THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa softball team plays in its first true road Big Ten series of the 2021 season at Purdue this weekend. Friday’s game begins at 3 p.m., while Saturday’s doubleheader and Sunday’s finale are slated for first pitch at noon. The games will be streamed on BTN+ ($) and the radio broadcast can be heard on YouTube at Hawkeye Radio Network.
NEVER SAY DIE
- The Hawkeyes have had four extra-inning games this season and have won all four.
- The Hawkeyes have scored 16 runs in the seventh inning or later.
- Sophomore Nia Carter hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh against Ohio State (2/26).
- Freshman Grace Banes hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th inning to defeat Penn State (3/11).
- Senior Aralee Bogar and sophomore Nia Carter pulled off a successful double steal in the bottom of the eighth against Maryland to win the game (3/13).
- Freshman Lindy Milkowski hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth to defeat Maryland (3/14).
MOVE ‘EM OVER
- Junior Riley Sheehy ranks seventh in the country and second in the Big Ten in sacrifice bunts per game (0.33)
DON’T RUN ON THE HAWKS
- The Hawkeyes rank first in the Big Ten with a stolen base allowed percentage of .588.
- They are tied for first in the conference with seven runners caught stealing.
DOUBLE DOWN
- Freshman Denali Loecker is tied for second in the Big Ten in doubles (5).
BURNS NOTICE
- Sophomore Kalena Burns has two home runs this season for the Hawkeyes that is tied second in the Big Ten.
Moving up the national leaderboard
- Senior Allison Doocy ranks sixth in career complete games among active Division 1 players (67).
- She ranks ninth in innings pitched (692.0).
- She ranks 10th in games started (98).
- She ranks 12th in strikeouts (653).
MOVING UP THE IOWA LEADERBOARD
- Senior Allison Doocy ranks 11th in career pitching appearances (117). She is eight away from tying Kristi Hanks for 10th.
- She ranks ninth in career complete games (67).
- She ranks sixth in career strikeouts (653).
BUILDING MOMENTUM
- Iowa finished the 2020 season 17-5 overall, one of the best starts in program history.
- The 1991 team was 53-11 and the 2000 team finished 46-15. With two more wins, Iowa would have tied its win total from 2019.
- Iowa was on pace for its highest win total since at least 2013 (30).
- The 2020 team joined the 1991 (18-2) and 2000 (13-1) teams as the best starts in program history.
IOWA PICKED TO FINISH FIFTH IN BIG TEN IN 2021
- Iowa was picked to finish fifth in the conference by D1 Softball.
- The Hawkeyes were also named as a projected regional team.
B1G LEADER
- Sophomore Nia Carter returns after leading the Big Ten in batting average throughout the nonconference season last year.
- Carter batted .509 with nine RBIs, two doubles, and one triple.
- The Rancho Cucamonga, California, native had 28 hits on the season to four strikeouts. She was the only player in the Big Ten’s top 20 with less than five strikeouts.
- Carter ranked fifth in the Big Ten in total hits (28).
- Nationally, Carter was 11th in batting average.
(FUN)-DAMENTALS
- Iowa finished first in the Big Ten in fielding.
- Iowa’s .976 fielding percentage paced the conference, and its 15 errors was fewest.
- The Hawkeyes had 450 putouts with 152 assists and 15 errors.
- On the basepaths, Iowa caught five runners stealing of 17 attempted steals.
- Nationally, Iowa was 29th in the nation in fielding percentage.
CARTER NAMED TO JWOS ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
- University of Iowa freshman Nia Carter was named to the 2020 Justin’s World of Softball (JWOS) All-Freshman team.
- Carter was the first Hawkeye to win an All-Freshman award since Stacy May won Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2003.
DYNAMIC DUO
- Senior Lauren Shaw and senior Allison Doocy were a potent one-two punch for the Hawkeyes on the mound.
- The duo combined for 163 strikeouts in 141.3 innings.
- Doocy was second in the Big Ten with a 1.54 ERA and Shaw was fourth with a 1.71 ERA.
- Shaw was one of four pitchers in the conference with nine wins.
- Doocy was fourth in the Big Ten with 102 strikeouts, she struck out 41-percent of the batters she faced. (102-249).
- Doocy ranked 17th in the nation with 10.4 strikeouts per seven innings.
- As a team, Iowa ranked second in the Big Ten with a 2.15 combined ERA.
- Iowa’s pitching staff ranked 15th in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.85).