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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa softball team topped Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series foe Iowa State 2-1 Tuesday night at Pearl Field. With the win, Iowa claimed the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series, 19-7.
“We are pretty excited,” said UI head coach Marla Looper. “The energy around this game gets your heart rate up. It was a tight game, which made it challenging. I’ve always believed in our girls, and I continued to believe in them tonight and they came through to win the game.”
Devin Cantu was 1-for-1 with an RBI, while Brooke Rozier was 1-for-2. Cheyenne Pratt and Angela Schmiederer also recorded hits. Shayla Starkenburg earned the win, registering two strikeouts in 7.0 innings played.
The Cyclones (16-31) took the lead in the second inning when Kelsey McFarland scored as Kaylee Bosworth fouled out, but the Hawkeyes evened the score in the third frame. Kaitlyn Mullarkey reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second, and advanced to third on an Iowa State error before scoring on a Cantu sacrifice fly.
After two innings with the score knotted 1-1, Iowa took the lead in the sixth inning. Cantu singled to right field and Havyn Monteer entered as a pinch runner. Monteer advanced to third as Schmiederer doubled down the right field line and scored on a stolen base.
“We won’t prepare differently for Minnesota, but we have to prepare better,” said Looper. “Minnesota is a great ball club and they’re leading the Big Ten in offense right now. They aren’t easy to beat, but I do feel we have an opportunity to go to Minneapolis and take one from them. We are going to have to do the little things right all the time and eliminating the mistakes, because they will take advantage of them.”
The Hawkeyes (15-24) return to conference action Friday, taking on No. 5 Minnesota in a 6 p.m. (CT) contest in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Game two is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday and game three is scheduled for noon Sunday.