April 25, 2009
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- SoftBlog
BLOOMINGTON, IN – The No. 24 University of Iowa softball team pounded Indiana, 12-0, in five innings Saturday at the IU Softball Field. The Hawkeyes tied a school record with six doubles in the game, improving to 37-11 overall and 8-5 in the Big Ten.
Seven of Iowa’s 15 hits on the day were for extra bases, including the school record tying six doubles. The only other time a Hawkeye squad hit six doubles in a single game was against Purdue in 1997.
“Hitting is contagious, and that was the case today,” Head Coach Gayle Blevins said. “We did a very nice job of putting the ball in play, and getting extra base hits when we needed them. We had a lot of people really hit the ball hard today. It’s great to see our offense hit the ball like that, but we need to be ready for a tough game tomorrow.”
Senior pitcher Brittany Weil moved into seventh place on the Big Ten’s all-time career strikeout list, passing former Northwestern hurler Courtnay Foster. Weil now has 1,019 career K’s, after throwing four innings and fanning six batters. She picked up her 21st win of the season, scattering two hits with no walks. Junior Amanda Zust tossed the fifth and final inning and gave up one hit with one strikeout.
Iowa crossed home plate one time in the first inning for an early 1-0 lead. Sophomore Chelsey Carmody started the inning with a double, followed by a single by senior Colleen McGlaughlin to put runners on first and third with no outs. One batter later, junior Katie Brown lifted a sacrifice fly to left, plating Carmody for the game’s first run.
The Hawkeye offense exploded in the fifth, plating 11 runs on 11 hits and took advantage of three Indiana errors for a commanding 12-0 lead. The Hawkeyes recorded six singles, four doubles and one triple to take the 12-run lead. Iowa sent 15 batters to the plate during the fifth, including freshman Liz Watkins, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI in the inning, Carmody, who went 2-2 with two RBI in the frame, and McGlaughlin, who had two doubles in the inning.
Back-to-back doubles by Carmody and McGlaughlin combined for the first run of the inning. Watkins cleared the bases with a sharp single up the middle, scoring the third and fourth run of the frame. Later in the inning, Iowa tallied seven-straight hits to score six runs, all with two outs in the inning. Freshman Katie Keim had an RBI single, followed by an RBI triple by senior Quinn Morelock. Carmody then singled in Morelock, and McGlaughlin doubled to score Carmody. Watkins and Digmann each had RBI hits to wrap up the scoring.
Carmody tied a career-high with three hits, and also had two RBI and scored three runs. Brown went 2-for-3 with three RBI, while Watkins went 2-for-4 with two RBI. McGlaughlin added three hits.
Iowa and Indiana will play again tomorrow at 12 p.m. (CT).