By Jacob Miller
This season has not gone according to plan for the Iowa softball team, but it is still too early to give up on the Hawkeyes. Losing 12 in a row is not ideal and concerning, but it is not the end of the world. Yet.
The past two games however, we saw a different team than earlier this season. This is how and why the Iowa softball team can still turn things around before conference play.
Kaitlyn MullarkeyMullarkey has been a major part of the Iowa softball program for the past two years, leading the team in almost every major batting statistical category.
She is almost capable of turning this team around by herself.
As one of the leaders of the team, it will be up to her and the other senior leaders to decide what they want their legacy to be.
There is plenty of talent on this roster, but it is a matter of someone stepping up to get the Hawkeyes over the hump; Mullarkey is capable of being that X-factor.
Pitching
Pitching has been a relatively high point for the Hawkeyes this season.
Redshirt senior Shayla Starkenberg leads the pack with an ERA of 2.76. The team’s ERA is 3.49, eighth in the Big Ten.
That does not sound too impressive, but the ninth-highest team ERA is Michigan State at 3.89. The only difference between the two is Michigan State is 12-4 and Iowa is 2-12. Iowa’s pitching can still improve, but it certainly isn’t holding the team back.
Scoring early, keeping games close
A big thing that Mullarkey and the Hawkeyes have been striving to do this season is score early.
In the first three games of the Judi Garman Classic, Iowa failed to do so, but this changed against No. 20 Arizona State. The Hawkeyes not only scored 2 runs in the first inning, they then scored again in the fifth to extended their lead to 3.
Unfortunately, this all came crumbling down in the seventh and then later in the 10th, but the bottom line is the Hawkeyes play like they still have fight in them, not like a team that has given up on the season.
Defense, defense
The only major criticism is defense.
This team does not have a freakishly large number of errors, but the errors happen at inopportune times.
Against Arizona State, the Hawkeyes had 3-0 lead going into the seventh, yet they were not able to finish the game. Two of the 3 runs the Sun Devils scored were due to an error. Those runs pushed it into extra innings, where the Sun Devils eventually pulled away with a victory.
It is easy to say this must be fixed, but one can only practice fundamentals for so long. It is about showing that on the field, and the Hawkeyes have failed to show off the clutch factor during games.
The errors not only need to be limited, but they cannot happen in important moments of the game. If Iowa can minimize its errors in major moments, then the wins will begin to snowball and before anyone knows it, the Hawkeyes will be back in contention.
