MADISON, Wisc. – The University of Iowa softball team defeated Wisconsin, 3-1, on Saturday. The Hawkeyes got a complete game from senior pitcher Lauren Shaw, who improved to 4-0 on the season.
“I felt really good,” said Shaw. “I think our team came out ready to go after two losses yesterday. It is important to bounce back and not let that carry over. Everyone got the job done today. It is great when we all feed off each other. Pitching feeds off defense which feeds off hitting, so everyone worked together today. It wasn’t pretty but we got it done.”
Junior Riley Sheehy was 1-for-1 with a double and a sacrifice bunt for the Hawkeyes. Freshman Lindy Milkowski laid down two sacrifices for the Hawkeyes and had two RBIs.
Freshman Brylee Klosterman was 2-for-3 with a triple and a walk.
“I just go up to the plate wanting to get on for the team,” said Klosterman. “The pitchers have been throwing great the past couple days, obviously yesterday didn’t go the way we wanted it to because we didn’t have our bats going. So today I just wanted to get on for my teammates so they could bring me around, and I could bring them around.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hawkeyes opened the scoring in the first inning. Klosterman drew a leadoff walk for the Hawkeyes. Sheehy doubled down the left field line moving Klosterman to third. Klosterman scored on a wild pitch. Milkowski would sacrifice to score the run. Iowa would add another run in the third. Nia Carter walked and Klosterman singled to center. Sheehy would move them over to second and third on a sacrifice bunt. Milkowksi laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Carter. Wisconsin scored their lone run of the game in the seventh when the Hawkeyes traded the run for an out.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH RENEE GILLISPIE
“We moved Brylee into that one spot, and she owned it. She did a fantastic job being that lead off for us. She had that triple to get into scoring position. The entire game she did exactly what we needed her to in that one spot. Riley, you know it was the Brylee and Riley show today. Riley laid down some bunts, moving runners when she needed to, getting a hit when we needed.
“That is what it takes, the head of our lineup needs to do the job, and today they did that. We are still working on being strong throughout the depths of our lineup, the middle isn’t getting the hits we need right now so we need to stay focused on that. Otherwise, I was proud of Brylee and Riley being able to step up today.”
“Shaw had a great game, she kept them off balance. Changeup was looking great today, she really had command of all her pitches. We like to make it interesting, so you knew the seventh inning was going to be something. They were able to get some runners on and put that tying run on first base. Nia did a great job coming up with that play at the end to shut the inning down for us.”
HIGHLIGHTS
- Lauren Shaw improved to 4-0 in the circle on the season.
- The Hawkeyes are 10-2 on the season when scoring three or more runs.
- Riley Sheehy laid down her sixth sacrifice bunt of the season; coming into the weekend she was ranked 27th in the nation in sacrifice bunts per game.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes finish the four-game series with Wisconsin on Sunday, April 11 at noon (CT).
