April 18, 2009
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IOWA CITY – The University of Iowa softball team plated at least one run in all six innings, as the Hawkeyes cruised to an 8-0, six-inning win over Michigan State in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader at Pearl Field. The Hawkeyes move to 34-11 overall and 6-5 in Big Ten play, while Michigan State drops to 14-23 overall and 0-10 in conference action.
Senior pitcher Brittany Weil tossed a complete game, three-hit shutout with nine strikeouts and only one walk. Weil is just one strikeout away from reaching becoming just the eighth pitcher in Big Ten history to reach the 1,000 strikeout plateau.
Iowa wasted no time in scoring, plating a run in the bottom of the first. Senior Colleen McGlaughlin recorded a two-out single through the left side, and then moved to second on a Liz Watkins walk. Junior Katie Brown drove in the game’s first run with a single to right, scoring McGlaughlin from second base.
The Hawkeyes doubled their lead in the second frame, taking a 2-0 advantage. Senior Erin Riemersma singled with one-out in the inning and was sacrificed to second by freshman Katie Keim. Junior Lindsey Digmann stepped up with two-outs and slapped a single up the middle that allowed a hustling Riemersma to score from second base.
Brown drew a leadoff walk to start the third inning, and was replaced at first by senior Rachel West. West moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Missy Mazur, then to third on a wild pitch. Keim hit a shallow pop-up that landed just in front of second base with two outs, which scored West for a 3-0 Hawkeye lead.
Another run in the fourth made the count 4-0 in favor of Iowa. Carmody walked to start the inning and advanced to second on a ground ball from McGlaughlin. Watkins followed with a bloop single to right field and Carmody beat the throw home, sliding in safely to score the run.
Two more runs with two outs in the fifth inning gave Iowa a 6-0 lead. Brown, who was on first after a leadoff single, scored after a fly ball off the bat of Riemersma was dropped in right field. On the play, Riemersma sprinted to third base, and scored one batter later when Keim roped an RBI single up the middle.
Iowa ended things early in the sixth with two more runs to get the 8-0 win. McGlaughlin drilled a one-out single and was lifted for pinch-runner Sam Heinzman. Two pitches later, Heinzman took second on a wild pitch and later scored on an RBI single up the middle by Watkins. Calle Adreon took Watkins’ place at first and scored on a game-ending RBI double to the center field fence by Mazur.
McGlaughlin, Watkins, Brown and Keim all had two hits, while Watkins and Keim added two RBI.
Michigan State and Iowa will play game two of the doubleheader at approximately 2:15 p.m.