IOWA CITY, Iowa – Senior pitcher Allison Doocy went the distance in the circle to lead the University of Iowa softball team to a 3-1 win over Illinois on Friday night at Bob Pearl Field.
Doocy allowed just three hits in seven innings, earning her 11th win of the season with her 11th complete game. She struck out one and walked two.
“Defense was ready to go,” said Doocy. “They were making the plays, any ball that was hit I was confident that the defense would take care of it and get the out. Some solid plays out there some routine and some awesome ones.”
Brylee Klosterman, Riley Sheehy and Nia Carter had multi-hit games for the Hawkeyes. Klosterman and Sheehy added triples and each scored a run. Aralee Bogar was 1-for-2 with a double and a run scored.
“I think we are all having fun as a team,” said Sheehy. “When I was up to bat I was in a position where there were runners in scoring positions, so I needed to move the runners or score them. I was able to do that and it worked out.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hawkeyes struck first when Klosterman singled to lead off the first inning and came around to score when a thrown ball bounced off her helmet between second and third and landed out of play, awarding her home plate.
Iowa added two more runs in the third when Sheehy tripled home Bogar and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Denali Loecker.
Doocy retired nine straight before a one-out double in the fourth came around to score and Illinois cut Iowa’s lead to, 3-1.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH RENEE GILLISPIE
“We are really focused on keeping the momentum on our side and we talked about that a lot the last few weeks. The energy we put out is going to result in how we do in this game and they bought into it. The last couple weeks they understand how important it is to have that energy and to have the backing of each other through communication. It was fun. This game they were relaxed. There was no pressure on this game and they had fun playing.”
NOTABLES
- Iowa has won three straight series openers.
- Iowa has won eight of its last nine.
- Sheehy’s third-inning triple with was her second three-bagger of the year.
- Klosterman’s fifth-inning triple was her fourth of the season.
- Carter has hit safely in seven of the last eight games.
- Allison Doocy (11-4) won her 11th game of the season with her 11th complete game.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes (24-17) host Illinois (23-18) in a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. (CT). Both games are streamed live on BTN Plus.
