Hawkeyes Set for Home Opening Series

March 31, 2016

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa softball team opens its home slate with a three-game series against Purdue this weekend. The Hawkeyes and Boilermakers open the weekend with a 5:30 p.m. (CT) contest on Friday, continue action with a 2 p.m. game on Saturday, and conclude the weekend with a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday.

SINGLE-GAME TICKETS
Tickets for this weekend are $5 for adults. All youth (18 & under) and University of Iowa students will be admitted free of charge.

PROMOTIONS
•Friday: The first 100 fans will receive a free Iowa softball beanie.
•Saturday: Saturday is PB&J day as all fans will receive a free peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Fans that bring a food donation for the Johnson County Crisis Center will receive free admission. Kids will be allowed to run the bases after the game.
•Sunday: The Hawkeyes will sign autographs following Sunday’s contest.

WATCH IT LIVE
Friday’s contest will be available on a single camera stream on Hawkeye All-Access at hawkeyesports.com. Saturday and Sunday’s games will be streamed live online via BTN Plus. To see if your cable package gives you access to BTN Plus contest, sign up for BTN Plus or learn more about it, visit btn2go.com.

LISTEN/FOLLOW ALONG
Live audio is available on Hawkeye All-Access at hawkeyesports.com. Play-by-play announcer Rob Brooks will call the action from Bob Pearl Field. Live stats are also available on the softball schedule page on hawkeyesports.com.

FOLLOW THE HAWKEYES
For an inside look at the Iowa softball program and access to exclusive coverage, follow @IowaSoftball on Twitter and “like” the official page on Facebook, facebook.com/iowahawkeyessoftball.

SEASON TICKETS
Season tickets are now available for the 2016 Iowa softball regular season. Reserved seats are available for $20, while general admission season tickets are $15, and faculty and staff tickets are $12. Single game tickets are also available for $5. Youth, ages 18 and younger, can attend games free of charge. To purchase season tickets, visit the UI Athletics Ticket Office inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, call 1-800-IA-HAWKS, or visit hawkeyesports.com.

SCOUTING PURDUE
•Purdue owns an 18-14 overall record and a 0-3 mark in Big Ten play.
•Three Boilermakers are hitting above .300: junior infielder Kristen Hoppman (.350), freshman Lauren Steward (.309), and senior Mary Gooding (.302).
•Senior Lilly Fecho leads the team with a 1.66 ERA and a 13-6 record. Fecho became Purdue’s all-time career strikeout leader with 732 earlier this season.
•The Boilermakers dropped all three games of their Big Ten opening series with No. 22 Minnesota last weekend. The Gophers defeated the Boilermakers 5-0, 4-1, and 4-3 in West Lafayette, Indiana.

THE SERIES
•The Hawkeyes own a 41-10 advantage in the all-time series.
•Iowa took 2-of-3 from the Boilermakers last season in West Lafayette, Indiana.
•Iowa has won five of the last six meetings between the two teams.

IN THE RANKINGS – B1G
Five Big Ten teams appear in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Division I Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll released on March 8. No. 2 Michigan, No. 22 Minnesota, and No. 24 Ohio State are ranked within the top 25, while Nebraska (2) and Illinois (1) are receiving votes.

TAKING ON THE BEST
•Seven of Iowa’s 2016 opponents are coming off a 2015 NCAA Tournament appearance.
•Iowa is scheduled to play 15 games against those opponents this season.
•The teams include: Louisville, Texas, Nebraska, Northwestern, Missouri, Indiana State, and Minnesota.

25 STRAIGHT
Junior Kaitlyn Mullarkey has reached base successfully in 25 straight games. The Park Ridge, Illinois, native leads the team in runs scored (23), extra base hits (15), triples (3), home runs (5), RBIs (20), total bases (51), slugging percentage (.654), walks (18), hit by pitches (7), on-base percentage (.466), and stolen bases (10).

.290+
Five Hawkeyes are hitting .290 or better on the season. Freshman Mallory Kilian leads the team with a .340 clip. Senior Haley Hansel (.333), sophomore Katy Taylor (.311), junior Kaitlyn Mullarkey (.295), and redshirt junior Sammi Gyerman (.295) are all hitting about .290.

