Hawkeyes Sweep Radford, Campbell

Buies Creek, N.C. – The University of Iowa softball team swept day two of the Campbell Invitational, blanking Radford, 4-0, and beating Campbell, 10-4, at Amanda Littlejohn Stadium on Saturday.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
The Hawkeyes opened the day behind a strong performance in the circle.

Senior Serayah Neiss got the nod to start the day, pitching four complete innings, allowing zero runs and only four hits.

Iowa (10-3) struck first in the bottom of the first when junior Devin Simon walked, stole second and scored on a double by freshman McKenzie Leitgen. The Hawkeyes added another run in the third as senior Tory Bennett doubled to deep center and came home on a single from sophomore Kiara Sipe.

Leitgen extended the lead to three with a solo shot in the fourth.

Freshman Braylen Conlon entered in the top of the fifth for the Hawkeyes and after walking the first batter, went 1-2-3, to end the inning. Bennett capped the scoring for the Hawkeyes with a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the frame.

Game 2
Iowa rallied past Campbell off the bats of Bennett and Simon to complete the sweep.

The Hawkeyes pushed across the first run after Bennett doubled into the rightfield gap and a double from Sipe pushed her across. Campbell answered in the bottom of the frame, scoring three.

Freshman Phoenyx Silva cut the deficit to one with a fourth-inning leadoff blast to right field. Campbell tallied its last run of the game in the bottom half of the fourth.

Iowa’s offense erupted in the fifth. Leitgen led off with a double, and freshman Kiyah Chavez recorded an RBI single. After loading the bases, senior Anna Streff came in to pinch-hit and was hit-by-pitch to bring in Chavez to even the contest. Bennett came up big drilling a single through the left side of the infield to plate two more for the Hawkeyes. A Campbell error allowed another run to cross home plate. The Hawkeyes ended the frame attempting a double steal and were successful plating Simon to stretch their advantage to 8-4.

The Hawkeyes added two insurance runs later in the game on another Campbell miscue. Niess closed out the win, notching two strikeouts and a groundout to seal the victory.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH STACY MAY-JOHNSON
“We had two bounce back wins today. Our offense was able to compete and battle through seven innings against Radford. It was nice to see our pitchers throw a combined shutout and the defense was there to back them up. I felt like pitching has turned the corner and they are executing well. It was fun to see the offense come off the leash in the second game. We had a lot of big hits, especially Phoenyx Silva’s first career home run. Overall, I am proud of the team and how they came out and showed out today.”

NOTABLES
• Iowa recorded its first shutout of the season against Radford from the arms of Neiss, Conlon, and junior Avery Sapp.
• Neiss is four strikeouts away from a career total of 350.
• Bennett went 5-for-8 at the plate, with a home run, two doubles and three RBIs.
• Leitgen went 2-for-3 against Radford, with a home run, a double and two RBIs.
• Silva hit her first career home run against Campbell.

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes return to action on Sunday for the final day of play at the Campbell Invitational against Miami Ohio at 9:00 a.m. (CT).