The Iowa softball team lost its fourth straight Big Ten series with a two-games-to-one series loss to Indiana at Bob Pearl Field in Iowa City. With the harsh weather on Friday, the teams decided to play a doubleheader on Saturday, with the Hoosiers taking both games and the Hawkeyes rebounding with a win on Sunday.
Pitching duel in game one
In game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, Iowa fell in a defensive battle, 2-1, to start the weekend.
Third-year Avery Sapp logged the start for the Hawkeyes, going 3 ⅔ innings, giving up three hits, six walks, and one run. Following her in the circle was fourth-year Serayah Neiss, who ended the game with four hits, one walk, and one run surrendered while striking out four batters.
“Sapp did a really good job at controlling the count, the best she has, I think, done all year,” head coach Stacy May-Johnson said. “I was happy with her outing, but of course, we need to cut down on the walks.”
From groundouts to flyouts, the Hawkeyes struggled offensively against the Hoosiers in game one. The Hawkeyes struck out in five of their 26 at-bats and earned one run off five total hits, with the one run being a solo home run by second-year Kiara Sipe.
Offense was not the only area Iowa saw struggles in, as the Hawkeyes also had some defensive errors that possibly cost them the game.
With the strong winds this weekend, both teams found themselves creating some unpredictable bloopers and pop-ups. But for Iowa defensively, back-to-back hits fell in between the same three players in the shallow outfield, which could have been a deciding factor.
“It’s been problematic all year, and I think we were just not making the right decisions and reads off the bat, and if you don’t have a strong drop step on the ball, those balls are going to fall,” May-Johnson said.
Big late inning spoiled by extra inning pitching duel
To end Saturday’s doubleheader, the Hawkeyes found themselves dueling it out late against the Hoosiers, eventually falling 9-7 in the 10th inning.
Offensively, Iowa scored one run in the second and a run in the fourth before exploding with a five-run sixth inning, highlighted by a three-run RBI triple by fourth-year Tory Bennett.
“I mean, I don’t care how it happens, as long as I score a run and clear the bases when it needs to happen, that’s all that matters,” Bennett said. “ I think the momentum shifted our way there, but we need to be able to close it out late.”
Defensively, the Hawkeyes performed better, but still not fully sound. Neiss led Iowa in the circle for 6 ⅔ innings until Indiana rebounded with its own five-run inning. Leading the Hawkeyes to the end was first-year Carly Brewer. The two pitchers combined gave up 11 hits, nine runs, and five walks on 46 Hoosier batters.
“It seemed like the longer Neiss stayed in the game, the better the opposing team got at matching her pitching speed,” May-Johnson said. “Carly gave us a really good outing too; we just didn’t come up with that last run.”
Hawkeyes rebound in Sunday game three
After extending its losing streak Saturday, Iowa came into Sunday ready to go early, finishing the weekend with a 4-2 victory.
The weekend’s sound pitching continued Sunday as first-year Braylen Conlon led the Hawkeyes through five innings, giving up only three hits, three walks, and one run.
“I think the mindset going into this game was like how our coach put it best, ‘to not roll over and die,’ and every time a runner got on, I trusted my defense behind me to back me up,” Conlon said.
At the plate, Iowa also excelled, scoring three runs in the first inning off two doubles and two singles. The Hawkeyes ended the game with nine total hits, but ultimately left nine base runners stranded.
“We certainly had a lot of opportunities to score and just didn’t bring as many across as we wanted to, something we need to do better at,” May-Johnson said.
Up Next
With a 23-22 overall record, the Hawkeyes take a short break from conference play with two back-to-back midweek games against in-state rivals. Iowa plays at Iowa State on Tuesday at 4 p.m. CST and at Northern Iowa on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. CST.