Wisconsin Falls To No. 23 Iowa, 5-2
April 26, 2002 | Softball
A pair of Wisconsin runs in the bottom of the seventh was too little, too late, as No. 23 Iowa held on to defeat the Badgers, 5-2, at Goodman Diamond Friday. Wisconsin, which falls to 26-17 overall and 7-6 in the Big Ten, left 11 runners on base in the contest, including coming up empty twice on bases-loaded opportunities.
After the Badgers stranded 10 through the first six innings, junior Anna Jones broke up the Iowa (32-16, 10-4) shutout with a double to the left center wall that scored Mandy Liles and Kristin Zacher. Hawkeye All-American Kristi Hanks struck out Boo Gillette then forced a pair of infield outs to end the inning.
After two scoreless innings, during which UW starter Andrea Kirchberg got four of her seven strikeouts, Iowa got on the board with two runs in the top of the third. Lindsey Bashor, who led off with an infield single, scored on an overthrow to first with two outs. Jessica Bashor drove in the Hawkeyes' second run, bringing in Katie Boney with a single to center.
Wisconsin nearly pulled even in the fourth as Nicki Starry, who went 2-for-2 in the contest, blasted a double to left center that nearly cleared the Goodman Diamond fence. After Kerry Hagen walked to load the bases for number two hitter Mandy Liles, the Hawkeyes escaped unscathed as Liles flied foul to the catcher.
Lori Leon doubled Iowa's advantage in the sixth with a straight-away two-run homer, and the Hawkeyes added one more in the top of the seventh with Lindsey Bashor coming home on another overthrow to first.
Wisconsin and Iowa will square off again at noon on Saturday before Bucky hosts a Sunday doubleheader with Northwestern.
