April 12, 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 hits the road for a Wednesday night doubleheader at Minnesota. Game one is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m. at Jane Salge Cowles Stadium with the night cap scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Both games will be aired live on the Big Ten Network.
ON THE TUBE
Wednesday’s doubleheader will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network. Marney Gellner will handle the play-by-play, while Stacey Phillips will serve as the color commentator.
ON THE RADIO
The opening game of Wednesday’s doubleheader will be broadcast live on AM-800 KXIC in Iowa City with Rob Brooks handling the play-by-play duties. The second game will only be available on hawkeyesports.com.
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.
FOLLOW IOWA SOFTBALL ON TWITTER
Hawkeye fans can follow the University of Iowa softball team on Twitter: @iowasoftball.
LAST WEEK
Iowa posted its second Big Ten series sweep of the season in downing visiting Michigan State, 5-3 and 9-8, at Pearl Field. The Hawkeyes won the opener behind a solid outing on the mound by Kayla Massey. The freshman scattered five hits over seven innings to pick up her 10th victory of the season. Iowa won the offense loaded finale over the Spartans on Sunday. The two teams combined for 29 hits in the game with the Hawkeyes pounding out 17, the second most this season.
THE OPPONENT
Minnesota brings a four game winning streak into Wednesday’s doubleheader that has improved its record to 23-16 overall. In Big Ten play, the Golden Gophers stand at 1-3 with their lone win coming at Indiana (2-0) in their conference opener.
Minnesota, which is batting .260 as a team, has a pair of players over the .300 mark. Malisa Barnes leads the team and ranks fourth in the Big Ten with a .430 batting average, while Kari Dorle is batting .342 with seven home runs and 27 RBI. Alex Davis leads the squad with 32 RBI, while hitting .256.
True freshman Sara Moulton is the Golden Gophers’ top pitcher, posting a 20-10 overall record with a 2.80 ERA. Moulton has 236 strikeouts, while throwing 192.2 of the team’s 265.2 innings on the year. She has 23 complete games and 11 shutouts in 32 starts.
SERIES/OPPONENT NOTES
? The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series over Minnesota, 53-37. Iowa has won the last four meetings in the series, including both games at Pearl Field last season by the count of 8-0 (6) and 9-4. The Gophers last victory came during the 2008 season when they edged Iowa, 1-0, in 13 innings.
? Minnesota is led by first year head coach Jessica Allister, who served as an assistant coach at Oregon last season following a three-year stretch at Stanford, her alma mater.
? Golden Gopher starters Allisa Koch and Sara Moulton combined four 30 strikeouts, including a career-high 17 from Koch in the series sweep over South Dakota last weekend in Minneapolis. Moulton’s performance earned her Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors for the third time this season.
? The Hawkeyes are the third Iowa school that Minnesota has faced this season. The Gophers split a pair of games against Northern Iowa on March 12 in Tucson, Ariz., before downing the Panthers, 8-1, in Springfield, Mo. Last week, Minnesota swept a doubleheader at Iowa State by the scores of 1-0 and 11-3.
BATS EMERGE AT PEARL
The Hawkeyes erupted for 17 hits in the 9-8 victory over Michigan State in the series finale at Pearl Field. The 17 hits were the most for the team since Feb. 25 (at FGCU – 18 hits) and the second most for the squad in a game this season. The hit total are also the most in a conference game.
GAINING THE EARLY ADVANTAGE
The Hawkeyes have jumped on opponents early in games this season, out scoring the opposition 41-22 in the first inning alone. Iowa has gone on to post an 18-6 record when scoring first.
CAREER HIGHS ALL AROUND
Four players notched career-highs in Sunday’s 9-8 victory over Michigan State. Katie Keim scored twice to tie a career best; Ashley Akers notched career highs in hits (3), runs (2) and RBI (1); Nikki Gentile went 3-for-3 to post a career best hit total, and Johnnie Dowling also had a career most three hits, including her third career triple.
WATKINS APPROACHING CENTURY MARK IN RBI
Junior Liz Watkins is approaching the 30 RBI mark for the season and the 100-RBI mark for her Hawkeye career. The catcher had a pair of two-RBI games in the series sweep over Michigan State, which were her eighth and ninth multiple RBI games this season. She has two three-RBI and one four-RBI game on the year.
