IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa softball team dropped a 5-2 decision to Northwestern on Sunday afternoon in its regular season finale. Following the game, the Hawkeyes celebrated Senior Day, honoring Elizabeth Wiegand, Claire Fritsch, Kaitlyn Mullarkey, and Shayla Starkenburg.
“I have really enjoyed our time with the seniors,” said UI head coach Marla Looper. “They’re a quirky group. They’re funny at times, they’re intense, and they’re stubborn, but that’s what I love about all of them. They each have their own personality and they bring it with them every day. I’m excited to see what they’re going to do in the real world, but we still have games to play this year”
Cheyenne Pratt, Lea Thompson, Angela Schmiederer, Allie Wood, and Fritsch recorded hits against Northwestern (24-28, 10-13 Big Ten), while Thompson and Wood each scored a run as well. Allison Doocy suffered the loss, throwing a strikeout in 3.0 innings pitched. Reliever Wiegand threw two strikeouts in 4.0 innings pitched.
“Even though we were happy about celebrating the seniors after the game, we approached the game the same way we have every other game,” said Looper. “The first inning got a little out of hand for us, but Doocy gave us a good start and then Liz came in and did a nice job in relief. Offensively, we needed to continue making adjustments as the game went on and today we didn’t do that as well as we did yesterday.”
Northwestern took an early lead in the top of the first inning, scoring a pair of runs on a wild pitch and a Morgan Nelson sacrifice fly, but the Hawkeyes responded in the bottom of the frame. Thompson smacked a triple down the left field line before scoring on a Brooke Rozier sacrifice fly.
The Wildcats extended their lead in the second inning when Krista Williams hit an RBI single to left field. Northwestern then added a pair of runs on two hits in the top of the seventh frame.
The Hawkeyes cut into the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Wood singled to shortstop, Fritsch singled up the middle, and pinch hitter Devin Cantu was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Iowa before Wood scored on a sacrifice bunt by Pratt.
“We are excited to find out our seeding for the Big Ten Tournament, but it doesn’t really matter who we will face,” said Looper. “We are ready to get to Ann Arbor, play the game, and attack our opponent. We have played against the majority of the conference and we are excited to get there and start the tournament.”
The Hawkeyes (19-31, 9-14 Big Ten) await seeding for the 2017 Big Ten Tournament. Michigan will host the tournament Thursday through Saturday, May 11-13, at the Wilpon Complex in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The game times and opponents will be announced Monday.