IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa softball team dropped its rubber game against Minnesota, 10-2, in six innings on Sunday afternoon at Bob Pearl Field.
The Hawkeyes (18-18, 1-8) took game one of the series from the Gophers (18-15, 5-4) on Friday.
Sophomore Grace Banes tallied an RBI for the Hawkeyes in the fourth inning on a sac fly, scoring senior Kate Claypool. The Hawkeyes got their second run in the fifth inning when junior Nia Carter notched an RBI driving the ball to deep centerfield scoring sophomore Zoe Schulte from second.
Freshman Emma Henderson was 1-for-2 on the day after coming in to pinch hit. Sophomore Brylee Klosterman, juniors Kalena Burns and Sophia Maras each tallied a hit as well. Schulte walked twice to go along with her run scored.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gophers got on the board in the top half of the first, scoring two runs after a walk and a home run. They added another run in the third inning with a walk, an error and a single. A four-run fourth inning widened the Gophers lead to seven.
The Hawkeyes got on the board in the fourth inning after a Burns walk, a Henderson single and a Maras single loaded the bases. Banes flew out to center to plate the run with a sacrifice fly.
Minnesota added to their lead in the fifth after back-to-back doubles. Iowa responded scoring a run after Schulte walked, Klosterman singled and Carter reached on a hit to centerfield scoring Schulte.
Minnesota scored two runs in the top of the sixth to end the game early as the Hawkeyes were unable to get anything going in their half of the sixth.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH RENEE GILLISPIE
“We just didn’t make adjustments. We saw that pitcher three times this weekend and we weren’t adjusting at the plate. Defensively, we were OK. We struggled a bit with our off-speed pitches as a pitching staff, but nothing glaring. They were a good hitting team, and we knew that. We just needed to make sure we stayed in the game with our offense. We didn’t score or have a hit until the fourth inning. Offensively, we just have to do better. We have to be that team that we know we are capable of being.”
UP NEXT
Iowa heads to Lincoln, Nebraska for a midweek doubleheader with the Huskers on April 12. The first game starts at 4 p.m. (CT). Both games will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network.