Iowa Upsets No. 20/21 Nebraska in Series Finale

IOWA CITY, Iowa - The University of Iowa softball team defeated No. 20/21 Nebraska on Sunday afternoon in the finale of the three-game series at Bob Pearl Field. The Hawkeyes defeated to the Cornhuskers, 5-2.

Junior Jalen Adams (16-5) got the start in the circle for Iowa. In her 19th start of the season, Adams threw her 11th complete game, fanning seven and walking two. Three different Hawkeyes registered a hit, with Sophomore Jena Young leading the way in the batters box, going 3-for-3. Freshman Talia Tretton went 1-for-2 picking up two RBIs.

Both teams managed to get runners on in the first two innings, but were held scoreless in the opening frame. The third was the breakout inning for both teams. Nebraska plated its two runs in the top of the inning on a Hawkeyes error and an RBI double to open the scoring, 2-0.

In the home half of the inning Iowa delivered a two rally for the ages. After back-to-back strikeouts, Young started the rally with a single to left field. Junior Tory Bennett continued the rally reaching on a Cornhusker throwing error, moving Young to third. Sophomore Soo-Jin Berry was then walked to load the bases for Iowa. Freshman Alyssa Ramos followed with a single up the middle, scoring Young to get the Hawkeyes on the board, 2-1. Tretton delivered a bloop single to left field, scoring Bennett and Berry, giving Iowa the lead, 3-2. Senior Hannah Lindsay was then hit by a pitch to load the bases once again for the Hawkeyes. The Hawkeyes extended their lead after back-to-back hit by pitches, giving the Hawkeyes the lead that they would carry until the end of the game, 5-2.

Both the Cornhuskers and the Hawkeyes scattered runners throughout the remaining innings, but both teams pitching staffs remained strong to hold the score as is through the end. In the seventh, Nebraska had its first two runners but an unassisted double play from Young and a ground out to Berry ended the game. 

Iowa finished the game with five runs on five hits and one error. Nebraska finished the game with two runs on eight hits and one error.

"It was nice to affirm that if we execute the simple things we can give ourselves a chance against quality competition. We failed to do that the past couple days and a good team made us pay. I'm proud of the team for showing the maturity to control the things they can and help get the ship facing the right direction."