March 16, 2011
- 2011 Iowa Softball Media Guide
- Download your Iowa Hawkeye iPhone app!
- Iowa and the Big Ten Network
- Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
- 24 Hawkeyes to Watch
Complete Release in PDF Format
THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa softball team closes out its extended season-opening road trip at No. 11/11 Tennessee at Sheri Parker Lee Stadium Thursday and Friday in Knoxville, Tenn. The Hawkeyes then return to Iowa City Sunday where they make their Pearl Field debut in a doubleheader against South Dakota beginning at 12 p.m.
Admission to Pearl Field is $3 for adults. There is no charge for youth (high school age and younger) or UI students with a valid student ID.
LISTEN LIVE ONLINE
Fans can follow the Hawkeyes online via the All-Access page at hawkeyesports.com. Rob Brooks, the voice of Iowa softball, will call the action live at all home and away events for the remainder of the season (beginning with South Dakota). Hawkeye All-Access is a subscription service that charges $9.95 per month.
ON THE WEB
Fans can follow the action at hawkeyesports.com, where live stats (Gametracker) will be available. The live “GT” can be found under the calendar tab on the right-hand side of the hawkeyesports.com home page, or on the softball schedule page.
LAST WEEK
After falling 3-1 to Liberty in the first game of the Stetson Classic, the Hawkeyes rebounded to post four straight victories to claim the team title in DeLand, Fla. Iowa downed Stetson (3-2), Liberty (4-2), Jackson State (7-1) and Liberty (3-2) a second time Sunday in the championship game. The Hawkeyes then pushed their winning streak to six games with wins over Colgate (4-0) and Stetson (3-2) at the Stetson Hatter Roundup.
THE OPPONENTS
Tennessee pushed its overall record to 21-4 on the season with a six-inning 16-2 victory over Tennessee State on March 15. Last weekend, the Lady Vols dropped two-of-three SEC games at Kentucky, which halted its 12-game winning streak. Eight Tennessee batters have an average above .300 on the season with Kat Dotson leading the way with a .507 clip. Dotson has nine home runs, 49 RBI and 16 steals. On the mound, Ellen Renfroe is 12-2 with a 1.71 ERA, and she has 104 strikeouts in 69.2 innings pitched.
South Dakota posted an 8-4 record on its spring break trip to Florida to improve its overall mark to 9-8 on the year. Prior to facing the Hawkeyes, the Coyotes battle Nebraska in Lincoln. Mel Johnson is pacing USD with a .326 batting average and a team-high 14 RBI. Three pitchers have posted three victories on the mound, and Erica Denney is leading the squad with a 2.47 ERA.
SERIES/OPPONENT NOTES
? The Hawkeyes are 1-1 all-time against the Lady Volunteers. Iowa won the first meeting in 2002 by the count of 13-1 before dropping an 11-2 game in 2006 in five innings.
? Iowa is 4-0 all-time against South Dakota, out scoring the Coyotes 42-6 in the four contests. Last season, the Hawkeyes downed USD by the count of 8-0 and 10-6 at Pearl Field.
? Iowa will get its fourth shot at a ranked foe on Thursday and Friday in Knoxville. The Hawkeyes are 0-3 against nationally-ranked opponents this season, dropping games against No. 3/4 Georgia (8-1), No. 14/16 Stanford (2-1) and No. 10/11 California (4-0).
? Iowa has won its last eight home openers. The last time the Hawkeyes dropped a home was during the 2002 season when they fell to Illinois State, 5-1.
STREAKIN’
Senior Chelsey Carmody brings a 24-game hitting streak into Thursday’s game at No. 11/11 Tennessee. The streak is currently the longest in the nation and the longest in the NCAA in two years.
Carmody is four games shy of tying the Iowa and Big Ten Conference hitting streak record. Former Hawkeye Emily Nichols hit in 28-straight during the 2007 season.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE STREAK
Senior Chelsey Carmody’s 24-game hitting streak is spread out over the entire game. She has notched her first hit five times in the first inning, four times in the third, five times in the fourth, three times in the fifth, six times in the sixth and once in the seventh.
HAWKEYES WIN STETSON CLASSIC
Iowa posted a 4-1 record to win the round robin formatted Stetson Classic Mar. 11-13 in DeLand, Fla. After opening the tournament with a loss to Liberty, the Hawkeyes won four straight games, including beating Liberty, 4-3, in the championship game.
Senior Chelsey Carmody posted a .706 batting average to pace the Hawkeyes at the Stetson Classic, tallying hits in 12-of-17 at-bats.
TEAM TIDBITS
? Senior Chelsey Carmody posted five straight multi-hit games Mar. 11-Mar. 15. Against Liberty on March 12, she tied a career-high with four hits, finishing the game 4-for-4.
? Freshman Michelle Zoeller performed in the clutch, collecting the game-winning RBI single in the 3-2 come-from-behind win at Stetson on Mar. 15.
? Carmody is tied for the Big Ten Conference lead with 36 hits. She is also third in batting average (.450) and fourth in total bases (50).
? The Hawkeyes are third in the conference in doubles (30).
