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abbott
Sarah Twidwell
10
Winner Western Illinois WIU 8-14
1
Iowa Hawkeyes IOWA 15-12
Winner
Western Illinois WIU
8-14
10
Final
1
Iowa Hawkeyes IOWA
15-12
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Western Illinois WIU 0 5 0 2 0 1 2 10 12 0
Iowa Hawkeyes IOWA 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 0

W: Ira, Emily (5-5) L: E. RIDING (1-3)

Game Recap: Softball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Leathernecks Unleash Offensive Onslaught in Win over Iowa

Western Illinois beat a Power Five school in back-to-back seasons while several players recorded season-bests

IOWA CITY, Iowa.- Western Illinois (8-14) softball put the foot on the gas pedal at the onset and did not let up in a 10-1 victory over Iowa (15-12) on Wednesday night (March 27). The last time the Leathernecks defeated a Power Five school was on April 17, 2018, also at Pearl Field, in fact, Western's last three Power Five wins have been over the Hawkeyes.
 
The Leatherneck offense put together season highs of 10 runs and 12 hits as a team to spoil the Iowa home opener.

"We really started talking about game plans and making sure we're on the same page after South Dakota on Sunday," head coach Beth Golitko said. "We came into to this knowing that they are Iowa from the Big Ten but we wanted to rip that off the front of their jersey and just play another team."
 
Iowa City native Emily Ira lined a single up the middle for the first hit of the ballgame in the top of the second. The bases were loaded with two outs when Payton Abbott clubbed a grand slam over the wall in left centerfield for her fourth long ball of the season. The Leathernecks were not done as Hailey Duwa laced a double down the left field line to score Sydney Hollings from first after her two-out walk. Iowa starting pitcher Erin Riding exited after 1.2 innings of work in favor of Allison Doocy.

"Our players trusted the person behind them," Golitko said. "We focused on what pitch we wanted to hit and we passed the bat to extend the inning as long we could."
 
Trailing 5-0, the Hawkeyes had their work cut out for them. Lea Thompson tripled home Sydney Owens to get the home team on the board in the bottom of the second.
 
With runners at the corners and two outs in the top of the fourth, Halle Hollatz drove the ball over the head of the Hawkeye centerfielder to plate two more runs for a 7-1 advantage.
 
Sarah Lehman replaced Doocy in the circle for Iowa at the start of the sixth inning. With one down, Danielle Olson walked followed by a pair of singles from Hollatz and Ira to load the bases again. Aly Compton singled through the left side of the inning to extend the Leatherneck margin to 8-1.
 
Duwa hit an opposite-field home run over the left field fence with a runner on in the top of the seventh inning to round out the scoring. Her third homer of the season handed Western a 10-1 cushion.
 
Ira (5-5) notched her eighth complete game of the season allowing just one run on five hits with seven strikeouts.
 
The Leathernecks return to Summit League play at home in Macomb against North Dakota State beginning with a doubleheader at 12 p.m. on Saturday, March 30.

 
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