Feb. 15, 2009
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- SoftBlog
TEMPE, AZ – The University of Iowa softball team wrapped up action at the Littlewood Classic by pounding Tennessee-Chattanooga, 8-0 in six innings Sunday. The Hawkeyes collected a season-high 10 hits in the contest and now stand at 7-3 overall.
Senior Brittany Weil improved her record to 5-2 with another impressive outing. The Garden Grove, CA, native tossed her fifth complete game and third shutout of the season. She allowed only two hits while striking out nine and walked only one batter.
Weil struck out 35 batters on the weekend and moved into fourth place on Iowa’s all-time strikeouts list. She currently has 798 career K’s and passed Terri McFarland, who struck out 791 batters from 1989-92. Lisa Birocci holds Iowa’s strikeout record with 946.
Iowa wasted no time in scoring, plating one run in the bottom of the first. Senior Sam Heinzman started the inning with a walk and then swiped second. Junior Katie Brown collected her sixth RBI of the season, driving in Heinzman with a single for a 1-0 lead.
The Hawkeyes then put the game out of reach in the fourth and fifth innings, scoring three runs in each of the frames for a 7-0 advantage.
Senior Colleen McGlaughlin singled to lead off the fourth and was pinch-run for by senior Rachel West, who then stole second. Freshman Liz Watkins took one for the team and senior Quinn Morelock followed with a three-run home run to give the Hawkeyes a 4-0 advantage.
Brown drew a walk to start things in the fifth and moved to second on a fielder’s choice off the bat of freshman Katie Keim. McGlaughlin then laid down a bunt that was booted by the Chattanooga second baseman, allowing Brown to score. Watkins drove in the final two runs of the inning with a double to the right-center field gap.
Iowa ended the game in the sixth with another RBI by Brown. Junior Taylor Leichsenring started the inning with her third hit of the game and took second on a throwing error. She moved to third when a ground ball from senior Erin Riemersma was misplayed. Brown then plated Iowa’s eighth run with a single.
Leichsenring once again led Iowa at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a run scored. Riemersma and Brown each had two hits, with Brown and Watkins adding two RBI.
The Hawkeyes return to action Friday when they travel to Kennesaw, GA, to compete in the K-Club Classic, hosted by Kennesaw State University. Iowa opens play against Drexel Friday at 2 p.m. (CT).