It's crunch time for everyone as we reach the end of the school year. As the pressure ramps up, the Hawkeyes will look to their stars to lead them. Last week, it was Brody Brecht who the Hawkeye baseball team needed to help stop a two-game skid and he put together exactly the type of performance that was needed.

Let's jump right in.

Iowa baseball (24-17, 10-8) avoided a sweep at Nebraska (27-14, 10-5) last weekend, dropping the first two games in the series 7-4 and 12-2 before a Brody Brecht gem gave Iowa a Sunday win, 4-1.

Iowa struck first in game one, scoring three behind a Raider Tello RBI triple and RBIs from Davis Cop and Kyle Huckstorf in the 1st inning. The Huskers pulled one back in 3rd, but Iowa answered with a run of their own in the top of the 4th to push the lead to 4-1. Nebraska tied the game on a three-run homer in the bottom of the inning and took the lead in the bottom of the 7th. Two insurance runs in the bottom of the 8th put the game out of reach.

Game 2 was one to forget for the Hawkeyes. Ben Wilmes gave Iowa a 1-0 lead with a solo shot in the 3rd inning, but Nebraska quickly answered back, tying the game in the bottom of the inning before pushing three across in the 4th and four in the 5th to take an 8-1 lead. The game was suspended for weather after five innings and resumed the next day. Iowa scored a run in the top of the 6th but the Huskers scored one of their own and three more in the 7th to clinch the game via run rule.

The Hawkeyes needed a big game from Brecht in the series finale and he delivered. Brecht went seven innings, striking out eleven batters while allowing just two hits and a single run. Cop gave Iowa a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st and that lead doubled when Gable Mitchell sent a solo shot over the wall in the 2nd inning. Brecht struck out the side in the 2nd and 3rd innings before Nebraska scraped a run across with a sac fly in the bottom of the 4th. Tello refused to let up though, sending a solo shot out in the top of the 5th inning as part of a 3-4 day at the plate to give Iowa a 3-1 lead. An insurance run in the 6th gave Iowa a comfortable lead that was more than enough for Brecht and reliever Jack Young.

Brecht's gem on the mound earned him Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for the second straight week.

Iowa battled with Nebraska all weekend, but a few rough innings in Game One put the game out of reach in a series that easily could have gone the other way. The Hawks continue to get major contributions from the leaders in their lineup in Tello and Huckstorf and Brecht has looked every bit the part of a future first-round pick over the past few weeks. He's been all but unhittable and the control that has eluded him at times has locked in over his past two starts.

Iowa will play a pair of non-conference games during the week against Illinois State (21-20) and North Dakota State (13-24-1) before welcoming Northwestern (13-26, 2-9) to town for a three-game series next weekend.

Iowa track and field took part in the historic Drake Relays last week, as well as the Desert Heat Classic and Kip Janvrin Open. The Hawkeyes State staple pushed multiple Hawkeyes to personal bests. Miriam Sandeen ran a personal-best 16:59.13 in the women's 5000m race on Day 1 of the Relays and Jalyssa Blazek (4:45.25), Cameron Kalaway (4:45.40), and Clare Kelly (4:46.18) each ran personal bests in the women's 1500m at the first day of the Kip Janvrin Open.

On Day 2 at the Drake Relays, Ali Frandsen ran a 14.11 100m hurdle to set a new personal best by more than half a second while Lily Johannes' 2:18.29 800m at the Kip Janvrin Open was a personal best as well.

The Hawkeyes ended the week on a high note, winning three events on Saturday at the Desert Heat Classic. Kat Moody won the women's discus with a career-best 56.84m mark that ranks 4th-best in school history. Paige Magee won the women's 100m hurdles in 12.99 and Precious Irivi won the men's triple jump with a 15.21m jump to give the Hawks their final win of the weekend.

Daniela Wamokpego put up a big performance in the women's triple jump, jumping 13.15m to claim second in the event and 9th in the Iowa record books. Iowa's final top-10 performance of the weekend came from the women's 4x100m relay of Juila Pattison, Lia Love, Holly Duax, and Magee who ran 44.07, the 3rd-fastest in school history.

The Hawkeyes' stars look to be peaking at the right time and will aim to bring home some conference championships when they travel to Ann Arbor May 10th-12th for the Big Ten Championship meet.

Iowa softball (16-26, 4-16) had another tough week last week, going 0-5 against Nebraska (27-21, 10-8) and Minnesota (26-22, 12-8). The Hawks lost 1-0 and 7-6 in a midweek doubleheader against the Huskers before falling 7-5, 6-2, and 5-1 to the Gophers over the weekend.

