24 Hawkeyes to Watch 2017-18 | Hawk Talk Monthly — February 2018 | Game One Box Score (PDF) | Game Two Box Score (PDF) | Boxscore
Lafayette, La. — The University of Iowa softball team opened the season with a 3-0 victory over Illinois-Chicago at the Mardi Gras Classic in Lafayette, Louisiana. The Hawkeyes dropped their second game of the day, 4-2, to Eastern Illinois.
In game one, sophomore pitcher Allison Doocy stepped in the circle against Illinois-Chicago and threw seven complete innings. The Ankeny, Iowa, native threw seven strikeouts and had no walks in the season opener.
Freshman Aralee Bogar scored Iowa’s first run of the season, scoring off a single by senior Angela Schmiederer in the third inning. Redshirt sophomore Brooke Rozier scored on a sacrifice fly later in the inning. Bogar added Iowa’s third run of the game off a Rozier single in the fifth inning.
The Flames came close to scoring a run in the top of the fifth, but Hawkeye left-fielder, Cheyenne Pratt, robbed a homerun to save the shutout.
In game two, Eastern Illinois scored four runs in the first three innings before the Hawkeyes answered with two runs of their own.
Junior Mallory Kilian had two hits against Eastern Illinois. Her double down the left field line scored sophomore Alex Rath and led to her own run one play later.
KEY HAWKEYE PERFORMER
Bogar went two-for-three and scored two runs in her debut game as a Hawkeye. She also collected three stolen bases against the flames.
QUOTING HEAD COACH MARLA LOOPER
On Doocy’s season-opening win…
“If Doocy was a rookie, I don’t think she would have been as calm out there today as she was, but she’s a veteran now. We had a good week leading into today, and that confidence allowed her to stay calm. There were anxious vibes throughout the whole team because it’s opening day, but that didn’t affect her in any way.”
On Pratt’s homerun rob…
“Outfielders always want to take that home run away. It was a solid squared ball off of Doocy, and Cheyenne saved her on that one. You hope to have those plays more often than not. That allowed us to get a little more momentum and energy to finish that game off.”
Looking ahead to tomorrow…
“Tomorrow we need to control what we can. We need to control our attitude and effort. We are fortunate this is the beginning, so we are going to continue to grow and learn those things. We just need to step up and execute when we are called upon.”
NOTABLES
- Friday’s win over Illinois-Chicago is Iowa’s third season-opening win in a row. The Hawkeyes are 5-3 in season openers with Looper at the helm.
- Doocy threw seven complete innings in the season opener. She had seven strikeouts, allowed no walks, and collected the shutout.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes continue action at the Mardi Gras Classic on Saturday. Iowa faces UL Lafayette at 4:30 p.m. (CT) and finishes the day against Evansville at 7 p.m.