March 13, 2007
Sacramento, CA – The University of Iowa softball team dropped two games Tuesday against Colorado State. Iowa lost game one, 1-0 in nine innings and game two, 5-4. Sophomore pitcher Brittany Weil struck out 12 batters, one shy of her career-high, in her first appearance of the season after missing the first five weeks with an injury.
Weil turned in a strong performance in game one, throwing seven complete innings with four hits and four walks. Weil struck out the side in the second inning, fanned two batters in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings and struck out one batter in the third. She was relieved by freshman Amanda Zust to start the eighth inning.
Colorado State’s Shannon Causgrove hit a two-out, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning for the 1-0 win. Before Causgrove’s home run, only five Colorado State batters advanced past first base.
Iowa stranded seven runners on the basepaths, including six in scoring position. Sophomore Colleen McGlaughlin collected two hits to lead Iowa’s offense. Junior Emily Nichols was one of five Hawkeyes with one hit, extending her Big Ten record hitting streak to 25 games.
Zust took the losss, throwing just under two innings of relief while striking out two.
Iowa took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning of game two. Nichols started the inning with her seventh home run of the season. She is now just one home run shy of tying Iowa’s career home run record and is on a 26-game hitting streak.
Sophomore Erin Riemersma followed with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior Sami Baugh. Riemersma scored on an RBI single by junior Summer Downs for the second run of the frame.
Colorado State used the long ball to gain a 3-2 lead in the fourth with a three-run home run by Ashley Munoz.
The Rams increased their lead to 4-2 in the fifth with an RBI single by Rebecca Penland. Colorado State tacked on another run in the sixth with an RBI triple by Brittany Huerta.
Iowa trimmed Colorado State’s lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth. Baugh led off with a walk and senior Jenna Spratt took her place at first. After a single by Downs, sophomore Rachel West laid down a sacrifice bunt to put two runners in scoring position. Freshman Taylor Leichsenring then hit a ground ball and Spratt was caught in a rundown for the second out of the inning. Sophomore Quinn Morelock then hit a pinch-hit, RBI single to score Downs.
The Hawkeyes came close to tying the contest in the bottom of the seventh, but could plate only one run. Riemersma walked and McGlaughlin reached on an error by the Colorado State second baseman. Both runners moved into scoring position on a passed ball and Riemersma scored on a sacrifice fly by Baugh, but Downs flew out to end the game.
Downs finished 3-4 with an RBI while Nichols went 2-4 with an RBI to lead Iowa at the plate.
Ackerson threw four innings in her fifth loss of the season. She allowed three runs on three hits while striking out two and walking two. Zust threw three innings in relief and gave up two runs on three hits. She struck out three and walked four.
Iowa returns to action Friday at the Capital Classic in Sacramento. The Hawkeyes open play Friday at 3 p.m. against BYU at Shea Stadium.