The Hawkeye softball team made its final long road trip of the year over Spring Break out to Louisville, KY before returning for their home opener this past weekend. After rainy weather cancelled the Hawkeyes’ first two games, the Hawkeyes padded their win column but unfortunately weren’t able to keep that momentum going through the weekend.
The Hawkeyes arrived in Louisville, KY last Monday prepared to take on the 24th ranked North Carolina Tar Heels and the Cardinals of Ball State, but the rain clouds had other plans for the day and all games at the tournament that day were cancelled.
Tuesday morning brought better weather and another game with Ball State. The streak of scoreless innings that the Hawkeye pitching staff had going was broken along with the winning streak, and Ball State emerged victorious 7-5.
A few hours later the Hawkeyes were set to face the host school, #11 Louisville, on their own field. The Hawkeyes took flight early, scoring three runs in the first inning, and took a 6-2 victory over Louisville back to the hotel that night. The loss was Louisville’s first at home in 37 games and 11 games overall. It was also the Hawkeyes’ fourth over a ranked opponent this spring.
A rematch with Louisville was first on the docket for the Hawkeyes on Wednesday and Louisville was determined not to lose consecutive games on their home field. After giving up six runs to Louisville and having their bats silenced for most of the game by Louisville pitcher Rachel LeCoq, the Hawkeyes managed to push four runs across in their final two at-bats, but it wasn’t enough and Louisville earned the split, 6-4.
The next morning the Hawkeyes left Louisville and headed down the interstate to Lexington to face #21 Kentucky on their home field. Kayla Massey allowed one run on four hits in the complete game, and the Hawkeyes finished their road trip with a 3-1 win over the Wildcats. The Hawkeyes were looking forward to getting to finally play at home but the results wouldn’t be as they desired.
The Hawkeyes opened up their first series at home in the 2013 spring season against conference foe Minnesota. The Gophers outscored the Hawkeyes 21-5 in the three games, winning all three and sending the Hawkeyes to their first three game losing streak of the season.
The Hawkeyes are back in action for a three game set against Wisconsin starting this Friday. All three games will be played at Bob Pearl Field. Friday’s game starts at 4 pm, and then Saturday’s double header begins at 1 pm.
