The Iowa softball team kept its winning streak alive with a nail-biting victory over Northern Iowa, 21-17, Wednesday night in Cedar Falls.
The Hawkeyes looked to have the game in hand with a 17-1 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Panthers did not want to give up and rallied a total of 15 runs in that bottom half inning alone.
“I was proud of our team’s resiliency and the way we responded,” Iowa head coach Stacy May-Johnson told HawkeyeSports. “We stayed composed, played the game we came here to play and stayed on them offensively.”
Third-year Avery Sapp led Iowa through the first three innings, only giving up one hit-by-pitch and four hits, one of which was a solo home run from UNI’s Finley Netten. Sapp was replaced by first-year Carly Brewer to start the fourth, and successfully got the first two batters out before the Panthers’ offensive explosion.
UNI coming into Wednesday had already set a new program single-season record for home runs, and it did not take long for that stat to grow. After four consecutive singles, Panther Brynn Acton hammered one to left center field, delivering a grand slam for UNI. But the hitting would not stop there, the Panthers would plate three more runs before Iowa placed Sapp back into the circle hoping to end the inning.
But the first batter Sapp faced nailed her first pitch down the left field line for yet another home run, just barely staying fair. She would walk three straight batters and hit another, allowing yet another run before being exchanged for fourth-year Serayah Neiss.
Though Neiss is Iowa’s strongest pitcher, even she struggled to get the third and final out of the inning, giving up five runs herself, including a three-run home run, before strikeout ended the inning. In just one half inning, the Panthers had gone through their nine-person lineup twice with two outs on the board, earned 15 runs off 11 hits and only two errors, closing the scoring gap to just one run at 17-16.
Saving Iowa, though, was its own offensive consistency, scoring in every inning except the seventh. The Hawkeyes plated three in the fifth inning with two home runs of their own: a solo shot for first-year McKenzie Leitgen and a two-run blast from Tory Bennett. Leitgen, who finished with five RBI, drove in the team’s 21st run with a single in the sixth.
Leah McAnally earned her 100th career RBI, her first of four. Mariah Myers drove in another four as nine different Hawkeyes recorded at least one RBI. Iowa finished the day with 23 hits and just three strikeouts.
Iowa found its offensive high in the third inning with eight total runs scored on seven hits and two defensive errors. The frame saw RBI from five different Hawkeyes, including McAnally and Leitgen again.
The Hawkeyes would continue in the fourth with an RBI from redshirt sophomore Nailyn Marshall and a two-run RBI from first-year Mariah Myers.
After a contested midweek, Iowa comes away with a 25-22 record and returns to conference play Friday, opening a three-game set against No. 3 Nebraska in Lincoln. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m. and can be streamed on Big Ten Plus.