CONWAY, Ark. – The University of Iowa softball team took two on day two of the Adam Brown Memorial Shamrock Classic, defeating Central Arkansas (2-1) in extra innings and Nebraska-Omaha (6-1) in the nightcap.
Freshman Jalen Adams started for the Hawkeyes in game one. She threw a complete game (9 innings) and picked up her third win of the season. Senior Nia Carter went 4-for-5 in the game and delivered the game winning RBI. She had four of Iowa’s eight hits in the game.
Senior Breanna Vasquez started game two for the second day in a row. She went the distance, going seven innings, allowing three hits and striking out a season-high nine batters. Sophomore Tristin Doster went 3-for-3 with a double in the game and four different Hawkeyes recorded an RBI in the game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
Carter led off the game with an infield single to extend her on-base streak to nine games. She was stranded at second to an end. Adams made quick work of the Bears going three-up, three-down in the first inning.
Carter and sophomore Tatianna Roman recorded back-to-back two-out doubles in the third. A walk to freshman Tory Bennett loaded the bases, but that was it for the Hawkeyes, as they left them loaded.
Junior Sammy Diaz led off the fourth with a single to centerfield. Grace Banes hit a sharp liner to left, but a great relay from the Bears got the Hawkeye runner at home. Iowa continued to threaten but was unable to capitalize as they stranded two runners in scoring position.
The Bears led off the home half of the fourth with their first hit with a single to centerfield. They amounted a threat getting runners on second and third, but Adams was able to get out of the jam to keep the game scoreless through four innings.
Carter started the fifth with a single, for her third hit of the contest. The Hawkeyes took the, 1-0, lead on an RBI single to the fence off the bat of junior Denali Loecker for her 22nd RBI of the season. UCA was down to their final out and was able to tie it on a Hawkeye error to send the game into extra innings.
Both teams started the eighth with a runner at second due to the international tiebreaker rule, and neither team was able to cash in. In the ninth, Carter came in clutch with her fourth hit to score Adams from third to make it, 2-1.
Adams got two strikeouts in the bottom of the ninth to shut the door on the Bears. In nine innings, she allowed one unearned run, on five hits, while striking out five.
Game 2
Both teams started the game quietly through the first two innings. The Hawkeyes broke open the scoring in the third with a bases-loaded walk to Roman. Two more came across on a two-RBI single from Bennett to make it 3-0. Loecker then recorded her 23rd RBI of the season to make it 4-0. Iowa was able to add on two more runs to close out a six-run inning and take a commanding lead.
Through four innings, Vasquez held the Maverick hitters to one hit while striking out four. In the bottom of the fifth, Omaha got on the scoreboard after back-to-back doubles to make it 6-1. The Mavericks were threatening in the bottom of the sixth, getting two runners on, but Vasquez got out of it with the five-run lead intact.
Vasquez went three-up, three-down in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win for Iowa.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH RENEE GILLISPIE
“We played two complete games of softball today. Jalen and Bre’s performances in the circle were amazing and it was good to see our offense come through with the clutch hits today. I am looking forward to see how we close out the weekend tomorrow.”
HEAR FROM TRISTIN DOSTER
“I was just looking to get a pitch in my zone in all my at-bats today to be able to get on base. Bre pitched an amazing game tonight. When I was warming her up in the bullpen before the game, I knew she was locked in and was going to dominate. I am super proud of her performance.”
NOTABLES
- Game one was Iowa’s first extra-inning win of the year.
- Carter had a season-high four hits in game one.
- The matchup against UCA was the first ever meeting between the two programs.
- Doster matched her career high in hits in the second game (3).
UP NEXT
Iowa (11-7) returns to action tomorrow for the final day of the Adam Brown Memorial Shamrock Classic. The Hawkeyes will face Omaha at 10 a.m. (CT).