March 24, 2004
BLOOMINGTON – The University of Iowa softball team was defeated by the Illinois State Redbirds, 3-1, Wednesday in Bloomington, IL. The Hawkeyes fall to 15-13 on the year, while the Redbirds evened their record at 12-12.
Illinois State got on the board in the bottom of the first when Emily Krueger hit a solo home run, then upped their lead to 3-0 with a pair of unearned runs in the third. With two outs, Krueger reached on an error and Kate State blasted a two-run home run.
The Hawkeyes picked up a run in the top of the fifth on an RBI-triple from Amanda Hentges. Freshman Sami Baugh led off with a pinch-hit single, and moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt by Laura Chipman before coming around to score on Hentges’s three-bagger.
Sophomore Ali Arnold pitched two and two-thirds innings and took the loss for Iowa. Lisa Birocci relieved her and pitched three and a third innings of no-hit ball.
Iowa will make its home debut this weekend at the Hawkeye Classic. Wisconsin and Ball State will provide the competition.