MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois softball team was defeated, 9-1, in six innings by Iowa on Wednesday afternoon at Mary Ellen McKee Stadium.
The Westerwinds (14-15) defense was able to keep the Hawkeyes (31-9) offense in check until the top of the third inning as Iowa collected five hits and scored four runs in the inning to take a 4-0 lead.
Iowa cushioned their lead in the next three innings, scoring five more runs and taking a 9-0 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth.
Colleen Biebel revived the Western offense in the bottom of the sixth as she started the inning with a single to the short stop and advancing to third base on a fielding error by the Hawkeye first baseman. On the next at bat,
Michelle Prieto reached first on yet another error by the first baseman, scoring Biebel for the Westerwinds only run of the game. Prieto moved into scoring position on the next play, moving to second on a
Julie DePolo fly out to center field. A
Jamie Goss foul out and a
Lauren Furgala strikeout ended the short-lived comeback for Western as the game ended in a 9-1 defeat.
The Westerwinds only other two hits came in the bottom of the second inning by Furgala and
Nikki Marinec. Furgala started the inning as she laid down a bunt and continued to move around the bases as she stole second base then advancing to third on an error, giving the Westerwinds a runner in scoring position with zero outs in the inning. After an
Ashley Campbell strikeout,
Erin Schlotfeldt reached base on an error by the Hawkeye third baseman. Marinec hit a single between the first baseman and second baseman on the next play, but Western failed to score as
Michelle Neubauer, who pinch ran for Schlofeldt, was called out as the hit ball grazed her foot as she was running towards second base. Down two outs, Pankratz grounded out to the short stop to end Western's early attempt to get on the scoreboard first.
Western was out hit by 10 (13-3), but committed one less error in the game (4-3) and left five less runners on base (8-3).
Biebel, Furgala and Marinec were the only Western batters to record a hit in the game as all three players had one hit.
Getting the start and taking the loss from the circle was Campbell (3-2) as she allowed four earned runs on six hits while striking out two in 2.1 innings of work. Pankratz finished the rest of the game, throwing three strikeouts and allowing three earned runs and seven hits.
The Westerwinds travel to Cedar City, Utah to face Southern Utah in a three-game Summit League series on April 10-11.
Postgame quotes
Head coach Holly Van Vlymen"I think we had more physical errors than mental errors today. We have to be able to keep the ball in front of us in the outfield, we can't afford to give up two or three bases on a hit to the outfield."
"Iowa is a great team, they hit the ball well and deserved to win, but I think our defense did not play well today and that contributed to the loss."
"The girls talked after the game on how to move on after the loss. They know exactly what they need to do to move on from here and they talked about communicating more and picking up the defense. The outcome was not what we wanted, but I am glad the team learned from this loss."