POWER SURGE
After registering 11 extra-base hits in all of 2015, junior Kaitlyn Mullarkey has hit 15 in 27 games this season. The Park Ridge, Illinois, native leads the team in home runs (5) and triples (3), and ranks second on the team in doubles (7) this season.

MS. UTILITY
Sophomore Angela Schmiederer has registered 18 starts at three different positions this season. She has made eight starts behind the plate, seven in the outfield, and three as Iowa’s designated player. Five of Schmiederer’s 10 hits this season have been for extra bases.

HOFFMAN HOMECOMING
Redshirt senior Holly Hoffman led the Hawkeyes at the plate in her home state of Indiana from March 25-27. The Osceola, Indiana, native hit .333 with three hits in nine at bats. Two of her three hits were for extra bases (double, home run).

KILIAN AT THE DISH
Freshman Mallory Kilian leads the Hawkeyes with a .340 clip this season. The Fort Dodge, Iowa, native has started 15 games for the Hawkeyes. She has registered 16 hits in 47 at bats. Six of her 16 hits have been for extra bases (4 home runs, two doubles). Kilian is slugging .638 and owns an on base percentage of .426.

CHAMBERS MAKES DEBUT
Daniela Chambers made her Hawkeye debut against Indiana on March 25. The sophomore registered a pinch-hit walk in the seventh inning against the Hoosiers. The next day, Chambers made her first career start as Iowa’s designated player.

INCREASED SPEED
•After stealing 18 bags in all of 2015, Iowa has swiped 37 bases in 24 games this season.
•Iowa is 37-for-42 on the base paths this season.
•Junior Kaitlyn Mullarkey leads the team with 10 stolen bases, while junior Claire Fritsch and sophomore Katy Taylor each have seven.

TAYLOR SHOWS SPEED
•Katy Taylor is 7-for-8 in stolen bases this season.
•The sophomore transfer has stolen two bases in one game two times this season (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 14 and Lipscomb on Feb. 20).
•The Owasso, Oklahoma, native has registered 23 hits on the season. Sixteen of her 23 hits are infield singles.

OFFENSIVE JUMP
The Hawkeyes have enjoyed a jump offensively from 2015 to 2016 under first-year hitting coach Jake Schumann. The Hawkeyes have improved in each of the following categories (2016 mark-2015 mark) through the first 27 games of the season: •Runs Scored: 106-85
•Triples: 4-1
•Home Runs: 13-9
•Walks: 87-50
•Strikeouts: 133-143
•On Base Percentage: .338-.310
•At-Bats: 714-665
•Hits: 172-163
•Total Bases: 249-230

AROUND THE BIG TEN
•The Hawkeyes are tied for fourth in the conference with 37 stolen bases.
•Iowa pitchers have struck out 51 batters looking this season — the third most in the Big Ten.
•Iowa is tied for eighth in the Big Ten in triples (4).
•Junior Kaitlyn Mullarkey is tied for fourth in the Big Ten with three triples.
•Mullarkey also ranks fifth in walks (18), 12th in slugging percentage (.654), and 15th in on-base percentage (.466), and is tied for fourth in hit by pitches (7), ninth in stolen bases (10), and 12th in home runs.
•Redshirt junior Sammi Gyerman is tied for ninth in the conference with eight doubles.

KILIAN COMES THROUGH IN HONOLULU
•Freshman Mallory Kilian led the team with a .333 clip in five games at the Rainbow Wahine Classic from March 16-19.
•Kilian plated the game-winning run with a single up the middle against Texas on March 16.
•The Fort Dodge, Iowa, native recorded her second home run of the season against Hawaii on March 18. The blast tied the game in the top of the seventh inning.

SCHMIEDERER SLAM
Angela Schmiederer registered the game-winning grand slam against Lamar on March 6. The sophomore entered the game as a pinch hitter in the top of the fifth. After singling and scoring a run, Schmiederer remained in the game Iowa’s offensive player. An RBI fielder’s choice and the game-winning grand slam followed. She registered a career-high five RBIs on the afternoon.

