April 14, 2010
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MADISON, WI – The University of Iowa softball team dominated the Wisconsin Badgers in game two of Wednesday’s doubleheader, 14-1 in five innings. Iowa plated its 14 runs on 11 hits.
“Our offense did a great job of responding after the first game,” Head Coach Gayle Blevins said. “We really came out firing in the second game and did some nice things at the plate. It’s great to get two more Big Ten road wins and our offense now has some confidence heading into the next stretch of games.”
Iowa jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in its first at-bat of the game. Back-to-back singles to start the first inning by senior Taylor Leichsenring and sophomore Liz Watkins put two runners on with no outs. Senior Katie Brown promptly cleared the bases with a double to the fence in right-center.
Freshman Johnnie Dowling put Iowa up 3-0 in the top of the second with her second home run of the season. Dowling blasted a solo home run over the left field fence to start the second frame. Iowa added two more runs in the inning for a 5-0 lead. Senior Lindsey Digmann and Leichsenring followed Dowling’s home run with singles, and a Brown walk loaded the bases. Juniors Jenny Schuelke and Sarah Spiering each drew walks with the sacks packed to plate the two additional runs.
Iowa exploded for nine runs in the top of the fifth to blow the game open at 14-0. The Hawkeyes sent 13 hitters to the plate, scoring its nine runs on four hits and took advantage of two Badger errors.
Watkins singled and walks to Brown and Schuelke loaded the bases with no outs in the inning, and the first Badger error allowed the first two runs of the frame to score. Schuelke then scored on a double steal for the third run of the inning. Sophomore Katie Keim roped an RBI single to left and another Badger error in the outfield plated two more runs. Keim came home on a wild pitch and a two-RBI sacrifice fly to deep right field off the bat of Brown scored two more runs. Schuelke plated the last run with an RBI single.
Wisconsin managed to score one unearned run in the bottom of the fifth to take away the shutout.
Leichsenring went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Watkins and Keim each collected two hits. Brown tallied four RBI on the day.
Senior Amanda Zust picked up the win in three innings of work. She allowed just two hits with two strikeouts. Freshman Chelsea Lyon allowed three hits in two innings of relief with one strikeout.
Iowa steps out of conference play Sunday with a single game against Western Illinois. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.