Hawk slugger is showing up
Eric Mandel - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 5/8/08 Section: Sports
As sophomore Katie Brown buried her cleats into the batter's box to face Iowa assistant coach Michelle Venturella during Wednesday's practice, the outfield began to rumble.
"Remember, she hit three home runs this weekend - back up," quipped one of the three out shagging balls.
The zinger warranted chuckles from her fellow fly catchers, but nonetheless, each did take a couple steps back. And guess what? Brown still stung a few pitches behind them.
After the way Iowa dented the ball last weekend against Illinois, the warning track might be a good starting place for opposing outfielders.
As ringleader of the team's season-high 12 runs and 17 hits against Illinois on May 4, Brown was rewarded with the Hawkeyes' first offensive conference Player of the Week honors this season. The Spirit Lake, Iowa, native shared her first title with Northwestern's Nicole Pauly.
"She's probably one of our best kids as far as really working it mentally," said Iowa head coach Gayle Blevins. "I think that's a large part of why Katie has done as well as she has done this year.
"We always knew that she would be a big-time hitter for us."
Brown's weekend included three home runs, one double, six RBI, one intentional walk and four runs scored. In her six at-bats, Brown only trotted back to the dugout with an out once, amassing to an incredible .833 batting average.
"Sometimes our defense and pitching are always so strong, and it's great for us to show everyone else and to ourselves that we can score runs," said teammate Colleen McGlaughlin, who leads the team with eight home runs.
Rotating between designated player and first base has been a relief for the sophomore compared with last season, where Brown made six appearances on the mound with an 0-1 record and 5.25 ERA.
Brown is currently batting .283 and is second on team with nine doubles, six home runs, and eight walks.
"Being a pitcher [last season] kind of helps me a little bit too, just kind of know their ups and downs of what they are throwing," Brown said. "But taking stress off of pitching helps a lot … I think we've got the right girls out there, so that's fine with me."
Now the Hawkeyes hope the batting bonanza can continue through the conference tournament, helping out hurlers Brittany Weil and Amanda Zust, who've combined for a 1.14 ERA.
If the mixture of slapper hitters and sluggers can continue to score four or five runs each game, the conference title will likely be sitting inside a Black and Gold trophy case.
"I think after this last weekend we really realized that we are peaking at the right time and everything is starting to come together right now," Brown said.
E-mail DI reporter Eric Mandel at:
eric-mandel@uiowa.edu
"Remember, she hit three home runs this weekend - back up," quipped one of the three out shagging balls.
The zinger warranted chuckles from her fellow fly catchers, but nonetheless, each did take a couple steps back. And guess what? Brown still stung a few pitches behind them.
After the way Iowa dented the ball last weekend against Illinois, the warning track might be a good starting place for opposing outfielders.
As ringleader of the team's season-high 12 runs and 17 hits against Illinois on May 4, Brown was rewarded with the Hawkeyes' first offensive conference Player of the Week honors this season. The Spirit Lake, Iowa, native shared her first title with Northwestern's Nicole Pauly.
"She's probably one of our best kids as far as really working it mentally," said Iowa head coach Gayle Blevins. "I think that's a large part of why Katie has done as well as she has done this year.
"We always knew that she would be a big-time hitter for us."
Brown's weekend included three home runs, one double, six RBI, one intentional walk and four runs scored. In her six at-bats, Brown only trotted back to the dugout with an out once, amassing to an incredible .833 batting average.
"Sometimes our defense and pitching are always so strong, and it's great for us to show everyone else and to ourselves that we can score runs," said teammate Colleen McGlaughlin, who leads the team with eight home runs.
Rotating between designated player and first base has been a relief for the sophomore compared with last season, where Brown made six appearances on the mound with an 0-1 record and 5.25 ERA.
Brown is currently batting .283 and is second on team with nine doubles, six home runs, and eight walks.
"Being a pitcher [last season] kind of helps me a little bit too, just kind of know their ups and downs of what they are throwing," Brown said. "But taking stress off of pitching helps a lot … I think we've got the right girls out there, so that's fine with me."
Now the Hawkeyes hope the batting bonanza can continue through the conference tournament, helping out hurlers Brittany Weil and Amanda Zust, who've combined for a 1.14 ERA.
If the mixture of slapper hitters and sluggers can continue to score four or five runs each game, the conference title will likely be sitting inside a Black and Gold trophy case.
"I think after this last weekend we really realized that we are peaking at the right time and everything is starting to come together right now," Brown said.
E-mail DI reporter Eric Mandel at:
eric-mandel@uiowa.edu
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