GYERMAN HEATS UP IN TULSA
Sammi Gyerman hit .571 in four games at the Tulsa Tournament on March 5-6. The redshirt junior registered eight hits in 14 at bats. Four of her eight hits were doubles. Gyerman plated all four of Iowa’s runs in a 4-3 come-from-behind win over Lamar on March 5, including a three-run double and a walk-off sacrifice fly.

THREE’S COMPANY
Three different Hawkeyes went deep against Lamar on March 6. Senior Whitney Repole hit her first home run of the season — a solo shot — in the top of the third inning. Sophomore Angela Schmiederer registered the game-winning grand slam in the top of the seventh, while junior Kaitlyn Mullarkey capped off a sixth-run seventh inning with a two-run blast.

SIX-RUN SEVENTH LEADS HAWKEYES TO VICTORY
Tied 8-8 going into the seventh inning, the Hawkeyes plated six runs to earn a 14-8 victory over Lamar on March 6. Sophomore Angela Schmiederer hit the game-winning grand slam, while junior Kaitlyn Mullarkey added a two-run blast in the inning.

THE DUGOUT
The Hawkeyes re-launched their blog, The Dugout, for the 2016 season. The blog will reach out to fans and provide them with the opportunity to connect with the student-athletes, coaches, and staff who work hard every day to make the Hawkeye softball program a success. The Dugout aims to deliver unique insight into the lives of the Iowa softball team. Each week, The Dugout will feature a different softball student-athlete. To see the latest post, visit hawkeyesports.com.

NEWCOMERS
•Junior transfer Elizabeth Wiegand joins the team after spending two seasons with UT Martin. Wiegand appeared in 26 games with 21 starts for the Skyhawks in 2015. She led UT Martin in ERA (2.94), wins (12), appearances (26), starts (21), complete games (16), shutouts (3), innings pitched (135.2), and strikeouts (63) as a sophomore.
•Sophomore transfer Katy Taylor joins the Hawkeyes after spending a season at Labette Community College. Taylor helped the Cardinals to a 38-16 overall record and a Region VI Championship. She led the nation in stolen bases (89) and paced the Cardinals in hits (76), doubles (10), triples (3), walks (21), batting average (.435), and on base percentage (.485).
•Freshmen Erin Riding (pitcher), Mallory Kilian (pitcher/utility), and Brooke Rozier (catcher/utility) will all make their Hawkeye debuts in 2016.

STAFF UPDATES
•Jake Schumann joined the Iowa softball staff on Aug. 5, 2015. Schumann will handle the Hawkeye offense. He joins the staff after spending last season as the associate head coach at Ole Miss. He has also served as the head coach at Florida International (2011-14), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (2007-11), Texas A&M-Kingsville (2003-07), and Carl Albert State College (2001-03).
•Former Hawkeye Rachel West is Iowa’s new volunteer assistant coach. West appeared in 202 games for the Hawkeyes from 2005-09. The Burlington, Iowa, native still stands as one of the best base stealers in program history. West swiped 86 bags during her four-year career — a mark that ranks fourth in program history.
•Sharon Palma is in her first year as the director of operations for the Iowa softball program. The Grand Rapids, Michigan, native came to Iowa after spending the 2014 season as an assistant coach at Ole Miss. A former professional pitcher for the Carolina Diamonds in the National Pro Fastpitch League, Palma has also spent time as an assistant coach at Florida International (2014) and IUPUI (2013), and a volunteer assistant coach at Michigan State (2012).

HAWKEYE TRADITION
Iowa has made four Women’s College World Series appearances (1995, 1996, 1997, 2001) and played in 16 NCAA Tournaments in school history. The 16 appearances are the second most in Big Ten history, and the four WCWS appearances equal the second most in conference history. The Hawkeyes have won four Big Ten Conference regular season championships (1989, 1997, 2000, 2003) and two Big Ten Tournament titles (2001, 2003). Iowa holds a 1278-812-5 (.612) record in 38 seasons.

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