Iowa kicked off the week with a pair of nail-biting losses. In game 1, Jalen Adams put together another masterful start on the mound, pitching a complete game while allowing just six hits and one run. Unfortunately, the Hawkeye bats couldn't generate any offense of their own and while they threatened in the 6th inning, the clutch hit never came.

Game 2 featured more offense but ended with the same result. Grace Banes robbed a would-be home run in the first inning to give the Hawkeyes some momentum, but Nebraska was the first to score, pushing four runs across in the 3rd inning.

Banes responded with a home run for the Hawkeyes in the top of the 4th and Sammy Diaz drove in two more in the 5th to get the Hawkeyes within a run at 4-3. Nebraska scored in the bottom of the inning to give themselves some breathing room, but Iowa refused to go away. The Hawkeyes put the first two runners on and then Banes came up clutch again, this time launching a three-run blast to give Iowa a 6-5 lead, but the Huskers fought back in the bottom of the 7th and won on a walk-off two-run home run.

Iowa started slowly in their first game against the Gophers, falling behind 7-0. To the Hawkeyes' credit though, they didn't go down without a fight. Diaz drove in a run in the bottom of the 5th and a pair of Gopher errors gave Iowa two more runs in the sixth to cut the lead to 7-3. Jena Young used a miraculous slide to provide Iowa with their first run of the 7th inning before a weather delay stopped the game. The Hawkeyes came back out with runners on the corners and no outs, but could only push across one more run, losing 7-5.

Game 2 was much more of a pitcher's duel. The teams traded 3rd inning runs, Tory Bennett's RBI double tying the game at one. Minnesota pulled ahead with a run in the 4th inning but Young's aggressive baserunning again proved beneficial as she came around to tie the game in the 5th. The score would remain tied into extra innings before Minnesota broke the game open with a 4-run 9th inning that ultimately proved too much to overcome.

Monday's series finale looked as if it was going to follow Sunday's script, with the teams each scoring a first-inning run before the pitchers settled in and gained the upper hand. Banes homered again for the Hawkeyes in the first inning, but that would be all for the Hawkeye offense. A Gopher solo shot in the 5th inning gave them the lead and three more runs crossed in the 6th to put the game out of reach, 5-1.

It's been a disappointing season for the Hawkeyes, who had aspirations of competing for a conference championship but will now need to turn toward the future.

Banes put together an incredible weekend as part of her Senior Day festivities, but it will be the likes of Young, Adams, and Soo-Jin Berry that will carry the team going forward. Adams has again been solid for the Hawkeyes on the mound, although has dealt with sporadic walk issues, and Young and Berry have provided consistency at the top of the Hawkeye lineup. The team will need to look to find a way to lengthen the lineup but the building blocks are there for a successful team within the next few seasons.

Iowa will close out its regular season next weekend with a three-game set against Illinois (20-28, 6-13). The Hawks currently sit one game out of the 12th and final spot in the Big Ten Tournament, which they will host beginning on May 8th.

Iowa's Tennis season came to an end last week when the Hawkeyes fell 4-3 to Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Hawks won the doubles point to take the early lead in the match, winning on Court 1 with Daianne Hayashida and Vipasha Mehra and Court 3 with Marisa Schmidt and Nikita Vishwase. Iowa's singles points came from Schmidt on Court 2 and Vishwase on Court 6.

Daianne Hayashida received some individual recognition, earning All-Big Ten recognition, the first such award for the Sophomore. Hayashida was 11-6 as Iowa's #1 this season and 5-2 in conference matches.

Iowa Men's Golf competed in the Big Ten Championship last weekend, finishing 12th at the event (+69). Two freshmen led the way for the Hawkeyes. Noah Kent was the highest individual finisher for the Hawkeyes, who finished tied for 11th (+11). Max Toja was the next-highest finisher for Iowa, tying for 33rd at +18. Kent notched his 6th top-25 finish and was in the top 10 after a first-round 71 (+1).

Hawkeye Rowing competed in the Lake Wheeler Invitational last weekend, racking up two event wins and finishing in 7th place in a very competitive field. Eight teams in the field were either ranked in the top-25 or receiving votes.

Iowa's two wins came from the 2V4 boat, which won both the morning and afternoon races on Day 1 of the event. The 2V4 boat placed 2nd in Saturday's race. The Hawks will be back in the water for an exhibition against Drake on May 4th before competing in the Big Ten Championships on May 18th.