By Jess Westendorf
The Iowa softball team (15-27) continued conference play against No. 5 Minnesota (43-3) and could not overcome Minnesota’s high-powered offense, dropping all three games of the series in Minneapolis.
Game 3 (Sunday)
It wasn’t until the series finale on Sunday that the Hawkeyes settled in. Iowa fought hard but dropped the series finale, 3-0.
“We did a better job of coming out and attacking the game today,” head coach Marla Looper said in a release. “We had a different game plan offensively and got deeper in the counts because of that. Offensively, we put balls in play and got runners on base. That changed the environment and the feel of the game.”
Freshman Allison Doocy took the mound for Iowa, notching 3 strikeouts in 6 innings.
The Hawkeyes were able to keep the Gophers silent for the first two innings, but in the bottom of the third, Maddie Houlihan hit a 2-run home run to put Minnesota on the board.
Freshman McKenzie Schneider and junior Sarah Kurtz were the only Hawkeyes to come up with hits; both went 1-for-3.
Minnesota added to its lead in the fifth when Houlihan hit an RBI single up the middle.
Games 1 and 2 (April 21-22)
Iowa gave up 5 runs in the series-opener on April 21, but lack of defense seemed to stay with Iowa throughout the series.
Minnesota scored a total of 17 runs throughout the series, and Iowa just couldn’t respond.
Doocy took the mound on April 21 but only pitched 4.2 innings.
“I like the way Allison Doocy threw at the beginning of the game,” Looper said in a release. “Unfortunately, we had a couple of untimely errors in the fifth inning that allowed them to open up a little. They are a good enough team as it is, and when you give them extra outs, you make it more challenging for yourself.”
Games one and two were a bit more lopsided than the final game of the series on Sunday, and Minnesota took the first one on April 21, 5-0, and on April 22, 9-1 in five innings.
“Minnesota is a solid team, there’s no doubt about it,” Looper said. “That doesn’t mean we need to give them extra opportunities. When a team like that is given extra opportunities, they are going to take advantage of them. When we have opportunities, we need to make the most of them. It’s pretty simple.”
Minnesota got on the board first on April 22, scoring 3 in the bottom of the first inning after an Iowa error.
Senior Claire Fritsch scored the only run for Iowa and went 1-for-2 on the day. Fritsch singled and advanced to third after junior Katy Taylor dropped down a sacrifice bunt, and she eventually scored on a rare Minnesota error.
The Gophers then added 1 run in the bottom of the third when Dani Wagner hit a solo home run over the center field wall, as well as 2 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on a Houlihan 2-run homer to left.
Iowa redshirt freshman Brooke Rozier went 1-for-2, and Cheyenne Pratt went 1-for-3 for Iowa. Shayla Starkenburg took the loss in the second game after going four innings.
The Hawkeyes will have a small break from conference play to take on Western Illinois on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Pearl Field, before heading to Columbus for a series with Ohio State Friday through April 30.
