The Iowa softball team traveled to Eugene, Oregon, to face No. 18 Oregon for a three-game series on April 3-5. The Hawkeyes were swept by the Ducks and sit at 21-16 overall and 5-10 in the Big Ten.
Game One
Iowa fell to Oregon on Friday to open the three-day series. The Ducks beat the Hawkeyes 10-1 in six innings. The Ducks struck first, putting up three runs with two home runs in the first inning.
The Hawkeyes responded in the third, with senior Avery Jackson advancing to third on a single after she reached on a walk. Tory Bennett, also a senior, brought Jackson in with a single to put Iowa on the board.
In the fourth, Oregon increased its lead with three more crossing the plate, giving the Ducks a six-run advantage. The Hawkeyes were unable to put up any more runs, as Oregon scored three more in the sixth, securing the victory.
“We didn’t control the score. We pushed one across in the third, but it could have been a lot more. Our pitchers have the stuff to get batters out, they just need to be more consistent,” head coach Stacy May-Johnson told Hawkeye Sports.
Game Two
Despite a tough battle, the Hawkeyes fell to the Ducks in the second game on Saturday, 14-13, in eight innings.
The Ducks scored first, scoring two runs off a single. The Hawkeyes responded in the second, with Leah McAnally hitting her sixth home run of the season, putting Iowa on the board. Oregon put up two more runs in the bottom of the second off a triple, increasing its lead to 4-1.
In the top of the third, the Hawkeyes scored six runs to take a 7-4 lead. Junior Devin Simon singled and stole second. Bennett drove in a run with a double and later scored.
The Hawkeyes then loaded the bases, and freshman McKenzie Leitgen singled, driving in two more runs. Freshman Phoenyx Silva answered with an RBI single to finish off the inning.
Oregon then hit its second two-run triple of the game in the bottom of the third to cut Iowa’s lead to one.
In the fourth, Simon hit a solo home run, and Mariah Myers delivered an RBI single to make the score 9-6. Oregon responded in the bottom of the frame with a solo home run.
The Hawkeyes scored two runs in the fifth and sixth innings, with back-to-back home runs from Simon and Jackson in the fifth, and a two-run homer from Myers in the sixth. The Ducks brought in a run each in the fifth and sixth, leaving the Hawkeyes ahead 13-9 after six innings.
Oregon tied the game with four runs in the seventh. In the eighth, the Ducks walked it off with a sacrifice fly for the 14-13 win.
While the Hawkeyes fell in the second game, they had a lot of positives come out of it. This is the fourth time this season Iowa has scored at least 6 runs in an inning, and they have recorded 12 multi-home run games this season, with this one being the second game they hit five. Simon also accomplished her first career multi-home run game.
“I’m proud of the team. We hung with Oregon offensively, but we just let things get away from us. That’s what it’s been the last two weekends — we’re close but not quite putting ourselves on the right side of things. We’ve seen a lot of resilience from this team, and I’m honestly not surprised to see them come out and perform the way they did offensively today,” May-Johnson told Hawkeye Sports.
Game Three
In the series finale, Iowa fell to Oregon, 6-2. The Ducks scored first off a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first inning. In the fourth, Bennett robbed a would-be home run, but Oregon came back with a one-out two-run homer to bring the score to 3-0.
Iowa responded in the fifth with Myers and Silva advancing into scoring position. Leitgen drove Myers in with a single, and Echo Mattiello entered as a pinch runner for Silva and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jackson, pulling the Hawkeyes within one.
In the final inning, Oregon pulled away with three runs in the sixth to hang on for the win to sweep the series.
Up Next
The Hawkeyes return home for the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series against Iowa State. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. CT on Wednesday, April 8, at Bob Pearl Field.