? The Iowa pitching staff has the fifth best team ERA in the Big Ten at 2.73 and the fourth most strikeouts (128). Freshman Kayla Massey has the eighth lowest individual ERA in the conference (2.65).
PLAYING SMALL BALL
The Hawkeyes rank third in the Big Ten with 33 stolen bases and fourth in the conference with 16 sacrifice hits. Four Iowa players have at least five steals on the year with freshman Katie Kroeger leading the way with seven swipes.
DOWLING HITS FIRST CAREER GRAND SLAM
Sophomore Johnnie Dowling hit her first career grand slam in Iowa’s 7-1 victory over Jackson State in the Stetson Classic. Dowling finished the game with five RBI, which were a career-best.
LYON COMING ON
Sophomore Chelsea Lyon has tallied four of the victories in Iowa’s current six-game winning streak. The Oklahoma native is 4-0 with a 0.94 ERA during the stretch, allowing three earned runs in 22.1 innings. She limited opposing batters to a .177 average and struck out 16.
MASSEY NOTCHES THIRD CG SHO
True freshman Kayla Massey recorded her third complete game shutout of the season in Iowa’s 4-0 victory over Colgate on Mar. 15. The California native scattered three hits in the contest, while striking out four.
Massey is 7-3 with a 2.65 ERA this season, while leading the team with 67 strikeouts.
MASSEY SHINES IN FIRST CAREER START
Freshman Kayla Massey pitched a complete game shutout in the first start of her career, a 1-0 victory over Maryland on Feb. 11. The California native scattered four hits in seven innings, while striking out nine Terrapin batters.
BLAST OFF IN OPENING AT-BAT
Jenny Schuelke opened her senior season in grand fashion, belting a three-run first inning home run on Feb. 11 against Lipscomb.
MOVIN’ ON UP
A pair of Hawkeyes are among the career statistical leaders in school history. Junior Liz Watkins is tied for sixth with 18 career home runs. Senior Chelsey Carmody is ninth in hits (211), tied for ninth in runs (111), tied for 10th in triples (10) and 12th in doubles (32).
TEAM CAPTAINS
Senior Chelsey Carmody and junior Katie Keim were chosen by their teammates as the team captains for the 2011 Hawkeyes.
FIVE GAMES TO BE TELEVISED ON BTN
Five Iowa softball games will be televised live on the Big Ten Network this season. Hawkeye road games at Purdue (Apr. 3), the doubleheader at Minnesota (Apr. 13) and home contests against Northwestern (Apr. 17) and Penn State (May 8) will all be broadcast live.
YOUTH DOMINATED
The Hawkeyes have a youth-filled roster in 2011, as 11 of the 16 student-athletes are underclassmen. The Iowa roster is comprised of three seniors, two juniors, six sophomores and five freshmen.
TWO-TIME ALL-BIG TEN SELECTION RETURNS
Two-time all-Big Ten selection Liz Watkins returns behind the plate for her junior season in Black and Gold. Last season, Watkins was a second team all-Big Ten selection after batting .328 with seven doubles, five triples, five home runs and 26 RBI. As a freshman, Watkins was a third team all-Big Ten honoree, hitting .331 with nine jacks and 45 RBI.
NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN
For the first time since 1988, the Hawkeyes will have a new head coach in charge of the Iowa softball program. Marla Looper takes over the reigns as the Hawkeye head coach, coming to Iowa City from the University of Texas, where she spent 11 seasons as an assistant coach.
During her stint in Austin, Looper helped lead the Longhorns to nine NCAA Tournament berths, four Big 12 regular season titles and a pair of Big 12 Tournament championships.
Looper served as Texas’ pitching coach from 1999-2005 and mentored softball great Cat Osterman to the USA National Player of the Year Award in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Texas’ pitching staff led the nation in earned run average in three of Looper’s final four years as pitching coach, while Osterman led the country in 2003 and 2006 in both earned run average and strikeouts per seven innings.
FORMER HAWKEYE RETURNS TO STAFF
Four-year letterwinner Stacy Johnson (formerly Stacy May) returns to the Hawkeye coaching staff after wrapping up a stellar professional player career in the National Professional Fastpitch league.
Johnson, who started every game in her Iowa career, was a three-time NFCA all-Mideast Region selection for the Hawkeyes. In 2003, she was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year after leading the Hawkeyes to the regular season and conference tournament titles.
FREQUENT FLIERS
The Hawkeyes will be frequent fliers prior to opening their home season at Pearl Field on March 20. Iowa will rack up nearly 7,000 frequent flier miles (6,789) with trips to Georgia, Arizona, Florida, California and Florida (a second time).
TOUGH SCHEDULE IN 2011
The Hawkeyes will play a challenging schedule in 2011, as 12 of their opponents participated in the NCAA Tournament a season ago. Two of Iowa’s foes — Tennessee and Georgia — both advanced to the 2010 Women’s College World Series.
HAWKEYE TRADITION
Iowa has made four Women’s College World Series appearances (1995, 1996, 1997, 2001) and it has played in 16 NCAA Tournaments in school history. The 16 appearances are the second most in Big Ten history.
The Hawkeyes have won four Big Ten Conference regular season championships and two Big Ten Tournament titles.