Although it was as cold as the middle of winter, the bats of the MSU softball team were scorching Sunday.
The Spartans (24-9 overall, 4-1 Big Ten) tallied 12 hits, including three home runs as they trounced Big Ten-leading Iowa 7-1 at Old College Field.
"Obviously this is a big win for us," head coach Jacquie Joseph said. "But it's too early in the season to talk about anything except the next game."
Iowa (25-8, 4-1) scratched the score sheet first as junior pitcher Jessica Beech (17-3) gave up three hits in the top of the first inning. But she only allowed three more hits in the following six innings. Beech recorded her 15th complete game in 24 appearances, fanning eight batters and walking none.
MSU knotted the game at one in the bottom of the first, when junior third base Brittney Green scored on a double to right-center by senior centerfielder Sandy Lewis.
While the Hawkeye bats cooled off after the first inning, the Spartans continued to pour it on.
Junior leftfielder Angel Merren crushed her first career home run over the wall in left-center field, scoring sophomore second base Janette Hurtado. It gave MSU a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the second.
"I just got a new bat and it helps my swing," she said. "Hitting one erases all your strikeouts and all your bad at-bats. You just wait for the pitcher to throw the fatty and you hit it."
In the fourth, Merren smacked her second dinger over the right-field wall to give the Spartans a 4-1 lead.
Merren wasn't the only MSU player to send a pitch over the fence. Senior rightfielder Tiffany Wallace hit a three-run homer to right field in the sixth inning to put the game out of reach at 7-1.
"I was waiting for anything," she said. "I just wanted to get a fly ball and that one flew."
The win put MSU in a first-place tie with Iowa atop the Big Ten. The victory also equals the Spartans' win total from last season.
Joseph praised her team for performing so well in such harsh conditions, and said the game wasn't meant to be played in freezing cold temperatures.
"It's a little difficult to evaluate an opponent in this weather," she said. "I want us to perform this way all the time. We've been at home for a couple of weeks. We'll be on the road soon and that will tell the story."
A six-game week was cut in half for MSU due to inclement weather. But when the Spartans were on the field they were victorious in all games. MSU bested Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan, 8-1 and 4-3, respectively, before routing the Hawkeyes.
Joseph notched her 300th career victory with the win against the Eagles on Wednesday.
