Sept. 24, 2008
IOWA CITY – The University of Iowa softball team opened its fall season with a perfect 3-0 record, defeating Drake, Northern Iowa and Iowa State last weekend to claim the All Iowa Classic title. The tournament was hosted by Northern Iowa.
“This was a good first weekend for us,” Head Coach Gayle Blevins said. “It was great to get out and play an opponent instead of practicing against each other. Our pitchers did a nice job of controlling games and it was good to see our offense make adjustments throughout the weekend.”
The Hawkeyes were led, offensively, by senior Colleen McGlaughlin and junior Katie Brown along with senior Quinn Morelock. McGlaughlin batted .766 with a .1000 slugging percentage. She added one home run, two doubles, four RBI and two runs scored. Brown hit .500 and also slugged at a .1000 clip. The Spirit Lake, IA, native collected two home runs, two doubles and three RBI. Morelock had two hits on the weekend, both of which were home runs.
Iowa’s pitching staff of senior Brittany Weil and junior Amanda Zust kept the opponents in check throughout the weekend. Weil tossed 10 innings and allowed only two earned runs on three hits, while striking out 10. Zust threw 11 innings and gave up only one earned run on four hits with nine strikeouts.
Senior Erin Riemersma shined, defensively, at shortstop with six putouts and 11 assists without committing an error.
Iowa opened the tournament with a 6-2, comeback win over Drake. The Hawkeyes trailed early in the game, 1-0, but back-to-back doubles by Brown and McGlaughlin along with a fielder’s choice gave Iowa the lead. McGlaughlin then hit a three-run home run in the late innings, followed by a solo home run by Brown for the win.
The Hawkeyes took on Northern Iowa later in the day. The Panthers stormed out to an early 3-0 lead in the first. Iowa responded in the fourth with a double by McGlaughlin and a pinch-hit, two-run home run from Morelock. The Hawkeyes entered the top of the seventh still trailing, 3-2, but a pinch-hit RBI by freshman Katie Keim scored junior Lindsey Digmann to tie the game, and a Brown home run gave the Hawkeyes the lead for good.
Iowa wrapped up the weekend with a win over Iowa State Sunday afternoon. The Hawkeyes plated three of their four runs off a three-run home run by Morelock in the first inning.
Iowa will wrap up fall action Oct. 4-5 by hosting the Hawkeye Classic at Pearl Field. Perennial Big 12 contenders Nebraska and Kansas along with Western Illinois are set to compete in the Classic. Iowa will face Kansas (4 p.m.) and Nebrasksa (6 p.m.) Saturday. The teams will have rematches Sunday, with the Hawkeyes taking on the Jayhawks at 12:30 p.m. and the Cornhuskers at 4:30 p.m.