total of 27 starts, she has made 75 at-bats, earning 10 runs, 22 hits (three doubles and three home runs), and four walks.
A definite improvement from her freshman season, but Johnson is not the only young gun the Hawkeye program has this season. Iowa has 14 freshmen and sophomores on its roster this year, including some developed players like Johnson and some newcomers from the transfer portal.
“Its no secret our core is freshman and sophomore, which lends us a nice trajectory for the next few seasons,” May-Johnson said.
These young Hawkeyes have brought not only new talent to the program but also a sense of belonging and connectedness that head coach May-Johnson has been trying to preach to her players since preseason.
“Trusting each other and their abilities has really helped all of us,” Johnson said. “Our pitching has been strong, and it’s nice to know they have our back if we struggle on offense and vice versa for them.”
Tuesday’s comeback in a nonconference weekday doubleheader may seem of little importance for the program in the long run. Nevertheless, the victory demonstrates how the Hawkeyes have meaningful players like Johnson, who, when the time comes, can fight with resilience to help her team win regardless of the opponent.
“I think at this point we are the best version of ourselves, and we are in a really good place across the roster as we head into the stretch of Big Ten play,” May-Johnson said.