Big Ten Play Starts Saturday for Iowa

March 24, 2011

Complete Release in PDF Format

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa softball team, winners of 8-of-its-last-10 games, opens Big Ten Conference play on the road this weekend at Ohio State at Buckeye Field. The two game series will be contested on Saturday and Sunday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m. (CT) each day.

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. 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
Iowa posted a 4-2 record last week in rounding out its spring break trip. The Hawkeyes downed Colgate (4-0) and Stetson (3-2) at the Stetson Hatter Roundup before dropping a pair of games at No. 11 Tennessee. Iowa fell in the first game of the series, 7-3, before dropping a 2-0 decision in the finale. The Hawkeyes then posted a pair of run-rule victories over South Dakota in their home opener, winning 10-0 in five innings and 9-1 in six.

THE OPPONENT
Ohio State enters the weekend with a 7-18 overall record after going 2-4 last week in California. The Buckeyes won the opening two games against San Diego and Harvard before dropping four straight to Cal State Northridge, San Diego State, Louisville and Loyola Marymount.

Four OSU players are batting over .400 on the season with Alicia Herron lead the team with a .419 clip. Herron has team-bests in runs (20), hits (31), doubles (5) and RBI (18), while tying for the team lead in home runs (3).

The Buckeye pitching staff has a 5.74 ERA on the year and are allowing opposing batters to post a .309 average. Kasie Kelly has three victories to lead the squad, and Karisa Medrano’s has a team-low 4.57 ERA.

SERIES/OPPONENT NOTES
? Iowa leads the all-time series over Ohio State, 58-33. The Buckeyes won both games last season in Iowa City, which was the first time since 2005 that there was a sweep in the series.
? Both meetings in 2010 were decided by a single run. OSU won the opener, 8-7, in eight innings before claiming the sweep with a 4-3 victory.
? The Buckeyes are 1-1 against schools from the state of Iowa this season. Ohio State beat Iowa State, 8-0, in five innings before falling 6-1 to Drake. Both games took place at the Tulsa Tournament on Mar. 4-5.
? Ohio State has gone to extra innings in three games (1-2) and have played eight run-rule games, going 1-7.

OCHOA TABBED BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior Stephanie Ochoa was named the Big Ten Player of the Week March 21 after hitting .612 to lead the Hawkeyes to a 4-2 record. The California native went 4-for-4 in a game at No. 11 Tennessee, which were a career high in hits. She then closed out the week going 5-for-6 with four runs and an RBI in the doubleheader sweep of South Dakota.

HAWKEYES IN BIG TEN OPENERS
Iowa is 19-10 in Big Ten openers, which includes winning four of the past six games. Last season, the Hawkeyes opened conference play by winning their first eight games and 11-of-their-first-12.

CARMODY’S STREAK SNAPPED
Senior Chelsey Carmody had her 25-game hitting streak snapped on Mar. 18 at No. 11 Tennessee. The streak was the longest in the nation and the longest in the NCAA in two years.

LYON COMING ON STRONG
Sophomore Chelsea Lyon has posted a 4-1 record on the rubber over her last five starts. She has a 1.09 ERA during the stretch with 26 strikeouts. The Oklahoma native tallied her first career complete game shutout in the 10-0 victory over South Dakota, scattering two hits in five innings with seven strikeouts. Lyon’s lone defeat came at No. 11 Tennessee, where she allowed two runs on five hits.

Lyon is leading the team with a 2.71 earned run average in 19 appearances. She is 8-8 overall with 72 strikeouts in 90.1 innings.

SENIORS HOT ON FINAL SPRING BREAK
Seniors Chelsey Carmody and Stephanie Ochoa swung hot bats in their final spring break trip. Carmody had 21 hits in 11 games to post a .553 batting average, while Ochoa batted .531 with 17 hits in 32 at-bats.

A NEW FOUR HOLE HITTER
Since moving into the four hole, senior Stephanie Ochoa has been swinging a hot stick. The first baseman is batting .583 in four games, collecting seven hits in 12 at-bats.

WATKINS GOES DEEP
Junior Liz Watkins connected on her team-leading fifth home run of the season in Iowa’s 10-0 game one victory over South Dakota on March 20. It was Watkins’ 19th career long ball, moving her into sixth place on Iowa’s all-time list.

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
? Iowa was successful on 18-of-21 stolen base attempts during spring break week. Eight different players tallied a steal on the week with Chelsey Carmody going 4-for-5.
? Carmody has a team-high 11 multi-hit games this season. Fellow senior Stephanie Ochoa, meanwhile, has eight multi-hit contests.
? Carmody is second in the Big Ten with 42 hits and third with a .447 batting average.
? Iowa’s pitching staff is fourth in the conference with 144 strikeouts and fifth in ERA (2.77). Chelsea Lyon has the 10th best ERA (2.71) in the Big Ten.

AGGRESSIVE BASE RUNNING
The Hawkeyes rank fourth in the Big Ten with 39 stolen base. Chelsey Carmody, Katie Kroeger and Johnnie Dowling each have seven steals to pace the squad.

MASSEY TIED FOR TEAM LEAD IN WINS
True freshman Kayla Massey is tied for the team lead in wins, posting an 8-4 record in 19 appearances for the Hawkeyes. The California native has three complete game shutouts on her resume, which includes a four-hitter with nine strikeouts in her first career start against Maryland on Feb. 11.

Massey has a 2.90 ERA in 94.0 innings on the year with 72 strikeouts.

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 sixth with 18 career home runs. Senior Chelsey Carmody is tied for sixth in hits (217), seventh in batting average (.344), eighth in runs (115), tied for 10th in triples (10) and 12th in doubles (33).

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.

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.