Walk Off Hits Doom Hawkeyes in Doubleheader

Stats

April 11, 2014

Final Stats

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BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2

LINCOLN, Neb. — No. 19/22 Nebraska recorded a pair of walk off wins over the Hawkeyes on Saturday at Bowlin Stadium. The Huskers won game one, 5-2, and game two, 9-1 in six innings, to clinch the Big Ten series win.

Iowa reached the scoring column in the first at bat of the contest, when Brianna Luna drove a ball over the left field fence to give the Hawkeyes a 1-0 early advantage. It is her first home run of the season and the fourth of her career.

From there, it was a pitchers’ duel between Hawkeye starter Kayla Massey and Husker starter Tatum Edwards. Neither team was able to post runs until the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Huskers singled and walked to put two on base with two away in the bottom of the sixth. An error on the next play allowed Nebraska to tie the contest, 1-1, and the second single of the inning gave the Huskers a second run for a 2-1 lead before Massey could end the rally with a strikeout.

The Hawkeyes got a run back to knot the contest, 2-2, in the top of the seventh inning. Erin Erickson reached on an error and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch with one away. After Edwards used a strikeout to post the second out, Luna ripped a clutch single through the left side to score Erickson and tie it up.

In the bottom of the seventh, Edwards earned the 5-2, walk off win for herself as a pitcher and for Nebraska with a three-run home run to left field.

Massey (6-12) took the complete game loss in the circle. She struck out two and allowed 10 hits and five runs — three earned. Edwards (15-9) notched the win. She held Iowa to five hits and two runs — one earned, and struck out seven.

Luna paced the Hawkeye offense with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate. She drove in both of Iowa’s runs and drew a walk.

“Brianna did a nice job in that first at bat and it would have been nice if Tatum Edwards would have gotten a little nerve-wrecked, but she didn’t,” head coach Marla Looper said. “She’s a seasoned pitcher like Kayla and she can get back on the horse and do the things she needs to do. She did a good job holding us after that.

“We had opportunities. We had eight runners left on and didn’t execute. We didn’t give ourselves a chance to win that ball game, we were just trying to not lose it. Unfortunately, we did lose it.”

After two scoreless innings, Nebraska jumped ahead scoring four runs on five hits in the bottom of the third inning. Consecutive singles started the inning and a fielder’s choice put runners on the corners with one away. A Hailey Decker single to right plated the first run. Taylor Edwards followed with her second three-run home run in as many games.

Iowa got a run back in the top of the fourth inning, when Kayla Massey sent a solo home run over the fence in left center. It was the first Hawkeye hit of the ball game.

The Husker offense continued their hot streak, adding another four runs in the bottom of the fourth. A pair of singles and a fielder’s choice loaded the bases for Taylor Edwards who hit a grand slam to extend Nebraska’s lead to 8-1.

A scoreless fifth followed, but Nebraska struck again in the bottom of the sixth. The leadoff hitter reached on a hit by pitch and came around to score on a Decker double to right center. The run triggered the run rule and ended the game in walk off fashion, 9-1.

Shayla Starkenburg (3-7) took the loss in the circle. She gave up eight runs — seven earned — in her three innings of work. Micaela Whitney threw the final two innings. She limited the Huskers to one earned run and two hits.

Emily Lockman (14-4) recorded the win. She allowed just one run and one hit in her complete game effort. She struck out four.

Massey recorded the lone hit and RBI for the Hawkeyes.

“The Edwards twins are good ball players,” head coach Marla Looper said. “They are go-to players for Nebraska. You can’t give them anything too good because they’re going to take advantage of it. They want the bat in their hands at that moment and you have to tip your hat to them. We need to attack them differently tomorrow.”

Iowa and Nebraska meet for the series finale at 4 p.m. (CT) on Saturday. Gametracker and live audio is available for the contest at hawkeyesports.com.