Iowa Falls to No. 5 UCLA

IOWA CITY, Iowa - The University of Iowa softball team fell to No. 5 UCLA, 8-0 (6 innings), on Saturday afternoon at Bob Pearl Field, in game one of the two game series.

Junior Jalen Adams (13-3) made her 14th start of the season start for Iowa. Adams pitched five innings, allowing eight runs on ten hits and fanning four. Sophomore Jaylee Ojo and Senior Haley Downe both pitched in relief to finish the game. Five different Hawkeyes recorded a hit, led by sophomore Soo-Jin Berry who went 2-for-3 in the game.

HOW IT HAPPENED
UCLA came out on top to start the game. The Bruins plated two runs in the opening frame on an RBI single and a bases loaded walk. An Adams strikeout ended the threat, leaving three runners on. Berry singled to right center in the bottom of the first, but nothing else stuck for the Hawkeyes.

Adams started the second inning hot on the mound with back-to-back strikeouts. UCLA battled with two outs with an RBI double and a two-run home run to extend its lead, 5-0, after two innings of play. Ramos started the home half of the second with a walk, but the next three hitters were retired as the Hawkeyes were unable to do anything further. 

Adams held the Bruins scoreless through the third and fourth innings. The Iowa bats were unable to get anything going in these innings as only one batter managed to reach base. 

The Bruins started the fifth inning with a home run to extend their lead, 6-0. UCLA loaded the bases in the inning and plated another run on a sacrifice fly to push its lead to seven. Iowa threatened in the bottom of the inning as sophomore Devin Simon led off with a double followed by a single from junior Echo Mattiello. The Hawkeyes were unable to cash in as the Bruins got out of the inning with a double play, throwing out Simon at home. 

Adams started the sixth inning in the circle allowing a single before Ojo came in to pitch. Back-to-back walks loaded the Bruins bases, and another walk brought in their next run, pushing the UCLA lead to 8-0. Downe entered in relief and the Hawkeye defense answered getting three outs to limit the damage. 

Berry, redshirt junior Desiree Rivera, and freshman Allyssa Ramos recorded three-straight singles to load the bases with one out in the sixth. The Bruins ended the Iowa threat striking out the next two Hawkeye hitters to end the game.

Iowa finished with no runs on six hits and one error. UCLA finished the game with eight runs on ten hits and no errors.

NOTABLES

• Todays match up was the highest ranked opponent for an Iowa home game. 
• Iowa set a new program attendance record with 1,375 fans at Pearl; the highest attended game since the Hawkeyes hosted NCAA Regionals in 2008.

UP NEXT
Iowa (18-9) hosts UCLA for game two of the series in Iowa City at Bob Pearl Field tomorrow. First pitch scheduled for 11am CT. The game will be streamed on B1G+ ($).