When the Iowa bats start cold, they often stay cold, and that’s a problem.

The Hawkeye softball team took three losses on the road this past weekend to a now 15-20 Maryland team. Each loss was within 3 runs.

The cause of the shortcomings? Iowa’s failure to make adjustments in the box.

“The pitchers we faced had off-speeds and down-balls,” head coach Marla Looper said. “We did a poor job, I think, at swinging at good pitches. We swung at a lot of bad pitches.”

Hitting has not been the highlight of the Iowa softball season. The team hits a low .234, the third-worst in the Big Ten. Maryland has the second-worst BA at .232.

Iowa will need to make those adjustments when it hosts the Northern Iowa today. Panther pitchers have held their opponents to a .273 batting average, while their hitters are whacking .301 as a team. They are led in the box by Brittney Roby, a senior hitting .435 with an on-base percentage of .496.

RELATED: Iowa bats lose three in weekend series with Maryland

Northern Iowa’s bats are hot, but if anyone’s pitching can silence them, it’s Iowa’s.

Iowa’s pitchers have the ability to give the Hawkeyes a chance. The Hawkeyes are second in the Big Ten with a 1.86 ERA. Allison Doocy has been the pride and joy for the Iowa faithful; she boasts a 1.34 ERA with 129 strikeouts.

She pitched two of Iowa’s three games against Maryland, and held the Terrapins to 2 runs, and 1 run, respectively. Yet each game, the Iowa bats behind her failed to put up the runs needed to win the close ballgames.

Pitching may be good, but offense is needed to win games.

Iowa bats have been cold all season. Junior Mallory Kilian has led the Hawkeyes in the box, batting .341 with 5 home runs and 7 doubles in the leadoff position. But the team needs to follow suit.

“We need to stay relaxed, yet keep that attacking mindset,” Kilian said. “Whether that’s on defense or in the box.”

Each pitcher is unique, and Iowa batters need to adjust to each one.

“We struggle with the same type of pitching, and we just didn’t make the adjustments this weekend,” Kilian said. “As we continue forward, we just need to make the adjustments faster.”

Northern Iowa will likely throw Jaclyn Spencer or Brooke Craig in today’s game at 5 p.m. at Pearl Field.

Spencer has a 2.62 ERA and has held opponents to a .275 batting average, and Craig has a 2.88 ERA and holds opposing batters to a .272 batting average.

After Iowa’s poor showing in Maryland, the nonconference match could put Iowa back on track.