Watkins, who has 10 RBI in six Big Ten games, has already surpassed her 2010 RBI total of 28. As a freshman, she drove in 45 runs, meaning her next RBI will put her in elite company, as she’ll be just the 11th Hawkeye to reach 100-career RBI milestone.
TEAM TIDBITS
? Senior Chelsey Carmody has hit safely in 30-of-33 games this season. The shortstop has a team-leading 12 multi-hit games, and she is sixth in the Big Ten with 47 hits. Carmody missed the Michigan State series due to personal reasons.
? Junior Liz Watkins has caught every inning and every pitch at the catcher position this season.
? Senior Stephanie Ochoa is sixth in the Big Ten with a .422 batting average. Carmody is seventh with a .423 average.
? Iowa is aggressive on the base paths, as the squad has 49 stolen bases on the season, which is fourth most in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes have swiped more than one base in 12 games on the year.
? Iowa batters have been plunked 25 times this season. Sophomore Johnnie Dowling has nearly half of those, being hit nine times.
? The Hawkeyes are batting .291 as a team with runners in scoring position. The average climbs to .342 with the bases loaded. Iowa’s 259 hits are the fourth most in the Big Ten, while the 40 doubles are third most.
? Sophomore Chelsea Lyon has gone the distance to register complete games in 10 of her last 12 starts.
? Freshman Kayla Massey has allowed four hits or fewer in seven starts this season. Massey has 11 complete games and three shutouts on her resume.
? Massey made her collegiate offensive debut in the series against Michigan State, going 0-for-4 with a walk.
IN THE CIRCLE
Iowa’s two pitchers — Kayla Massey and Chelsea Lyon — have shared the duties in the circle this season. Massey is pacing the team with a 2.56 ERA, while posting a 10-5 record with 11 complete games and three shutouts. Lyon, meanwhile, is 11-10 on the rubber with a 3.47 ERA with 86 strikeouts in 113 innings.
Massey tossed a four hitter with nine strikeouts in her first collegiate start against Maryland on Feb. 11 in Georgia.
WATKINS NAMED CO-BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Liz Watkins was tabbed as the Co-Big Ten Player of the Week March 28 after hitting .714 with six RBI and three runs scored in Iowa’s series sweep at Ohio State. The catcher went 4-for-4 in the opener with three RBI before tallying her fifth straight hit on a three-run long ball to send Iowa to the sweep. It was Watkins’ second career honor.
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.
WATKINS FIFTH ALL-TIME IN LONG BALLS
Junior Liz Watkins, who hit home runs in back-to-back games at Ohio State and Western Illinois, ranks fifth in Iowa softball history with 21 home runs. Watkins is four long balls shy of moving into third place all-time, trailing Jessica Bashor (22), Stacy May (23) and Colleen McGlaughlin (24).
3 HAWKEYES, 4 HITS
Three different Hawkeye players have posted perfect 4-for-4 games at the plate this season. Chelsey Carmody accomplished the feat against Liberty on March 12 in Florida, Stephanie Ochoa went 4-for-4 at No. 11 Tennessee, and Liz Watkins went 4-for-4 in the Big Ten opening win at Ohio State.
MULTI-HIT HAWKEYES
Eleven different Iowa players have tallied at least one multi-hit game this season. Senior Chelsey Carmody leads the squad with 12 multi-hit games, including three contests with at least three hits. Fellow senior Stephanie Ochoa is also in double digits with 10 multi-hit games, while Liz Watkins and Katie Keim each have eight on the year.
CARMODY’S STREAK SNAPPED
Senior Chelsey Carmody had her 25-game hitting streak snapped on March 18 at No. 11 Tennessee. The streak was the longest in the nation and the longest in the NCAA in two years.
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.
MOVIN’ ON UP
A pair of Hawkeyes are among the career statistical leaders in school history. Below is the breakdown.
Liz Watkins
5th – Home runs – 21
Chelsey Carmody
6th – Hits – 222
7th – Batting Average – .342
8th – Runs – 119
t10th – Triples – 10
12th – Doubles – 33
TEAM CAPTAINS
Senior Chelsey Carmody and junior Katie Keim were chosen by their teammates as the team captains for the 2011 Hawkeyes.
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.
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.